A91 Partners Leads $30 Mn Funding In Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters

Specialty coffee brand startup Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters has raised $30 Mn in its Series B funding round led by A91 Partners.

The funding round also saw participation from its existing investors including Grand Anicut Fund, 8i Ventures and a few family offices. 

As per the startup, this Series B round follows the company’s previous investment raised in June last year and also brings on board White Whale Ventures as a new investor. 

With this funding, Blue Tokai Coffee plans to continue scaling the business and expand its presence in the specialty coffee markets globally. 

Blue Tokai said it is also working towards introducing a set of new FMCG products, further strengthening its customer experience and supporting small-scale independent farmers, to stay true to its commitment to ethical sourcing.

Founded in 2013 by Matt Chitharanjan, Namrata Asthana and Shivam Shahi, Blue Tokai operates through three different channels including cafe stores, marketplaces & its website along with B2B channels. It retails its coffee products to hotels, restaurants and cafes as well. 

Commenting on the fundraise, Matt Chitharanjan, cofounder and CEO, Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters said, “We are focussed on growing our presence across all of our channels, including our own cafes as well as our B2C and B2B offerings. In the coming 3 years, we plan to showcase the work done by ~100 new specialty coffee producers, thus enabling a far more diverse product offering at Blue Tokai. New products, services and farm-level interventions that will further transform the coffee-drinking preferences in the country are making their way to you soon!”

“Blue Tokai is a rare combination of relentless product passion and focus coupled with excellent execution. This is the context of the massive coffee-led QSR market opportunity is a compelling partnership opportunity for us,” said Abhay Pandey, general partner at A91 Partners.

Currently, Blue Tokai houses four roasteries, and over 60 physical outlets across major Indian cities and regions including Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Mohali and Pune. The coffee startup has a presence in Japan as well. 

Blue Tokai claims to have roasted more than 1 Mn kgs of coffee and served more than 4 Mn cups. In March 2022, the startup added Negen Capital and Mauryan Capital to its captable. Besides, around that time, going ahead with its category expansion plans, it launched cold brew coffee cans and planned to launch other products.

Further, around August 2021, Blue Tokai raised $2.28 Mn in its Pre-Series B bridge round led by Anicut Angel Fund. 

As per a Mordor Intelligence report, the global coffee market is expected to register a CAGR of 4.65% during 2022-2027. Of this, the Indian coffee market is estimated to reach $2.03 Bn by 2025.

In the specialty coffee segment, Blue Tokai operates along with Rage Coffee, Country Bean, Third Wave Coffee Roasters, and Slay Coffee, among others. 

In March 2022, Rage Coffee secured an undisclosed investment from Indian cricketer Virat Kohli.