Cold Brew and Cascara Drink Maker Riff Lands $2.5 Million Seed Round

Riff cold brew bottles. The company plans to add a canning line to transition to canned cold brew. All images courtesy of Riff.

Bend, Oregon-based coffee drink maker Riff has closed a $2.5 million seed funding round with investments from 35 parties, including 2-time NFL Pro Bowl tight end Vernon Davis and former Anheuser-Busch president Dave Peacock.

Riff CEO and Co-Founder Paul Evers told DCN that the investment will go towards operations, marketing and sales, as well as towards a new canning line as the company transitions its current single-serve cold brew bottles into cans.

With a base of beverage professionals, Riff launched in 2017 (as Riff Cold Brewed) with a primary focus on cold brew. The company currently works with Beaverton-based Thornton Family Coffee Roasters for coffee sourcing and roasting.

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In 2019, the company began experimenting with cascara, the fruity husk of coffee cherries that is a natural byproduct in green coffee production. Riff cold brews cascara sourced through Portland-based importer Sustainable Harvest for a concentrate that is now used as a vitamin-rich, caffeinated base for its Energy+Immunity line of canned, sparkling drinks.

Riff CEO and Co-Founder Paul Evers.

Evers said the company plans to expand the Energy+ line in 2022 to include “additional functional benefits.”

Joining Davis and Peacock as investors and members of Riff’s advisory board are: former Anheuser-Busch executive Randy Jozwiakowski; longtime Pacific Foods shareholder and executive John Gehrs; U.S. managing director of the corporate consultancy Incite Kevin Waters; and Jamba Juice franchisee Steve Foltz.