Rage Coffee raises $5 mn in Series A round led by Sixth Sense Ventures

Rage Coffee, which manufactures, markets, and distributes coffee products globally, said it has raised around $5 million of growth capital as part of its Series A funding round led by Sixth Sense Ventures.

The company plans to expand its online presence and offline footprint across India and will utilise the fresh capital for marketing and distribution purposes. Rage Coffee will also use the funds to scale up production, launch innovative new products and add senior management talent.

The Rs 7,000 crore Indian packaged coffee segment is dominated by incumbents with two players, Nestle and Hindustan Unilever Limited (brands Nescafe and Bru), controlling over 65 per cent market share of the industry.

Rage is disrupting the core instant coffee segment by launching flavored instant coffee (Mocha mint, Irish hazelnut, Dark chocolate, etc) along with products such as roast coffee, and cold brew coffee bags.

Rage is a digital native fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) brand, and is now expanding rapidly using an omni-channel approach.

“We are excited to work with Sixth Sense Ventures - veteran FMCG investors, through this round of funding. Therefore, we plan to double down on our efforts across all the channels. We are successfully building a truly omnichannel FMCG brand, with distribution strategies being implemented for the first time, given our digital DNA. In fact, our D2C channel has grown 10x during the pandemic. With this round of funding, we have our sights set on fulfilling our global demand as well with distributor partners in US, Europe and GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) markets already working with us. We see ourselves continuously developing innovative new products in the years to come,” said Bharat Sethi, founder and CEO of Rage Coffee.

The brand was founded in 2018 by Sethi. Rage Coffee products are retailed through their own website, all leading online platforms, and over 1,000 offline touch points through a network of distributors. The company was recently accepted into Amazon’s Global Selling Accelerator Programme, which plans to take Indian brands to global markets through the Amazon network.

“The company’s vision is perfectly aligned with our philosophy here at Sixth Sense – a disruptive product (flavoured instant coffee), developed by a maverick founder, with a vision to disrupt a large category. With increasing adoption of the café culture and changing consumer preference  within hot beverages (in favour of coffee), our sense is that the segment will witness a strong increase in penetration. We believe Rage Coffee is extremely well positioned to resonate with these new age consumers and create a strong brand affinity for its products. We are excited to partner with Bharat and team in their journey to establish Rage as a marquee Indian brand in the caffeine segment,” said Nikhil Vora, CEO and founder of Sixth Sense Ventures.