Screenshots from promotional videos from three current Wefunder campaigns. Clockwise from top left: Dope Coffee; Sepia Coffee Project; Cxffeeblack.
Three separate up-and-coming Black-owned United States coffee roasting companies are currently live on the crowdfunding platform Wefunder.
Wefunder is a bit like Kickstarter, with the perk being some form of financial proposition, typically a small equity share. The platform allows unaccredited investors to invest as little as $100 in private startup companies.
While the platform does allow for brand-new businesses to raise funds, each of the startups outlined below have been on an upward trajectory for years, building brands and devoted followings. Each is also in the midst of a campaign to raise funds for equipment and/or physical spaces to scale and grow coffee roasting operations.
Cxffeeblack (Memphis)
Memphis, Tennessee-based Cxffeeblack, fresh off being named the number one “notable roaster” in Sprudge’s annual awards program, is the most recent to take to the platform.
The music and coffee company, founded by Bartholomew Jones and Renata Henderson, is currently raising funds to build a brick-and-mortar roastery and global headquarters in Memphis.
With a mission to “Make Cxffee Black Again” — both in respect to coffee’s African roots as well as its role in gentrification closer to home — the company promises to offer an all-Black supply chain connecting coffees from Ethiopia and other parts of Africa to Memphis.
Check out the Cxffeeblack Wefunder here.
Dope Coffee (Atlanta)
Atlanta-based coffee roasting and music company Dope Coffee says it “operates at the intersection between content, creativity, and coffee production,” using hip-hop as a vehicle to connect consumers to coffee.
Founded by Michael and Michelle Loyd in 2019, Dope Coffee launched with online retail sales in 2020 and last year opened a Metro Atlanta headquarters and event space in South Dekalb.
According to Dope’s current Wefunder, additional capital will be used for strategic equipment purchasing to expand production operations, sales and marketing, and additional partnerships with other local Black-owned businesses.
Check out the Dope Coffee Wefunder here.
Sepia Coffee Project (Detroit)
With plans to open a new roasting headquarters in Highland Park, Michigan, an enclave surrounded by Detroit, Sepia Coffee Project has already raised more than $130,000 through its Wefunder campaign.
Founded by Highland Park native and longtime coffee professional Martell Mason in 2021, the small-batch roasting company is on a mission to make coffee more inclusive while also serving as inspiration for other small Black-owned enterprises in and around Detroit.
“We want to give back to the community,” Mason recently told DCN. “I want to ensure there’s equity, representation and diversity in specialty coffee… Specialty coffee should not be an elitist drink. We should all be able to enjoy a proper cup of coffee.”
Find the Sepia Coffee Project Wefunder here.
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