Okay, today we’ll travel back in time.

**Time machine noises**

Welcome to 2011! Let’s go and have a look around! But first, how about some coffee?

Now don’t get too excited. You will not be getting your specialty roasts. At least not until a year.

Matt Chitharanjan and Namrata Asthana haven’t started Blue Tokai yet. 

See, for the longest period of time, coffee meant regular instant coffee that could never be the main item in the menu.

However, things change when risk takers get in front of the wheel. Challenging the “cafe” culture in India, Matt & Namrata started Blue Tokai and this is the story.

Alright, Back to the future now. (Shameless pun alert!)

Freshly Brewed Into Existence – The Blue Tokai Inception

In 2012, when cofounder Matt and his partner Namrata moved to Delhi from the US they analysed a dearth in places that served a good cup of coffee.

So like any other hustler, they went on and created a coffee shop of their own that served specialty coffees!

In a market crowded with coffee chains, building a business focused solely on specialty coffee was no easy feat. Yet, Blue Tokai overcame the challenges and now stands as a strong competitor to industry giants.

Big ideas often start from little executions. So did this coffee giant – from a 1kg machine where they roasted beans for twelve to fourteen hours straight on most nights.

The company started sourcing single-estate Arabica coffee beans from premium Indian coffee estates, roasting them on order, and selling them online direct to consumers and offline to leading cafes, restaurants and hotels across the country.

How Blue Tokai Spread The Aroma Pan India (And Japan!)

After building a loyal fanbase, Blue Tokai raised its first seed funding round in 2016 led by Snow Leopard Ventures with participation from Bold Ventures.

Around this time, Blue Tokai had recently set up a roastery and cafe in Delhi and the company aimed to use these funds to add more roasteries in other major cities across India, starting with Mumbai in mid-2016.

And the rest is history.

Blue Tokai has more than 80 outlets spread across Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai and Gurgaon and in Japan too!

Espresso Shot To Success

Blue Tokai employs 448 individuals and has raised $72 Mn+ in funding in the last decade of its existence.

With the recent fundraise of INR 293 Cr led by Verlinvest pegging its valuation at INR 1500 Crs – Blue Tokai has unlocked the next phase of its journey.

“We will utilise these funds to accelerate our expansion across all channels – from our own cafes to B2B and B2C platforms… Our focus remains to providing exceptional coffee experiences while fostering sustainable growth,” said Blue Tokai cofounder and CEO Matt Chitharanjan.

Meanwhile, cofounder and chief operating officer (COO) Shivam Shahi said that the funds will enable the startup to accelerate expansion plans and “drive profitability” while maintaining product quality.

What’s more?

Last year, Blue Tokai also bagged funding from Deepika Padukone as part of its $30 Mn Series B funding round led by A91 Partners.

This comes at a time when startups in the food and beverage (F&B) sector are witnessing renewed interest from investors on the back of growing disposable income in the country.