Niall Fortune, the founder and owner of the Eddie Rocket's chain, is targetting Germany and Spain as the first locations outside Ireland for its new Rocket's restaurants.
Eddie Rocket's, the chain modelled on 1950s American diners, has 35 outlets in Ireland including two new Rocket's restaurants opened in Dublin this week.
Mr Fortune said the chain would look at locations such as train stations and airports to begin its expansion. He said the company was hopeful it could expand to 100 locations, including its existing outlets in Ireland, by the end of 2018.
He described the new Rocket's concept as "fast casual" dining and said it was looking to cater for consumers aged between 20 and 30 who were looking for casual food, at a reasonable cost and with a shorter waiting-time than would be the case in a more formal restaurant.
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MORNING BRIEFS: The Federal Reserve, America's central bank struck an upbeat note about the hardening economic recovery overnight but soothed investor concerns about the possibility for interest rates to start moving higher again.
After its monthly meeting the Fed's open market committee signalled it would begin to hike rates by the middle of 2015 but said it would be "patient" in determining when and how quickly to start tightening monetary policy again.
Shares finished higher on Wall Street after the statement with the S&P 500 notching its biggest one-day gain of the year.
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Irish companies are availing of invoice-discounting as a source of finance in greater volumes according to industry representative group the Asset Backed Finance Association (ABFA).
ABFA recorded a 50% increase in the value of funds that companies with a turnover of up to €500,000 accessed between the second and third quarters of this year.
Overall, it says, an average of €1.3 billion in invoice finance is in use by Irish companies this year up 7% on last year's level.
