Chamberlain Coffee Raises $7M to Support Omnichannel Growth

Chamberlain Coffee, the Los Angeles-based specialty coffee brand founded by YouTube sensation Emma Chamberlain, announced it has closed a $7 million funding round to fuel omnichannel business growth. The company had previously raised $1M during a seed round in 2020.

The round, announced today, was led by venture builder Blazar Capital and Chamberlain herself, with participation from Ole & Steele/Lagkagehuset founders Ole Kristoffersen and Steen Skallebaek, Grin founder Brandon Brown, D2C expert Nik Sharma and beverage industry veteran Ken Sadowsky.

“Chamberlain Coffee has grown exponentially since its inception, and this is only the beginning. In finding a group of investors for the brand who believe in and share our vision, we know Chamberlain Coffee will reach new heights and become the go-to coffee brand of this generation,” said Chamberlain Coffee CEO, Christopher Gallant, in a press release.

Founded in 2019 by YouTube star Emma Chamberlain, Chamberlain Coffee started off as a D2C brand that marketed a range of organic blends in whole bean, ground and steeped varieties. Since then, the business has grown into categories such as matcha, hot chocolate and chocolate covered espresso beans and into flavored blends (Witty Fox Hazelnut and Fluffy Lamb Vanilla) while expanding beyond D2C into limited retail with partners including Sprouts, Bristol Farms and Erewhon and digital delivery market Gopuff.

With the new capital, the specialty coffee brand plans to grow its D2C —which accounts for 80% of its business — and retail presence even further.

Referencing Black Rifle’s Q1 2022 earnings call, Gallant said that a lot of coffee brands are facing declines in their D2C sales and their primary focus moving forward is in the retail channel. As coffee is still largely purchased at grocery stores, Chamberlain Coffee emphasized the importance of an omnichannel approach.

“It’s really important, at any company, to meet your consumers where they want to buy your product, whether that be in retail, on Amazon, on your own website, in cafes and foodservice channels,” Gallant told NOSH.

Chamberlain Coffee will build up its retail and wholesale presence, starting with traditional and natural grocery stores, with hopes of reaching 250 doors by the end of the year.

“We’ll use the latest funding round for [growth] as we think about the financials. I think all D2C businesses right now are taking a look at how expensive it is to acquire new consumers [in the] D2C space with all the changes that are happening across every platform,” said Gallant.

According to LinkedIn, the brand is also looking to fill several roles, including Marketing Manager, Chief Marketing Officer and Chief of Staff while still running relatively lean in the face of potential future headwinds.

“In just the general economy […] often the mistake companies start to make is raising money around hiring a lot of people. But we do have a couple of key roles we need to fill,” said Gallant. “[Chamberlain Coffee] is looking for someone that has worked with food and beverage brands to deliver an omnichannel experience.”

Recently, Chamberlain Coffee explored new opportunities in the RTD segment through partnerships with Swoon and Nutpods.

In May, Chamberlain Coffee and Swoon launched Matcha Lemonade, a LTO available exclusively online in 12 oz. cans. In June, Nutpods and Chamberlain released a co-branded variety pack featuring “Emma’s favorite flavors” – unsweetened French Vanilla, unsweetened Caramel and sweetened Sweet Crème – for $14.95.

Gallant, who has a background in the RTD space, including stints at Aqua ViTea and Red Bull, told NOSH in May that the brand is “super excited” about its potential for a direct move into RTD products. However, said jump will not happen within the next year. Thus far, the brand has found its ‘sweet spot’ in single-serve products like sachets and will use the new capital to “develop new and innovative products to further its mission of being an innovator in the beverage space.” The brand has also seen success with its matcha powder, its strongest selling SKU, and last week added two new flavor innovations – Vanilla and Mango – available online for $23 per 30g tin.

“To be able to grow this business, launch new products and work in this space every day is a dream come true. I am so thankful that we have been able to grow Chamberlain Coffee into the brand I dreamed it to be, and I can’t wait for what the future holds,” said Chamberlain in the release.