The Kopi/Cafédirect deal is the fifth notable transaction in recent times involving the sale of an e-commerce subscription business, closely following the high-profile sale of US coffee subscription club Tonx to the Index Ventures-backed Blue Bottle Coffee Company last month. It also follows in the footsteps of LOVEFiLM (sold to Amazon), Graze (sold to Carlyle Group) and JolieBox (sold to Birchbox).
Cafédirect has now acquired Kopi’s custom-built subscription software, a passionate subscriber base, and an opportunity to move into the e-commerce space. Kopi, in turn, can leverage the hugely respected Cafédirect brand and its coffee sourcing and operational prowess to rapidly build its subscriber base.
Kopi only raised one small round of funding during its two-and-a-half years of business, from Cambridge-based incubator and digital marketing agency Genieventures.co.uk, and reached operational break-even in mid-2013.
Philip Wilkinson, co-founder of Kopi, says: “We’ve always known the coffee subscription sector needed a big, respected brand to drive awareness. Cafédirect has turned out to be the perfect partner for our mission: to bring the world’s best fresh coffee to coffee lovers every month.”
Much speculation has been made over the future of e-commerce subscription models, where customers pay a monthly fee to receive a regular, curated product through the post. Today’s deal provides further evidence that these groundbreaking companies will continue to partner with bigger retail brands in order to scale their customer base.
John Steel, CEO of Cafédirect, explains: “This acquisition allows us to develop small batches of premium, bespoke coffees which it would not usually be possible for us to sell in supermarkets. We were very impressed with the team, the technology, and the superb product Kopi has built over the years – and we’re excited to bring them into the business.”
About Genie Ventures:
Genie Ventures is a Cambridge-based digital marketing and publishing business which operates a niche network of brands including Broadband Genie, Big Cup Little Cup coffee, Office Genie, Crowdstorm, and Genie Goals. The company has a staff of 20 fantastic people, is based in Cambridge, and operates principally in the UK & US markets.
About Cafédirect:
Cafédirect has a unique business model with a dynamic mission to change lives and build communities. Set up 23 years ago, it was the first coffee brand in the UK to carry the Fairtrade label. Now the Cafédirect network consists of 38 small-scale coffee, cocoa and tea producer cooperatives across Latin America, Africa and Asia, representing more than 280,000 smallholder farms.
Cafédirect sources coffee directly from smallholder growers who work in harmony with the local ecosystem, with personal attention and care, using skills passed down through generations. Those smallholders often farm in remote communities and are the least able to realise the benefits of their harvest. Their livelihoods are also extremely vulnerable to risks such as climate change.
To date, Cafédirect has invested the equivalent of the more than 50% of its profits back into grower programmes designed to increase skills, improve quality, protect the environment and build communities for the producer partners who produce the raw ingredients for it award-winning range of coffees, teas and hot chocolate.
About Kopi Coffee:
Kopi was started in 2011 by Philip Wilkinson and Simon I’anson, with a vision to provide only the very best premium coffee to people through their letterbox each month. Formulated as a discovery experience, members get to try and different, fresh coffee, that comes with a high quality tasting booklet explaining the flavours and provenance of each coffee.
The founders self-funded the business to grow the brand, and it has appeared in a wide range of press and media including the Alan Titchmarsh show, BBC Radio, and Jamie Oliver magazine.
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For more information/comment/interviews contact:
Philip Wilkinson: 020 8123 1758 [email protected]
Saisha Moran: 0844 415 5531 [email protected]
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