A Chicago VC firm that's investing in Black and Latino founders has made its first investment in a local startup.
Capitalize VC, a new fund that launched last year by Tessa Flippin, announced it has backed Kribi Coffee, a coffee company based in Forest Park.
Kribi is a Black-owned coffee company focused on sustainably and ethically sourced coffee, primarily from Africa. Along with the company's brick-and-mortar location, it also sells in retail as well as direct to consumer.
Founded in 2019 by Jacques Shalo, the startup says it does $1 million in annual sales.
The size of the investment wasn't disclosed, but it's part of what will ultimately be a $1.5 million pre-seed round. Capitalize VC was the first check in Kribi's round, Flippin said.
Capitalize VC is raising $10 million for its debut fund that invests in founders of color. It held its first close in December. It's part of a growing group of emerging VC firms in Chicago that are looking to write checks in Black and Latino-owned startups.
Kribi is Capitalize VC's first Chicago investment and its second overall. It previously backed Airpals, a same-day shipping and delivery startup out of New York.
Originally from Cameroon, Shalo was previously the CEO of Java Master International, the maker of a retail coffee roaster. He's also held sales leadership roles at Salesforce, Oracle and IBM.
Kribi sources its coffee beans from farmers in Africa and South America, roasting them on-demand using air roasting, a patented technique it has developed. The company says it results in fresher coffee with less waste.
