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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Bruvi

Bruvi Raises $7 Million as it Sets to Ship Its Pod-Coffee Brewer in 2022

Bruvi, a maker of a single-serve pod-based brewing system, has raised a $7 million pre-Series A round as it prepares to launch its brewer and direct-to-consumer pod marketplace in 2022.

According to an announcement sent to The Spoon, the company plans to use the funding to “pay for manufacturing, software development, brewer inventory, and digital advertising expenses, as it prepares for pre-orders in November 2021 and national launch in Q1 2022.”

While many of the new coffee systems coming to market nowadays seem to be grind and brew systems that do away with the pod altogether, Bruvi is bucking the trend by rethinking the pod-brewer. The Bruvi brewer, which is Wi-Fi connected and app-controlled, adjusts heating parameters and brew-strength depending on the pod, which the system scans when inserted. The app will set brew schedules, monitor usage, and allow you to reorder.

The company claims the Bruvi system is differentiated by being the only pod-brewing system that brews coffee in the pod itself. This is debatable, especially considering Nespresso’s Vertuo pod system, which uses centrifugal force to extrude a crema espresso from the pod.

The company says its pod is more eco-friendly because it is made of treated polypropylene, which it claims will biodegrade up to 63% in about 600 days, compared with just 2% biodegradation of a normal pod. While that’s better, a more biodegradable pod is still a pod, something that adds to the waste stream. But for those coffee lovers that insist on using a pod-brewer, Bruvi’s system could be a way to reduce the mountain of plastic their coffee habit leaves behind.

Bruvi’s founders include longtime coffee industry executives Sung Oh and Mel Elias. Oh is the technical cofounder, having spent five years inventing a single-pod system for his company Touch Coffee and Beverages. Elias brings the coffee industry connections from his prior stint as the former CEO of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

Customers can pre-order the Bruvi bundle, which features a brewer, 24 B-Pods and water filter, for $198 starting in November. The company says it will begin shipping the brewer in the first quarter of 2022.

Bruvi Raises $2.2M in Seed Funding for it’s Single-Serve Drink System

Bruvi, a startup that makes its own pod-based single serve coffee/drink system, announced today that it raised $2.2 million in Seed funding at the end of July. This brings the total amount raised by Bruvi to $3.15 million.

Bruvi makes an internet-connected Keurig-like coffee system that uses eco-friendly “B-Pods” to brew individual cups of coffee, espresso, cold brew, teas and more. The Bruvi sells directly to consumers through the company’s website, with the Bruvi Bundle (brewer, 24 B-Pods and water filter) that will sell for $198. But you’ll have to wait before you buy, according to today’s press release, the Seed funding will go primarily towards manufacturing with a projected launch of Q3 2021.

There are two big hang-ups with B-Pods, K-Cups and any capsule-based single-serving system. First is the proprietary nature of the capsule itself. B-Pods won’t work in other devices and non-B-Pod capsules won’t work with the Bruvi. So buying a Bruvi means you’re locking yourself into an entire coffee drink ecosystem.

Second problem with these systems is the potential waste. Bruvi claims that it is overcoming this issue because its B-Pods are “Landfill Friendly.” The Orwellian-style nomenclature seems counterintuitive, but according to the Bruvi FAQ:

Our Bru-Pods are 100% recyclable and have been designed to be landfill friendly. That means no wasting resources with cumbersome rinsing or separating capsule parts; all you have to do is throw the whole capsule in the trash. When they hit the landfill, they will substantially degrade in 5 years instead of 500 years.

On the coffee side, Bruvi says that the coffee and tea inside those Landfill Friendly pods will offer “ethical and sustainably sourced coffee as well as licensed brand partners,” so there’s a chance your favorite roaster could have their own B-Pod if this device takes off.

Because the hardware itself is connected, the accompanying Bruvi app will let you brew your drink remotely, re-order pods and look at your drinking patterns, if that floats your coffee boat.

Bruvi is just the latest in a line of companies looking to improve your morning cup of coffee through fancy gadgets, access to specialty roasters, or creating molecular coffee in a lab. The good news for all you coffeeheads out there is that the pandemic has not actually impacted coffee crops so far. The bad news is that the pandemic isn’t going away anytime soon, but if you’re stuck at home this time next year, perhaps buying a Bruvi could make it a little more manageable.