BrewBike, an Evanston startup that sells cold brew coffee on Northwestern University's campus via portable coffee stands housed in custom-made cargo bikes, has closed an $800,000 seed round to expand to other colleges.
The round included backing from local entrepreneurs like Matt Matros, the founder of Limitless Coffee and Protein Bar; Mats Lederhausen, the founder and CEO of BE-CAUSE; Deborah Quazzo, the managing partner of venture capital firm GSV AcceleraTE, and Venetia Kontogouris, the former managing director of Trident Capital.
Additionally, NUseeds, Northwestern's $4 million pre-seed and seed investment fund, and the University of Chicago, participated in the round.
BrewBike says it will use the funds to expand operations in the Chicago area and in other states. The startup was founded by Lucas Philips, a Northwestern undergraduate, who later brought on Randy Paris as CEO, who at the time was an MBA student at the University of Chicago.
“[The funding] is incredibly humbling," Paris said. "So many people have suppoted us over the years. It’s one thing to say you’re on a great track and it’s another thing to write a check.”
BrewBike was originally launched in 2015 by Philips when he started riding his coffee stand and bike hybrid around campus, hauling around kegs of cold brew. He’d park it in high-traffic areas, catching students and faculty as they made their way to class. And with a successful Indiegogo campaign that generated $10,000, the startup was able to increase production.
Fast forward to today, BrewBike has sold more than 35,000 cups of cold brew at Northwestern, generating about $150,000 in sales. Paris says the startup employs nearly 40 people, most of which are Northwestern students that serve as baristas and bike operators.
Last spring, BrewBike initially caught the interest of investors at Northwestern’s and UChicago’s student pitch competitions. At Norwesthern’s VentureCat, BrewBike was awarded $20,000, and at UChicago’s New Venture Challenge, they won $45,000, part of which was from the Pritzker Group.
“BrewBike is what I call investment nirvana,” Matros, one of BrewBike’s investors, said in a statement. “They have an amazing thesis, a driven founder, an impressive leadership team and, above all, a killer product.”
