Vera Roasting Company

Vera Roasting Company is the new beverage company behind "CoffVee," 100% Arabica beans infused with resveratrol, the all-natural antioxidant found in red wines.

The company aims to make resveratrol in coffee as ubiquitous as iodine in salt or vitamin D in milk.

The total addressable market for coffee in the United States is over $48 billion, with 55% of that amount spent on premium and specialty coffee.

85% of all adults in the U.S. drink coffee and the average coffee drinker consumes 3.1 cups per day. The market is growing at 4% annually. The market is well-established, stable, and experiencing modest growth across most demographics. CoffVee is the first and only coffee product that includes resveratrol.

Essentially, Vera Roasting infuses the heart-healthy benefits of red wine into the finest coffee. It is the only company to prepare coffee that is infused with resveratrol (and has patents pending on both its process and the final product).

Resveratrol is a powerful, all-natural antioxidant that is responsible for giving red wine its heart-healthy properties. Studies have shown that modest consumption of resveratrol may support cardiovascular, neuromuscular, and immune system health.

The company claims that this is a great way to introduce resveratrol into your diet if you're not a red wine drinker, or only drink it on occasion.

Vera Roasting is taking advantage of multiple market trends and realities, for example:

- A large segment of the population is looking for healthy lifestyle and dietary alternatives.

- The success of high-priced alternatives such as Keurig and Starbucks has established a high price per serving threshold.

KEY FACTS
* Within 9 days of launch, the company sold its product to customers in all 50 U.S. states.
* Gained its first national customer, the Vitamin Shoppe.
* Awarded U.S. patents for unique process and composition of matter.

The company's coffee retails for $14.95 per bag.

It also offers K-cups in 12-count boxes, which retail for $12.95 per box. The gross margins on these products range between 60% and 70%, excluding shipping.

Depending on the destination, order quantity, and shipping service, shipping costs can account for another 15%–25% of sales, with the most common order resulting in a shipping cost of 20% of sales.

Team Background

Glen Miller - Founder & CTO

Glen Miller is Professor of Chemistry & Materials Science and Chair of the Chemistry Department at the University of New Hampshire.

He is an authority in the area of organic chemistry, nanostructured carbons including fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, graphene and large acenes.

His academic research group has successfully synthesized and characterized many nanostructures and organic compounds including C3v C60H18, bis and tris-[60]fullerene adducts of large acenes, hydrogenated SWNTs, fullerene nanotubes (a.k.a., fullerene nanowhiskers), photooxidatively resistant pentacene derivatives, an exceptionally persistent heptacene derivative, and a persistent nonacene derivative.

He also developed a new, tip-based nanopatterning technique called FAN (Field-Assisted Nanopatterning) that has been demonstrated on organic compounds, polymers, fullerenes, metals, salts and nanoparticles.

Glen earned an undergrad degree and a PhD in Chemistry from Clarkson University.

Mark Galvin - Founder & CEO

Mark is a serial entrepreneur. He has played key roles in fourteen different New England startups. Although he started his career as a software engineer, he was the President and CEO of eight of those start-ups.

Those companies have run the gamut from fourth generation PBX, OEM ISDN subsystems, dial access routers, high density HFC/DOCSIS VOIP network switching equipment, and SMB IP-PBX with national phone services, to technology accelerators with and without university ties (ZTEL, LAN-TEL, CCD, PRI, RAScom, Cedar Point Communications, Whaleback Systems, NH-ICC, NEIC).

He's previously managed four venture capital-backed companies that achieved growth rates that would put them in Top-100 fastest-growing private companies in their vintages.

Mark is currently serving as Managing Director of the New England Innovation Center, LLC, of which Vera Roasting Company is a resident company.

He earned his degree in Math and Computer Science from McGill University.

Co-Investors