Speciality coffee brand Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters has secured an undisclosed amount of funding from actor Deepika Padukone.
The funding, made through Padukone’s investment entity Ka Enterprises, was part of Blue Tokai’s Series B funding round, the startup said in a statement.
Earlier this year, Blue Tokai raised $30 Mn in its Series B funding round led by A91 Partners. It also saw participation from its existing investors.
Founded in 2013 by Matt Chitharanjan, Namrata Asthana and Shivam Shahi, Blue Tokai is a coffee roasting company operating in India and Japan with 4 roasteries and over 80 physical outlets across major Indian cities. It also offers a wide range of ready-to-drink products and gifting options.
Currently, Blue Tokai has a presence in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Mohali and Pune, among others, in India, as well as regular pop-ups in Tokyo.
On the B2B front, Blue Tokai has partnerships with different retail outlets across India, luxury hotels and restaurants, top corporates and co-working spaces, among others.
Commenting on the investment, Padukone said, “As someone who is immensely passionate about homegrown brands and deeply values authenticity and transparency, investing in Blue Tokai was an evident choice.”
While announcing its Series B round earlier this year, Blue Tokai said it would use the fresh funds to scale its business and expand presence in specialty coffee markets globally.
Last year, the startup also added Negen Capital and Mauryan Capital to its captable in an extension of its pre-Series B funding round. It also counts Anicut Capital, 8i Ventures, DSP Blackrock and White Whale Ventures among its backers.
Blue Tokai competes with the likes of Rage Coffee and Third Wave Coffee Roasters in the specialty coffee market.
Meanwhile, Padukone’s investment highlights the growing trend of actors and cricketers backing home-grown startups. The likes of Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Anushka Sharma, Ranveer Singh, Suniel Shetty are among the celebrities who have invested in Indian startups.
Padukone counts the likes of Supertails, Mokobara, and Nua among the startups in her portfolio.
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