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Coffee tech start-up Ansā has secured $9 million in funding to support the commercial roll-out of its hi-tech coffee micro-roaster across North America. Tel Aviv-based early-stage fund Jibe Ventures is leading the round, with additional participants including Closed Loop Ventures, New Climate Ventures, Millennium Food-Tech and Sweetwood. Ansā has created a fully autonomous mini roaster, aiming to provide a sustainable alternative to large, traditional roasters which usually rely on gas-operated convection heat at temperatures surpassing 200°C. Ansā’s compact, countertop-friendly appliance is quiet and smoke-free. Its patented approach energises the beans from core to shell without emitting any noise, heat or unwanted byproducts. The fully automatic appliance is equipped with sensors and AI algorithms to ensure a consistently even roast. The device facilitates on-demand roasting of bespoke raw green coffee beans. It can roast a single serving of coffee within minutes or be programmed to roast any desired amount by a set time using the Ansā roasting app. Subscribers benefit from a supply of specialty grade, 100% arabica beans delivered in bulk recyclable boxes. According to Ansā, its approach to sourcing and supplying coffee beans significantly cuts the distances coffee beans need to travel by minimising transport between farms, roasting facilities and customers while eliminating reliance on single-use capsules and other environmentally polluting packaging. Yuval Weisglass, co-founder and CEO of Ansā said that the company secured commercial contracts in 2023 with a lineup of distributors in Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, Seattle and more. Matan Scharf, Ansā’s CMO and co-founder, said: “Ansā is rewriting the coffee narrative by bringing aromatic fresh coffee ‘from shrub to cup’ sustainably”. “The coffee landscape has long yearned for a rejuvenation. Our mission is to provide consumers with an extraordinary coffee experience, allowing them to engage with green coffee beans while indulging in superior quality coffee at its freshest. And all in the knowledge that they are protecting our planet and the livelihoods of coffee farmers.”