Incapto raises 3.5 million to expand across Europe

Incapto, a Barcelona-based startup born in the midst of the pandemic to transform the coffee sector, continues to strengthen its dual commitment: bringing the best specialty coffee to homes and combating the growth of the coffee capsule business. The emerging company has just closed its second investment round for 3.5 million euros. Carried out through the equity crowdfunding platform Dozen, it has been led by JME Ventures and followed by Banco Sabadell, Atresmedia, Bellmoore Consulting, and the Portuguese fund Bynd.

"We want to make coffee consumption sustainable, with an innovative business model that is good for the customer experience —you drink freshly ground coffee—, it's good for your wallet —you save 20 cents per coffee compared to the cost of a capsule—; and it's good for the planet, as we eliminate the environmental impact of single-dose pods," explained the CEO and co-founder of Incapto, Francesc Font, in an interview with The New Barcelona Post.

Incapto's model consists of selling both coffee makers and a subscription to receive the brand's coffee at home. The brand's customers can choose from various varieties of 100% organic Arabica coffee from different origins. The Barcelona-based company buys green coffee directly from producers and roasts and packages it in a plant located in Alcover (Tarragona), from where shipments are also made.

The 3.5 million euros obtained in this new round will allow it to begin its international expansion at the end of 2022 in Italy, France, and Portugal, and to commercially deploy throughout Spain at both B2B and B2C levels. It will also serve to develop new coffee maker models and continue its expansion of pop-ups in shopping centers.

The company started its activity in June 2020 with an initial investment of 400,000 euros resulting from contributions made by Font along with the other two founding partners, Joaquim Mach and Beatriz Mesas, and a couple of business angels. A few months later, the company raised an additional 500,000 euros from one hundred small investors who participated in a first financing round carried out through the investment platform Dozen, formerly The Crowd Angel.

Subsequently, Banco Sabadell, through the BStartup program, also invested 100,000 euros in the firm. To this figure must be added a loan of one million euros granted by Sabadell Venture Capital through its venture debt vehicle.

In less than two years of existence, Incapto has managed to close 2021 with more than 10,000 clients, a large part of them subscribers, and more than 500 businesses connected to its coffee platform for companies. Thanks to these numbers, the startup reached a turnover of 2.3 million euros in 2021. Currently, it has offices in Barcelona and Alcover and employs 30 people, with the forecast of ending 2022 with more than 50 employees.