Cometeer, the makers of flash-frozen coffee concentrates have quietly been taking the single-serve and (almost) ready-to-drink coffee markets by storm. And the tech investments world has started to take notice too, netting the company a total $35 million in Series B funding. This brings their total money raised to nearly $100 million.
The Glouchester, Massachusetts-based company first made waves earlier this summer when they teamed up with Equator Coffees to release a limited edition set of frozen coffee capsules using four different coffees from the famed Finca Sophia in Panama, including three different processing of Gesha and a natural processed Catuaí. The $100 box contained 20 different capsules, bringing the price per cup of these rare coffees to a very reasonable $5. Set up in a former frozen seafood facility, Cometeer uses proprietary flash freezing methods to bring fresh brewed coffee to a “chilly -321 degrees to lock in its flavor,” per their website. Each concentrated frozen capsule—made of 26g of coffee—can then be thawed in hot water for fresh coffee on-demand, no brewing required.
Per Tech Crunch, coming 18 months after an initial $50 million funding, Cometeer received a round of backing from investment firms D1 Capital, Elephant, Tao Capital, Addition Ventures, Avenir, Greycroft Partners, and TQ Ventures, “along with a number of coffee-expert angel investors.” The company plans to use this round of funding to bring their product to a wider market via a direct-to-consumer model; capsules had previously been available via waitlist but Cometeer has scaled up production and is now accepting new orders from their website.
Cometeer’s plan is to bring a broad variety of roasting perspectives to their coffee offerings by working with a range of specialty coffee roasters. CEO Matt Roberts tells Tech Crunch, “We are focused on building out a diverse group of roasting partners with unique backgrounds, sourcing techniques, and roasting styles.” This includes big names in the specialty coffee world like Counter Culture, Bird Rock, Joe, George Howell, Red Bay, Birch, Go Get Em Tiger, and Klatch.
32-count boxes of Cometeer—which the site states are TSA approved for making good coffee a mile high—can be purchased for $64 via their official website and come in Light, Medium, Dark, Light/Medium, Medium/Dark, Mixed, Decaf, and Half Caf varieties.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
