August 12, 2020

By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media

Foodtech startup Atomo Coffee announced it has raised another $9 million in Seed funding to bring bean-less, molecular coffee to market. This additional round brings total Seed funding for the company to $11.6 million.

With this capital raised from S2G Ventures, AgFunder, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Horizon Ventures, Seattle-based Atomo Coffee plans to build a 12,000 square-foot production roastery in Seattle in support of its goal of having its ready-to-drink (RTD) cold brew launched in the local market in 2021. 

“Seattle is the perfect confluence of tech and craft coffee, it only makes sense that coffee is reinvented here,” said Andy Kleitsch, CEO and co-founder, Atomo Coffee. “Our tech creates a great tasting cup of coffee that provides consumers with a sustainable choice, as well as greater value for our farmers.”

As climate change intensifies, 60 percent of the world’s coffee species are threatened by extinction, according to findings from the Royal Botanical Gardens in Britain. Changing climate has forced coffee plantations into higher elevations, clearing new land suitable for the production of Arabica coffee beans. These higher-quality, in-demand beans account for two-thirds of global coffee production, but are only grown in specific subtropical highland regions, as they thrive at temperatures between 64 and 70 degrees fahrenheit.

In 2014, extreme drought in the world’s top two coffee producing regions of Brazil and Vietnam severely cut output, while in Central America, high temperatures and heavy rainfall led to an outbreak of leaf rust fungus, costing farmers $250 million in losses, and resulting in Arabica prices doubling in one year. 

If these challenging conditions continue, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) warns that  half of the world’s coffee producing land will no longer be suitable for production by 2050.

World Coffee Research, CIAT, and agricultural producers are taking various measures to mitigate the damage, including the development of new bean varieties, implementing shaded production practices, and integrating biologicals into pest control protocols, but Atomo is approaching the challenges from a different angle, by reverse engineering the coffee bean to make bean-less coffee. 

“Coffee is among the most consumed beverages worldwide, with roughly 42.6 liters per person per year according to Statistica,” said Tony Lau, Atomo board member and managing partner at Horizons Ventures. “Atomo Coffee can make a huge impact in the market from a sustainability aspect while not sacrificing the quality and taste that consumers are going after.”

In its production methodology, Atomo has plugged into the rising upcycling movement – or using ingredients that would not typically be used for human consumption – to produce their bean-less coffee. 

“Our flagship grounds formula is made of upcycled plant materials such as pits, seeds, and stems from locally grown agriculture, mirroring the process of traditional coffee beans,” said Jarret Stopforth, chief scientist and cofounder, Atomo Coffee. “Atomo’s magic comes from our proprietary bioreactive and thermal processes.”

“Today, coffee production has the 6th highest climate impact in terms of GHG emissions per kilogram of food product on the planet,” said Chuck Templeton, managing director, S2G Ventures. “The Atomo team’s molecular coffee recreates a wide variety of the coffee people love and increasingly consume in a sustainable and scalable manner.”

Rob Leclerc, managing partner at AgFunder, also noted how the disruptive nature of Atomo’s technology and business can significantly move the needle, much like we’ve seen in the alternative meat space.

“With Americans drinking 450m cups of coffee a day, coffee is bigger than beef and we have already seen what the alternative meat industry has done for the food revolution,” said Leclerc. “This is only the beginning for disruptive innovation in the coffee industry.”

– Lynda Kiernan is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, and HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She is also a contributor to the GAI Gazette. She can be reached at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.