It claims to be India’s first online coffee shop, delivering freshly brewed coffee to-order via its website.
DropKaffe, an online startup that delivers brewed coffee and refreshments within Bengaluru, has raised USD 300,000 in seed funding led by angel investor Manish Singhal and US-based venture capital firm P39 Capital.
Angel investors from U.S, India and Singapore have also put money in this round, as a per a press statement. The funds will be used to hire more staffers and expand services within Bengaluru.
DropKaffe was co-founded by Rakshit Kejriwal, Lakshmi Dasaka, Chaitanya Chitta and Amar Yashlaha five months back. Prior to DropKaffe, the team worked together at SmartOn Learning, an education technology startup that was part of TechStars Accelerator in New York last year.
“The growing on-demand behaviour coupled with increasing appetite for coffee and cafe style food gives us an opportunity to build a unique and differentiated business. We are democratising the Starbucks experience through DropKaffe,” said Dasaka.
The startup has two full fulfilment centres in Koramangala and Indiranagar (both in Bengaluru) and plans to have 10 such centres in the city by October. Since inception, DropKaffe has served over 50,000 coffees and 80% of its revenue comes from repeat purchases, the company claims. It offers 50 different types of coffees along with burgers, bakes and non-caffeine beverages.
“We are fully integrated from sourcing the coffees directly from the estates to delivering a freshly brewed coffee to the customer. Our vision is to build a coffee brand that will delight our customers through product and technology innovation. From sourcing to roasting to brewing to delivering, we are innovating at every step of the way,” said Lakshmi.
The company claims to deliver within 30 minutes. It is gunning for 20-minute delivery once the new fulfillment centres are operational. DropKaffee is also in the process of developing a mobile app.
“During my discussions with the team, I found them to be savvy, thorough and methodical in their approach. With their ability to deliver consistently high quality food and beverage, I believe, they offer better choice and convenience for Indian consumers and by doing so they’re poised to become market leaders in this space,” said Ray Nathan, partner at P39 Capital.
P39 capital, which was founded earlier this year, is a San Francisco-based seed fund that invests in seed and early stage ventures.
