Cafédirect, one of the UK’s biggest coffee brands, has acquired online coffee club Kopi.co.uk.
Founded in 2011 by Philip Wilkinson and Simon I’anson, Kopi delivers premium coffee to people through their letterbox each month.
Formulated as a discovery experience, members get to try and different, fresh coffee, that comes with a tasting booklet explaining the flavours and provenance of each coffee.
The founders self-funded the business to grow the brand, and it has appeared in a wide range of press and media including the Alan Titchmarsh show, BBC Radio, and Jamie Oliver magazine.
Cafédirect has now acquired Kopi’s custom-built subscription software, a passionate subscriber base, and an opportunity to move into the e-commerce space.
Kopi, in turn, can leverage the Cafédirect brand and its coffee sourcing and operations to build its subscriber base.
Kopi only raised one small round of funding during its two-and-a-half years of business, from Cambridge-based incubator and digital marketing agency Genieventures.co.uk, and reached operational break-even in mid-2013.
The Kopi/Cafédirect deal is the fifth notable transaction in recent times involving the sale of an e-commerce subscription business, closely following the high-profile sale of US coffee subscription club Tonx to the Index Ventures-backed Blue Bottle Coffee Company last month. It also follows in the footsteps of LOVEFiLM (sold to Amazon), Graze (sold to Carlyle Group) and JolieBox (sold to Birchbox).
Much speculation has been made over the future of e-commerce subscription models, where customers pay a monthly fee to receive a regular, curated product through the post. Today’s deal provides further evidence that these companies will continue to partner with bigger retail brands in order to scale their customer base.
Philip Wilkinson, co-founder of Kopi, said: “We’ve always known the coffee subscription sector needed a big, respected brand to drive awareness. Cafédirect has turned out to be the perfect partner for our mission: to bring the world’s best fresh coffee to coffee lovers every month.”
John Steel, CEO of Cafédirect, explained: “This acquisition allows us to develop small batches of premium, bespoke coffees which it would not usually be possible for us to sell in supermarkets. We were very impressed with the team, the technology, and the superb product Kopi has built over the years – and we’re excited to bring them into the business.”
Kopi.co.uk