Hot Chicken Takeover has been partly taken over - in the interest of expansion. The spicy fried-chicken phenomenon based in the North Market announced Tuesday it has taken on several minority investors, including a Louisville, Kentucky, private-equity firm, Access Ventures, that invests in businesses with a social mission.

Hot Chicken Takeover has been partly taken over � in the interest of expansion.

The spicy fried-chicken phenomenon based in the North Market announced Tuesday it has taken on several minority investors, including a Louisville, Kentucky, private-equity firm, Access Ventures, that invests in businesses with a social mission.

The other investors were not identified.

The influx of capital will go toward growth, with three to four locations expected to open in central Ohio in the next three years. Locations haven�t been chosen yet.

Hot Chicken Takeover makes a point to employ people that have backgrounds or criminal records that have barred them from many other job opportunities.

Founder Joe DeLoss said he doesn�t see this mission as charity, but an opportunity to build a reliable, loyal workforce. He hopes that by 2019, he will be able to add 200 jobs to the 45 Hot Chicken Takeover now supports.

�We have found that Columbus is very enthusiastic about what we are doing,� DeLoss said. �And our intent is to grow locally.�

Access Ventures is familiar with Columbus. The company has invested in other businesses here, most notably backing the launch of micro-lending service Kiva.

TJ Abood, director of investments for Access Ventures, said a friend introduced him to DeLoss months ago. Abood also started scouting Hot Chicken Takeover and fell in love with the food as well as the mission.

�It�s fantastic. It perfectly embodies what we want to see in entrepreneurship,� Abood said of Hot Chicken Takeover. �I like Hot Chicken, but what I really, truly care about is the work (DeLoss) is doing in the lives of his employees. He is creating something, a human-resource solution, to a vastly underserved market.�

Adding a handful of restaurants over a couple of years and maintaining a unique culture should be doable for DeLoss, said Bob Welcher, president of Columbus-based Restaurant Consultants Inc. Beyond that, Hot Chicken Takeover will probably need more executive structure and more capital.

�It�s hard to build a vehicle for expansion,� Welcher said. �A good example is City Barbeque. They needed the capital and experience. You have to have the system and management in place.�

City Barbeque sold a controlling interest to a private-equity firm this year to continue its expansion efforts.

To grow beyond North Market, DeLoss knows he needs more than money and locations. Hot Chicken Takeover is open just four hours a day Tuesday through Sunday.

�Conceptually, we are trying to figure out what Hot Chicken Takeover is as it grows,� Deloss said. �The next units will have expanded hours, addition of dinner and limited alcohol. You�ll get to drink a cold beer as you eat a piece of spicy chicken.

�We�re going to start there, but we are open to see the business evolve naturally as we hear and listen to our customers.�

jmalone@dispatch.com

@j_d_malone