[Funding alert] Coffee brand Hatti Kaapi raises Rs 10 Cr in pre-Series A round

Bengaluru-based authentic coffee brand Hatti Kaapi recently announced its pre-Series A round of Rs 100 million (Rs 10 crore) led by BlueWolf Capital, Investribe, Kochi Holdings, and CreedCap Asia.

The company will use the capital to expand the brand's retail and cloud footprint to over 200 stores from the existing 115 outlets. It will also use the fund to scale up its ready-to-use product portfolio under the 'Six Seconds' line of products on both online and offline channels.

The latest capital infusion into Hatti Kaapi accentuates its strong business model and robust long-term business continuity plan, which helped the brand secure substantial funding amidst COVID-19.

Speaking on the funding, U S Mahendar, Chairman and Managing Director, Hatti Kaapi, said,

"F&B industry is one of the worst affected sectors because of the ongoing pandemic. Being one of the top performers in our segment also has to bear the brunt of COVID-19 forced shutdowns. Thus, this fresh round of capital infusion through fundraising makes it more special. It showcases our understanding of the ground realities and the agility to adapt to the changing scenario."

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As various restrictions on movement, social distancing, and WHF impacted physical stores' walk-ins, Hatti Kaapi introduced contactless kiosks, which cater to the requirement of the present day.

During this period, it also launched its new line of ready-to-use products — Six Seconds-ready-to-use Filter Coffee Decoction, immunity booster drinks like Kashaya (spices mix) and Golden Latte (Turmeric mix), and Ooru (coffee powder brand for the mass market).

To expand its presence across geography and product repertoire, the brand has been in talks with potential investors since early November 2020. However, it had to pause due to the second lockdown.

"Once we resumed the conversations in June 2021, with a group of global and Indian family offices who were also our patrons, things started to fall in place, and we received funding in our pre-Series A round," added Narayanan, CFO, Hatti Kaapi.

Commenting on the funding, Sekhar from Investribe said,

"In this decade, authentic and regional brands will need to offer multi-products via an omnichannel strategy to be able to own every stage of the customer experience. As early backers in 2017, we have seen the company grow its stores by 14x, and we believe this is the right team to scale deeper into Tier II and III India. We have also seen them master product standardisation due to adoption of modern packaging and food technology."