Vietnamese coffee is something coffee lovers should try, but it’s not sold in many places. Debbie Wei Mullin founded Copper Cow Coffee to make this delicious coffee available to anyone who wants it. She pitched her startup on Shark Tank and landed a deal with Robert Herjavec. Today, Copper Cow Coffee is valued at around $20 million.
Debbie Wei Mullin’s Background
Debbie Wei Mullin’s parents are Vietnamese immigrants who moved to Los Angeles in search of a better life. Mullin holds a BA in Economics from UC Berkeley and an MCP from MIT.
After an internship at UN-HABITAT, she worked as a senior program officer at the Asia Foundation. Two years later, Debbie became an associate at the World Bank in New Delhi, India.
Eventually, she transferred to the company’s greater Seattle area office, and in 2014, the California native left the corporate world to start a company called Wei Pantry, which specializes in Vietnamese food.
Copper Cow Coffee
As a child, Debbie loved Vietnamese coffee for its smooth taste and caramel flavor, but as she grew older, she realized that few coffee shops served her favorite brew.
That’s when she came up with an easy-to-make Vietnamese coffee cup with a biodegradable paper filter. No special equipment is needed to make it, so anyone can enjoy it anytime.
In 2017, Debbie founded Copper Cow Coffee and sold her products herself in stores until she was approached by brands like Williams-Sonoma. Within three years, the startup had $4 million in sales but was not profitable. To fund the company, she raised $3.5 million in two rounds of funding.
Shark Tank Appearance
Copper Cow Coffee has already achieved impressive sales, but it has also burned a lot of money in the process. Debbie Wei Mullin appeared on Season 12 of Shark Tank, seeking $600,000 for a 4% stake.
The sharks had mixed reactions when they tasted the samples but were impressed by the revenue. However, the mood changed when the founders revealed that they lost $1.4 million in 2019 and were on track to lose $700,000 in 2020.
Daymond John criticized the way Debbie ran the company, but she was defended by Mark Cuban and Robert Herjavec, who (it seems) didn’t like coffee and agreed to invest $600,000 for a 5.5% equity stake and a 1.5% advisory share.
After Shark Tank
The publicity from the show drove sales soaring and helped them become profitable. Sales on Amazon, in particular, increased significantly. Debbie revealed in an interview that the deal with Robert was never completed because the due diligence process took too long.
The episode was recorded in August 2020 and aired nearly a year later. During this time, the coffee startup was rapidly expanding and needed to raise more funding at a higher valuation.
The round was led by Cultivian Sandbox and Arborview Capital, with participation from six other firms. She has now raised more than $11 million for less than 40% of the equity. The money was used to launch new flavors and design compostable coffee filters.
Debbie has taken her products to over 3,000 stores such as HEB, Walmart, Thrive Market, Sprouts, and Whole Foods. In stores, they are often placed in the Asian food section or specialty coffee section. Their coffee products are also available on Amazon and their website, CopperCowCoffee.com.
Their authentic Vietnamese coffee has 1,956 customer reviews on Amazon and a 4.2-star rating. Copper Cow Coffee has annual revenue of $4 million and a valuation of $20 million.
Categories: Shark Tank
Source: svlsf.edu.vn