California-based start-up Bellwether Coffee has secured $10 million in a Series A funding round as it aims to increase sales of its commercial roaster and software platform.
The round was led by Congruent Ventures with participation by FusionX Ventures, Tandem Capital, New Ground Ventures and Hardware Club.
Bellwether Coffee is a source-to-service partner that gives its business customers the ability to source, create and roast coffee. The product has been in development for three years and is now ready to order.
The firm’s zero-emissions commercial roaster and platform allows its partners to access a curated green bean marketplace where they can source coffee from farms around the world and browse by responsible business practices.
The roaster is ventless and electric, as well as programmable via an iPad and does not require any previous roasting experience.
Bellwether Coffee said its system helps to solve three problems facing the rapidly-growing coffee market: freshness, margins and sustainability.
It claims that 80% of coffee in the US is roasted at large, centralised roasting facilities and then delivered to retail locations via long and expensive supply chains.
“We are evolving the coffee industry by making it more inviting and open to the ideas from farmers, roasters, baristas and consumers,” said Nathan Gilliland, CEO of Bellwether Coffee.
“Our technology makes sourcing and roasting coffee more accessible, promoting transparency throughout the value chain. We enable our customers to roast with confidence and create with expertise.”
He added: “We help put the roaster profit margin back into our customers’ business and use proprietary data analytics tools to gain insights, saving an average of 25% on coffee bean costs.”
Congruent Ventures managing partner Josh Posamentier said: “Congruent is excited to work with Bellwether Coffee and its outstanding leadership team to help bring innovation and sustainable business practices to the coffee industry from farms to cafes.”
The company said it has more than $6 million in pre-orders, which include a leading US grocery chain.
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