Verlinvest, the consumer-theme-centric Belgian investment firm, has invested $35 million (about Rs 293 crore) in Indian speciality coffee retailer Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters.
Existing investors Anicut Capital and growth-stage fund A91 Partners also participated in the Series C funding round, Verlinvest said in a statement. It didn’t disclose the amount Anicut and A91 invested in this round.
The announcement comes a month and a half after VCCircle first reported that Verlinvest was in advanced talks to invest in Blue Tokai Coffee.
Verlinvest also said the round values Blue Tokai around Rs 1,500 crore.
The Belgian family-backed investment firm focuses on consumer as a theme for both its direct venture capital and private equity-style transactions as also its commitments to third-party managed funds. Blue Tokai adds to Verlinvest’s bouquet of consumer-centric food and beverage retail brands such as the Indonesian coffee chain Kopi Kenangan and the US-based Insomnia Cookies.
Blue Tokai will use the fresh capital to expand in metros as well as Tier I and Tier II cities in India. The coffee chain aims to take its store count to 350 over the three years, according to the statement.
At present, Blue Tokai has 130 outlets across major Indian cities. It also opened an outlet in Japan in July.
“We will utilize these funds to accelerate our expansion across all channels – from our own cafes to B2B and B2C platforms,” said Matt Chitharanjan, co-founder and CEO of Blue Tokai.
Blue Tokai, started in 2013, sells speciality artisanal coffees from its standalone cafes and roasteries. It also offers cold brew cans, easy-pour sachets, and bio-degradable coffee capsules.
The company raised around $30 million (Rs 250 crore) in its Series B round last year. It also secured Rs 17 crore from Anicut Angel Fund in August 2022 and close to Rs 40 crore from early-stage funds and angel investors in 2020.
In the financial year ended March 2023, Blue Tokai’s loss soared to Rs 42.3 crore from Rs 12.3 crore the year before but consolidated net sales jumped to Rs 127.5 crore from Rs 74 crore, as per data sourced from VCCEdge.
In the recent past, several direct-to-consumer (D2C) firms have entered the Indian coffee market, despite the dominance of large players such as Nescafe, Starbucks and Cafe Coffee Day.
Third Wave Coffee, Slay Coffee, Sleepy Owl Coffee and Rage Coffee are a few Indian startups that have recently raised funding from VCs to take on the larger players in the space. Third Wave had secured a $35 million cheque led by homegrown private equity fund Creaegis last September.
