A 4-year-old beverage startup is brewing up big plans for new hires and a new product line in 2022.
Durham-based Mosi Tea recently disclosed the closure of a $440,000 seed round – one that, according to COO Gavin Jocius was dominated by local investors. The round was initially targeted at $350,000, but quickly “got a lot more interest,” Davis said. And the money, which in addition to the nearly $500,000 the firm raised on a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, will go toward product expansion – including a soon-to-be-launched line of loose-leaf teas.
Mosi is the third startup for Davis – and a natural fit, he said. He was raised in Africa as the son of missionaries. He grew up drinking tea in South Africa and Zimbabwe, visiting villages with his parents, meeting different people, experiencing different cultures “and a lot of that was just over a cup of tea.”
“Moving back to the states, it’s very much a go, go, go lifestyle,” Davis said. “In college, I found myself having to drink a lot of coffee using a Keurig. I missed drinking my tea. I wished there was just a way to take it on the go.”
Infusers were already on the market. But not to Davis’ satisfaction.
“The steeping basket where you keep the tea, most of the infusers had them at the bottom of the vessel, which leads to over-steeped, bitter tea, kind of gross,” he said.
Davis had a better idea, a tea flask with interchangeable sieves so users “could literally brew anything.”
“I just started playing with it,” he said. “I hired an industrial designer to help me start 3D printing.”
Davis researched Kickstarter campaigns, utilized his marketing background to create a video – a role at ad agency McKinney is what brought him to Durham. And he found a partner in Jocius to bring the vision to reality.
Davis and Jocius met years ago, when Davis was at his last startup, Boostopia, which was bought out earlier this year by San Francisco-based SupporTrends, and Jocius was at Canvas on Demand. The pair worked together on a number of projects. When Davis shifted to Mosi, Jocius was one of his initial investors. What began as a mentor relationship just kept growing until Jocius decided to join the team.
“It fit my investment thesis of disruptive technology or products in large, addressable markets,” Jocius said. “It’s the second-most drank substance on earth … Any time you can provide a better experience, that tends to provide a real growth opportunity.”
With its latest capital raise, Mosi is also planning to expand its team in Durham as it works to address the $7.9 billion U.S. tea market.
It’s planning to sell direct-to-consumer on its website. The plan is to eventually expand to other retailers, likely starting with Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN).
In the meantime, it continues to push out Kickstarter orders. The firm is has already fulfilled about 70 percent of those orders according to Jocius.
Davis and Jocius said their company is in Durham for the long haul.
“I’ve been here for about 16 years,” Jocius said. “You’re not going to get a better area for talent, for camaraderie, everyone wants to help each other, which is amazing.”