The team that has meatless burgers taking the nation by storm is hoping it can do the same thing with bean-free coffee.
Horizon Ventures, the company that funded Impossible Foods, has backed a startup that produces coffee sans coffee beans with $2.6 million in funding the Observer reports.
Atomo Coffee, a Seattle-based company, produces “molecular coffee” that’s made from a range of chemical compounds. Though it is 100 percent free of any coffee beans, Atomo claims its strange brew has the same aroma, mouthfeel, flavor and color as a standard cup of joe. Also, of course, the caffeine is on the level too.
“The coffee industry is ripe for innovation and change,” company co-founder Jarret Stopforth said in the funding announcement. “The acceptance of agriculture alternatives has been proven with meatless meats and dairy-free milks, we want to continue that movement in a category we feel passionate about, coffee.”
One of the other reasons Atomo is brewing coffee with no beans is because of climate change. “Rising temperatures in coffee-growing regions are causing the fruit of coffee trees to ripen too quickly, not fully allowing the beans inside to develop all their wonderful flavors and aromas,” according to Atomo. “This ultimately depletes the quality of the brewed cup of coffee.”
Prior to Horizon Ventures’ investment, Atomo had been relying on crowdfunding, but with the influx of cash Atomo’s coffee is on pace to hit the market by 2020.
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