AUSTIN COFFEE COMPANY GETS $20M TO PERK UP MORE
Austin beverage maker High Brew Coffee has landed a $20 million round of funding to continue the fast-growing company’s expansion, High Brew executives said Friday.
High Brew will put the new funding toward brand growth, marketing and retail and distributor partners, the company said.
The funding round comes from multiple investors but was led by Austin-based Charles Street Partners, a firm that includes former University of Texas and major league pitcher Houston Street and Charles Attal, partner in C3 Presents.
“As an Austin native and University of Texas alumni, I discovered High Brew shortly after it launched in 2014 and immediately fell in love,” Street said in a written statement. “When the opportunity arose to be more deeply involved with a brand I already loved, I knew I had to jump at the chance.”
Founded in 2013 by David Smith — who previously was a co-founder of Sweet Leaf Tea — High Brew Coffee sells a variety of flavors of cold-brew coffee.
Cold brew refers to the process of brewing coffee in cold or room-temperature water, rather than heated water, resulting in a coffee that is naturally sweeter, has higher levels of caffeine and has lower acidity.
High Brew uses arabica coffee beans to create a final coffee extract that is blended with sugar, reduced-fat milk and natural flavors.
“I always knew High Brew was special, not only because it tastes great, but because of the fact it truly provides clean energy in a can that blows away scary energy drinks or sugary coffees that are on the market,” Smith said in a written statement. “This is evident with not only the wide variety of consumers who truly love the product, but with our new investors as well. With one of the best teams in the industry, we look forward to continuing our mission to caffeinate the masses with natural products.”
High Brew, which has 86 employees, is distributed nationally and sold more than 24 million cans of its product in 2017, according to the company.
The company’s products are sold by retailers including Whole Foods, H-E-B, Target, Safeway, Kroger and Albertsons.
High Brew previously raised $17 million in 2017 in a funding round led by Boulder, Colo.-based BIGR Ventures, and in 2016 raised $4 million from CAVU Venture partners, based in Austin and New York, and about 30 individual investors.