COMMONWEALTH JOE COFFEE ROASTERS TAPS INTO $2.5 MILLION IN FUNDING TO FUEL NITRO COLD BREW EXPANSION

Arlington, VA, Aug. 17, 2017 -- Today, Commonwealth Joe, one of the capital region’s fastest growing coffee roasting and Nitro Cold Brewing companies, announced that it closed a Series Seed funding round for $2.5 million. Mendacre, a deal-by-deal expansion capital fund, led the round. Mendacre brings an extensive network of investors, advisors, and mentors to the table. Other notable investors included Hammerstone Capital and Stroud Companies, which combined have investment experience across a number of successful beverage and non-beverage companies such as WTRMLN WTR, High Brew Coffee, Sir Kensington’s, Boll & Branch, Tecovas, and DC’s own UrbanStems. Dallas-based Stroud was also a lead investor in a $20 million round in Bai beverages that yielded a nearly 300 percent return when that company was sold to the Dr Pepper-Snapple Group for $1.7 billion in 2017. Jeremy Martin, Director of Finance at Commonwealth Joe, says, “Our investors think we have a very interesting angle on a product we are all familiar with - coffee - and they are excited to see it evolve.”

Including this round of fundraising, Commonwealth Joe has raised more than $4.0 million in total capital since inception in 2012. The recent capital injection will be used to increase production, further improve product quality, recruit top talent, and improve capabilities to meet the increasing demands for Nitro Cold Brew coffee, which has become the flagship product.

“Great coffee doesn’t happen by chance. My mom has been roasting coffee in small batches for more than 13 years and we have a team of people dedicated solely to the craft of brewing delicious Nitro Cold Brew coffee. It’s a wonderful thing when so many people work together and the end product is something amazing. People can taste the difference with our Nitro Cold Brew, and every week, more people are asking for it. We are blessed to have the opportunity to share our passion for great coffee with many more people.” says Robert Peck, Co-Founder & CEO.

Innovation, experimentation, and premium quality are hallmarks of the Commonwealth Joe culture. Nitro Cold Brew, which the company began brewing in 2013, is a direct result of this pioneering spirit. The concierge Office Nitro Cold Brew program began in 2014 and since then, the Company has become the leading provider of Nitro Cold Brew to offices in the DC Metro Area, supplying the area’s most cutting edge technology businesses, marketing agencies, architecture firms, investment banks, law firms, newsrooms, and other companies spanning a wide range of industries with kegs of Nitro Cold Brew on tap for employees. With the shifting demographic trends, millennials are projected to represent more than half of the workforce within the next few years. Companies realize they need to find new ways to attract and retain top talent in this demographic. Based on a 2016 survey of more than 13,000 millennials  conducted by LinkedIn, it was discovered that the No. 1 element Millennials want to know about a company is its "culture and values," followed by "perks and benefits," and "employee perspectives of the company." 64 percent of Millennials care about company perks and benefits (compared to 54 percent of Generation X and 51 percent of Baby Boomers).

For many companies, Commonwealth Joe helps to recruit, retain, and motivate high-performing employees. Chase Damiano, COO, says, “Our Nitro Cold Brew is an investment into your people and culture. It is one way a company can communicate its values to its people, and it quickly becomes one of the most valued amenities in the office. We hear time and time again that our Nitro Cold Brew makes employees happier, more productive, more engaged, and translating to better relationships with your customers, clients and partners.”

Launched in 2012 by college friends seeking to share one woman’s passion for fresh-roasted coffee, Commonwealth Joe has grown from a mom and son operation selling beans at local farmer’s markets, to leading one of the region’s premium coffee programs. Eight to twelve specialty small batch roasts are available at any given time online and at regional grocers including Whole Foods Market, as well as at beloved coffee shops such as The Java Shack, Arlington’s oldest coffee house (purchased by Commonwealth Joe in 2015) and the brand’s flagship store in Pentagon City which opened in fall 2016.

Since 2012 Commonwealth Joe has seen explosive growth, and the Office Nitro Cold Brew program has experienced triple-digit increases in year over year sales since launching in 2014. The company has been featured in The Washington Post, Washington Business Journal, Northern Virginia Magazine, NBC4, and many others.

Neeraj Pradhan, Director of Corporate Strategy at Commonwealth Joe, notes, “Traditional office coffee is old, stale, and dead. Nobody wants to drink it. At Commonwealth Joe, we are passionate about bringing people together over great coffee. Our mission is to make amazing coffee approachable and accessible. Our full-service, turn-key Office Nitro Cold Brew program does just that. We are reinventing office coffee with Nitro Cold Brew on tap and are excited to improve the cultures and fuel the work of great companies everywhere.”

For more information on Commonwealth Joe or to learn more about Nitro Cold Brew for your office, visit www.officenitro.com.

http://blog.ryan-jenkins.com/2016/10/17/how-to-attract-millennial-workers-in-2-simple-steps

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1f6633ab-0aa9-4302-83e5-6c7ebedb5ca3

Courtney Flantzer
Commonwealth Joe Coffee Roasters
202-997-4515
[email protected]