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Atomo makes an espresso blend coffee as well as a 50:50 blend that is half beanless, half Arabica. (Atomo Photo)
Seattle-based beanless coffee maker Atomo raised $7.8 million in new funding to expand sales efforts and fuel expansion of the company’s products.
Atomo co-founder and CEO Andy Kleitsch told GeekWire that interest in beanless coffee has been strong, especially with coffee prices skyrocketing. The New York Times reported in December that wholesale coffee prices are trading near a 50-year high because of shortages related to extreme weather and increased global demand.
“Many coffee companies are exploring how to incorporate beanless coffee into their product offerings to ensure they can create consistently great tasting coffee at an affordable price for consumers,” Kleitsch said.
Last year was pivotal for the 6-year-old food-tech startup, which opened a 33,547 square-foot roastery south of downtown Seattle capable of producing 4 million pounds of beanless coffee per year. Atomo also operates what it calls the world’s largest date upcycling facility in the world in California’s Coachella Valley.
Atomo CEO Andy Kleitsch. (Atomo Photo)
This year, Atomo is focused on collaborations with coffee partners to create blends that combine 50% of Atomo’s signature beanless coffee with 50% conventional coffee. Kleitsch said the blended approach enables coffee companies “to launch their most sustainable products, maintain excellent coffee taste and reduce their overall ingredient costs.”
Atomo’s 50:50 blend for drip machines and home brewing is available on Amazon.
“Coffee is not the bean, coffee is an experience,” Kleitsch said.
The company’s espresso is available at all Bluestone Lane locations across the U.S. Global expansion is also under way. Atomo entered the Japanese market through partnerships with Ash Coffee and PostCoffee, and debuted in London at Hagen Espresso Bar. A collaboration with a premium ice cream brand is planned for the spring.
Atomo first arrived on Seattle’s crowded coffee scene in 2019 with a promise to reverse engineer the coffee bean. Its formula has involved removing the bean from the process of making coffee and substituting it with a molecular concoction derived from naturally sustainable, upcycled plant waste ingredients, including extracts of date seeds, lemon, guava and sunflower.
The company’s goal is to mitigate the effects of climate change on coffee-growing regions around the globe and provide a substitute for the environmentally destructive process of coffee farming. Atomo says its regular espresso generates 83% less carbon emissions and uses 70% less farmland compared to conventional coffee.
The startup has raised $58.8 million to date from backers including S2G Ventures, Horizons Ventures, AgFunder, and strategic partners.
Atomo went through a restructuring in 2023 after previously selling canned cold brews to retailer.
The company currently employs 27 people.
