Blue Bottle's Massive New Funding Round

#1: Post by **Marshall** » June 4th, 2015, 9:19 pm

Those of you feeling deprived of Blue Bottle in your neighborhood are about to become a lot fewer. BB just announced it has raised $70m for further expansion. BB is poised to be the next lab test for how much quality can be retained after you open a whole lot of new stores.

Story here (by a Fortune writer who hates 3rd wave coffee shops): Blue Bottle raises $70 million for an artisanal coffee empire.

Kia Kokalitcheva wrote:One of Silicon Valley's darling coffee companies grabs more funding as it continues to expand its slow-roasted coffee shops. A fancy coffee company making headlines in the business press? Only in San Francisco.

On Thursday, Blue Bottle Coffee revealed it has raised $70 million in a new funding round led by Fidelity, according the Financial Times. It's seeking to raise an additional $5 million from individual investors. (cont'd)

#2: Post by **Moxiechef** » June 4th, 2015, 11:04 pm

That's a lot of cups of coffee.

I'd be interested in seeing the use of funds for the $70mm.

#3: Post by **Boldjava** » June 5th, 2015, 7:50 am

Not to digress but he notes BB is "slow-roasted" coffee.

For those of in the Midwest, unexposed to BB, is that an accurate description or is he just taking a jab at them?

#4: Post by **mgrayson** » June 5th, 2015, 8:26 am

Hmmm. I see they've now made it as far north as midtown. Not long ago they wouldn't have been caught dead north of 14th street. Maybe there's hope of one day finding them on the unhip Upper West Side where us old folks with school age children live

--Matt

#5: Post by **cmin** » June 5th, 2015, 8:38 am

Will be interesting, Stumptown seemed to take a nose dive after the PE investment. Hit them up a couple times after at shops and shipped as well, not as good as they used to be. Plenty others have said the same thing, and now that group is looking to sell its stake, makes you wonder what mess they left for new majority partner to deal with.

#6: Post by **Nate42** » June 5th, 2015, 9:05 am

Boldjava wrote:Not to digress but he notes BB is "slow-roasted" coffee.

For those of in the Midwest, unexposed to BB, is that an accurate description or is he just taking a jab at them?

I suspect the author either thinks she is being funny, or has no idea what she's talking about. I've never been to a blue bottle in person, but I am on their single origin coffee subscription. Their coffees are typically well developed enough to work equally well for brewing or espresso, which is one of the things I like about them, while still being light enough to focus on origin rather than roast flavor. I see no evidence that there is is anything unusually slow about their roast profile.

#7: Post by **NoStream** » June 5th, 2015, 9:56 am

Boldjava wrote: For those of in the Midwest, unexposed to BB, is that an accurate description or is he just taking a jab at them?

The author's a she. And she knows nothing about coffee.

e.g. ...

Kia Kokalitcheva wrote: Though the company has since expanded its presence to New York City, Los Angeles, and even Japan, Blue Bottle is one of the main faces of San Francisco's popular "third-wave coffee" trend-fancy language for the movement of artisanal coffee shops that charge you $4 for cup of coffee you waited 10 minutes to receive. (You can guess how I feel about these shops.)

#8: Post by **Balthazar_B** » June 6th, 2015, 10:18 am

Marshall wrote:Those of you feeling deprived of Blue Bottle in your neighborhood are about to become a lot fewer. BB just announced it has raised $70m for further expansion. BB is poised to be the next lab test for how much quality can be retained after you open a whole lot of new stores.

Story here (by a Fortune writer who hates 3rd wave coffee shops): Blue Bottle raises $70 million for an artisanal coffee empire.

Any inklings about where they may be putting new coffee shops? More infill in San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc., or will they be expanding to less civilized areas like Sacramento, San Diego, Seattle, and Phoenix?