Philz Coffee

Indeed, like many other cities, people in San Francisco love coffee, and coffee is indispensable to busy people, especially those in the field of science and technology. There is even a saying, "if you want to succeed, you must rely on coffee to replenish energy."

Phil Jaber agrees with the above. Phil has spent decades researching its own brand of coffee and founded the Philz Coffee brand in 2003. Starting with small street shops, Philz Coffee has grown into a separate coffee production line, opening 13 stores covering the San Francisco Port area (Bay area), including one at Facebook's headquarters.

Phil's son Jacob Jaber, who is now CEO of Philz Coffee, said that the promotion of Phil coffee in the port area depends on its unique flavor, and the preparation of various special flavors is completely off the machine and is done by hand. These flavors are invented by Phil himself, and although they are not patented, they are hidden in secret recipes and there is no possibility of counterfeiting.

Philz makes drip-filtered coffee (drip coffee)-this way of making coffee has been well received in the port area and is becoming more and more popular. Some connoisseurs even say that only dripping coffee can make really good coffee.

Last October, Hong Kong boutique coffee chain Blue Bottle raised $20 million from investors including Mike Volpi of Index Ventures, Tony Conrad of True Ventures, and Bryan Meehan, a serial entrepreneur. From this financing, we can also see the importance of coffee in San Francisco. At the same time, Philz has a chain of 10 stores.

When asked if Philz Coffee sees Blue Bottle as a competitor, Jaber denies this. He said that the success of one side can actually play a positive role for the other, and the market for personalized coffee is actually very large. In other words, he thinks there is enough market for the two brands to develop together.

Philz Coffee is also constantly accumulating its own growth capital. Although Jaber did not disclose the exact amount of financing under way, he said the amount of financing would be at least $10 million. From our available information, we can infer that the scope of financing is between 15 million and 25 million. Summit Partner is the main investor in this round of financing. After the financing is completed, Greg Goldfarb, general manager of Summit, will become a member of the board of directors of Philz.

Jaber added that Philz will also make a smaller growth direct investment, which is expected to end soon. Although the investor of this round of investment is not yet clear, its scope will be limited to entrepreneurs and managers in the consumer high-tech and retail sectors.

When asked why he chose Summit as his financing partner, Jaber CEO said that Summit has a better understanding of Philz Coffee's corporate culture in terms of management and profitability than other venture capital companies, and that for him, Philz is both a family business and his personal enthusiasm. In addition, they also hope that such financing can help father and son enterprises to better control the development of Philz, Summit as an investor only occupies a small number of interests, rather than take the place of active control.

The reputation of Philz coffee is spreading, thanks to partnerships with companies such as Virgin America, which serves coffee on every flight from Philz.

When financing is in place, Philz Coffee will expand its cooperation with major companies to increase the brand's awareness among coffee lovers. It is only a matter of time before Philz coffee opens up the market outside the port area. Jaber plans to expand the California market and then expand to other neighboring states as a step-by-step strategy. Looking to the future, you may also be able to drink special flavor coffee from Philz on your doorstep.