INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Caffeine-infused meal replacement products may be all the rage among techies, but a good ol& cup of joe is still the choice morning beverage
To capitalize on America insatiable coffee habit, Bellwether Coffee has raised a $10 million Series A and begun selling its zero-emissions
commercial roaster and online coffee bean marketplace to cafés and grocers
The funding followsa $6 million seed round in 2016.
Congruent Ventures led the round for the Berkeley, Calif.-based startup, with
participation from FusionX Ventures, Tandem Capital, New Ground Ventures, Hardware Club, XN Ventures and SolarCity founders Pete and Lyndon
As part of the deal, Pete Rive has joined the startup board, as has Congruent managing partner Josh Posamentier
Bellwether was founded by Ricardo Lopez, who serves as the company head of product innovation, in 2013.
Bellwether CEO Nathan Gillilandsays
the company sits at the nexus of software and hardware
The latter can be a tougher sell to VCs, though Gilliland said its latest round was oversubscribed
The company has just begun leasing its $1,000 per month ventless, electric coffee roaster to cafés, grocers and other businesses
As part of the monthly fee, Bellwether customers get access to its online bean marketplace, which they can use to order beans from a
revolving list of 20-some coffee farms curated by the team at Bellwether
Retailers and coffee consumers also can tip farmers directly via Bellwether
Gilliland explained that could be a game changer for the industry
Coffee farmers, he said, earn roughly 75 cents per pound of coffee sold
If a dollar is tipped on every pound of coffee, a farmer could double their revenue
Tracing where the beans in your daily brew originated from, whether that be Guatemala, Ethiopia, Colombia or another one of the top
producers of beans, can be difficult
Bellwether marketplace, which lets retailers browse coffee farms based on factors, including whether the farm is organically certified or
woman-owned, is intended to add a bit of transparency to an often opaque business.
We live in such a connected world now it really makes
sense to enable consumers to know who made their coffee and where they are located,& Gilliland told TechCrunch
&We really try to align the quality and the taste with the sustainability metrics
We want a perfect balance between the two.
Berkeley, Calif.-based Bellwether Coffee has raised a $10 million Series A led by Congruent
Ventures
Bellwether has a large potential market, as most cafés and grocers don''t have in-house roasters, but can save money by leasing
On top of that, Americans drink a whole lot of coffee
According to a recent study by the money-saving app Acorns, one-third of its users spent more on coffee annually than they invested
Most of their respondents, however, were millennials, who of course are known to overspend on avocado toast, among other things
So their spending habits may not be the most accurate representation of all coffee consumers
Regardless, there could be a big opportunity here for Bellwether
In the coffee tech scene generally, a few other companies have captured the attention of venture capital investors recently
Luckin Coffee, a Chinese on-demand coffee delivery startup, raised $200 million in July at a billion-dollar valuation, followed by a $40
million round for Bulletproof 360, the company behind Bulletproof Coffee.
If Bellwether doesn''t soar into unicorn territory, Gilliland has
at least come to appreciate a good cup of coffee and its many subtleties
I will admit, I used to throw a little creamer in my coffee but no, it all black now.
