Roastea’s self-serve coffee and tea machine network is present in office workplaces, airports and hospitals | Photo credit: Roastea

India's Roastea is seeking a five-fold increase in its self-serve coffee network by 2025 after installing its 1,000th unit. 
 

Co-founder Anurag Bhamidipaty said Roastea’s vending solutions division performed ‘exceptionally well’ over the last 12 months following the post-pandemic return of employees to offices across India. The business also operates 12 cafés across Ahmedabad and Karnataka. 

Roastea’s self-serve coffee and tea machine network is present in office workplaces, airports and hospitals across 17 Indian cities. 

The segment is forecast to be the main growth driver for the Ahmedabad-based start-up, which is planning to roll out 1,500 vending machines over the next year to reach 2,500. Roastea has set an additional goal of reaching 5,000 machines by 2025. 

Ahmedabad-based Roastea is also seeking to reach Rs 100 crore ($12.1m) in turnover by the end of 2024. 

“The vending machine business of Roastea is performing exceptionally well and serves as the primary growth driver for the company. In fact, our vending machines are outperforming competitors and rapidly gaining market share among both Indian and multinational companies,” Bhamidipaty said. 

Founded in 2019, Roastea previously raised approximately Rs 13 crore ($1.6m) from unnamed investors to scale its vending machine network and support outlet growth.  
 

The business is seeking to raise Rs 20 crore ($2.4m) this year through a combination of equity, internal accruals and debt to fund its next expansion phase, which also includes reaching 70 retail outlets within the next three years.