Cusa Tea Secures Series A Financing Round

NEWS RELEASE

Cusa Tea Secures $2.5 Million Series A Financing Round Led by Break Trail Ventures and S Cap

Premium Instant Tea company to aggressively accelerate sales distribution, marketing and new products

Boulder, Colorado — Cusa Tea, the world’s first premium, organic instant tea company that invented a new process for making instant beverages, announced it has completed a $2.5 million Series A round of financing. Break Trail Ventures and S Cap led the investment round, with participation from existing and new investors, including Organic X Labs, Smart Capital and Service Provider’s Capital. The investment brings Cusa Tea’s total funding since launching its revolutionary beverage platform to $3.6 million and will help the company aggressively expand its distribution, sales and marketing efforts, as well as broaden and accelerate product development. Jay Hirsch of Break Trail Ventures and James Cali of S Cap will join Cusa Tea’s Board of Directors.

“Break Trail Ventures is excited to collaborate with and support Cusa Tea as they continue to scale the brand and redefine what it means to be an instant beverage,” comments Jay Hirsch, manager of Break Trail Ventures. “They have an incredibly strong brand with a great shelf presence that is shaking up the tea space. Cusa Tea removes the sacrifices that usually come with any instant product by delivering for customers a better, more consistent and more convenient cup of tea. We are excited to see them continue to leverage their IP to deliver superior instant tea and other products to customers who shouldn’t need to choose between convenience and quality.”

S CAP partner Jim Cali continues, “Cusa Tea is a breakthrough in the tea category and offers the potential for disruption across the broader healthy beverage market. We have found it to be a superior cup of hot tea, winning medals at the Global Tea Championship versus the best loose leaf and bag competitors in the world. It also mixes quickly in cold water, transforming a bottle of water into a superior iced tea drink. Given its taste, versatility and clean label, there is nothing like it on the market. We see huge potential for Cusa as a platform extending its reach in the broader functional and refreshment beverage space. S CAP is thrilled to part of the Cusa Tea team.”

The Series A financing builds on an exceptional first two years for Cusa Tea. Since launching in 2017, the company has rapidly expanded to over 1,400 retail locations with partners like Sprouts, REI, King Soopers, Safeway, HEB and Cost Plus World Market. Cusa Tea also has a robust direct-to-consumer business with its own website and a registered brand store on Amazon.com. The company has commitments from over 3,000 new retailers to launch in Q3 and Q4 2019.

“Cusa Tea is innovating in a huge, but stagnant category,” said Jim Lamancusa, founder and CEO of Cusa Tea. “The tea category hasn’t seen anything new for a very long time. With our patented cold-brew, evaporative dehydration process, we can deliver a premium cup of tea in seconds with any temperature of water, anywhere, all without sugar or artificial flavorings. We only use organic tea and real fruit and spices. Retailers love the fact that we’re bringing something new to the tea aisle and allowing tea drinkers to make premium tea wherever they go, without the need for hot water, steeping a tea bag and then finding somewhere to dispose of the wet, soggy bag. And we have won four medals from the Global Tea Championships, beating out hundreds of loose leaf and bagged tea companies!”

“This funding comes at a perfect time.” Lamancusa continues, “Adding this many new retailers and new products in such a short period of time is very expensive. Our Series A will allow me to expand our team, support our existing retailers, grow into new retailers, as well as launch some exciting new products. Our technology can be used for all beverages, not just tea, so we look forward to bringing other heathy and convenient beverages to the market very soon!”

Key features and benefits of Cusa Tea include:

• Organic tea in 3 seconds in hot or cold water
• Zero sugar, calories, flavorings or preservatives
• Four medals from the Global Tea Championship
• 22 patents on the technology, which can be used for many kinds of beverages

About Cusa Tea

Cusa Tea is the world’s first premium organic instant tea. Cusa Tea uses only high-quality, premium, USDA Organic-certified teas with real fruits and spices, which they then cold-steep using a revolutionary technology. This process reduces the waste and chemical preservatives found with most ready-to-drink teas, so that tea drinkers can enjoy an instantaneous, premium tea at any time. Current flavors include Organic English Breakfast, Organic Green Tea, Organic Oolong, Mango Green, Lemon Black, Chai, Peach Green and a Variety Pack. For more information about Cusa Tea, visit cusatea.com, or find them on Facebook or Instagram (@cusa_tea).

About Break Trail Ventures

Break Trail Ventures is an early stage venture fund based in Boulder, CO, and Columbus, OH. BTV partners with entrepreneurs who are breaking trail in their industry, creating best in-class products and leading the way for future generations. For more information, visit breaktrailventures.com.

About S CAP

S CAP is a NY-based impact investor focused on investing in Food & Beverage and Clean Tech companies at the late Seed and Series A stages. With General Partners who are former food and beverage executives, S CAP brings both skills and capital to enhance the performance of their portfolio companies. S CAP is committed to accelerating companies that are positively impacting the world with healthier, all-natural, environmentally friendly and high-integrity products. S CAP’s goal is to achieve sustainability for entrepreneurs while accomplishing maximum ROI for investors. Visit S CAP at www.scap.nyc.

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