kWh Coffee raises seed round from York Angels for farm-to-cup platform
What's the deal? York-based speciality coffee company kWh CoffeeDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has raised a seed round from York AngelsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, plus a grant through the Mayor of York and North Yorkshire's Great Ideas programme. Founded this year by Caitlin Walker and Shaun Feakins, the company will use the money to build an end-to-end coffee platform for business buyers.
What's the endgame? The platform combines an online marketplace with roasting-as-a-service. Buyers will be able to compare green coffees, track costs from farm to cup, view per-kilo Scope 3 emissions data, and see pricing upfront.
Why now? The platform launches next month with an initial group of businesses in Yorkshire and London. "Most businesses have no idea what their coffee costs at each step or what it emits, and we think there's a huge opportunity to hand that over," said Walker.
What's the model? kWh Coffee runs an electric roasting operation at the Raylor Centre in York, timing batches to periods when the grid is cleanest and delivering by electric vehicle. It also operates a bar at First BusDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →' Askham Bar Park and Ride, a site used by up to 750,000 passengers a year, and supplies wholesale customers across Yorkshire.
Who's steering it? The company has appointed Laurence Beardmore as chair as it takes the platform to market. Beardmore previously grew York Coffee EmporiumDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → into a seven-figure business before its sale to the Upton GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and has served as president of the York & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce.
What could go wrong? The open question is whether business customers will pay for transparency, not just the coffee. The Yorkshire and London pilot is the first real test of demand for that data.
The signal: Speciality coffee is increasingly competing on provenance and emissions data, not just taste. kWh Coffee is betting that buyers want the numbers behind their supply chain — and its early backing suggests investors see room for that pitch.
Read more: ascendants.in
Image credit: Kris Krug
