Rage Coffee raises $5 million in Series A funding from Sixth Sense Ventures

Bengaluru: Coffee products manufacturer Rage Coffee on Tuesday said that it has raised $5 million as part of its Series A funding round led by Sixth Sense Ventures.

Through the fundraising, the brand is planning to expand its online presence and offline footprint pan-India. It will also use the capital proceeds for marketing and distribution purposes, scaling production, launching innovative new products and adding senior talent to its existing team.

The three-year-old startup is a digitally native consumer brand that manufactures, markets and distributes coffee products. Rage has also created ready to mix craft coffee that can be consumed instantly and comes in biodegradable tube shots.

“We are excited to work with Sixth Sense Ventures - veteran FMCG investors, through this round of funding. Therefore, we plan to double down on our efforts across all the channels. We are successfully building a truly omnichannel FMCG brand, with distribution strategies being implemented for the first time, given our digital DNA. In fact, our direct-to-consumer channel has grown 10x during the pandemic,” said Bharat Sethi, founder and chief executive officer, Rage Coffee.

Sethi added that the company is already working with distributor partners in the US, Europe and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to launch its products internationally.

At present, Rage Coffee products are retailed through their own website, and via 1000 offline touchpoints through a network of distributors.

“With increasing adoption of the café culture and changing consumer preferences within hot beverages (in favour of coffee), our sense is that the segment will witness a strong increase in penetration. We believe Rage Coffee is extremely well-positioned to resonate with these new age consumers and create a strong brand affinity for its products,” said Nikhil Vora, CEO and founder of Sixth Sense Ventures.

Last week, specialty coffee startup Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters raised ₹17 crore from Anicut Angel Fund, as a part of its pre-Series B bridge round. Through the fundraise, even Blue Tokai has been eyeing international markets to boost its growth.