(Photo courtesy of Riff Cold Brewed Coffee)
Bend Startup Takes Statewide Honors from Oregon Entrepreneurs Network Awards
Riff Cold Brewed Coffee, a new craft beverage company founded by veterans from Crux Fermentation Project, Stumptown Coffee and LinkedIn, was honored by the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network (OEN) as the ‘Early Stage Company of the Year’ at their 25th annual Tom Holce Entrepreneurship Awards.
According to OEN, the judges selected Riff Cold Brewed Coffee for the award based on the following differentiating characteristics:
- Led by a world-class team of entrepreneurs with deep expertise in product development
- Creating a genuinely unique customer experience
- Reinventing a mature market
- Has the potential to be one of the biggest brands to come out of Oregon
- Coined as “Oregon’s Most Promising Startup,” this award recognizes for-profit startups that have achieved significant milestones over the past 12 months and may have raised angel, venture or grant funding, with revenues between $0 – $1 million. Some of the milestones Riff Cold Brewed has achieved include:
- Built a 9,000 square-foot state-of-the-art cold-brewed coffee production facility in Redmond
- Launched four cold-brewed coffee varieties in three different formats (10.5oz bottle, 96oz bag-in-box, and 20L kegs)
- Opened the Riff Tapshack kiosk just off campus at the University of Oregon in Eugene
- Introduced its Workplace Program throughout the state, including to Fortune 100 companies
- Gained over 250 points of distribution, including Market of Choice, New Seasons Markets, Green Zebra, Zupan’s, Safeway/Albertsons and hundreds of leading bars, restaurants and markets
- Raised $1M in angel funding from an A-list of tech and retail CEO’s and entrepreneurs
- Won “Best Nitro Cold Brew Award” at world’s largest cold brewed coffee festival in Vancouver, Washington
- Completed construction of the world’s first cold-brewed coffee taproom opening in Bend
“We are thrilled to be selected as Oregon’s most promising early-stage startup,” said Paul Evers, CEO of Riff Cold Brewed Coffee. “Oregon is home to some of the most recognized and innovative craft brands in the world, and we are proud to be included in such venerable company. We can’t wait until the rest of the nation is able to taste Riff’s artisanal cold-brewed coffee, made with nothing but sustainably sourced beans roasted here in Oregon, and pure, refreshing Cascade mountain water.”
The OEN Tom Holce Entrepreneurship Awards were held at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland on October 24. They honor the skill and the courage that it takes for entrepreneurs to create a business out of an idea. The event is intended not only to celebrate entrepreneurs but to highlight their importance to the region’s economy. Past winners of the Early Stage Startup of the Year include AbSci, Hubb, Bright.md, GlobeSherpa, Wildfang, Good Clean Love, TrustID and Jama Software.
ABOUT RIFF COLD BREWED COFFEE
Riff is Paul Evers, co-founder of Crux Fermentation Project; Nate Armbrust, former head of product development and cold brew operations at Stumptown; Steve Barham, former senior director at LinkedIn; and Bobby Evers and Kevin Smyth, both with deep experience in craft beer branding and operations. And Riff is so much more— an enthusiastic and diverse tribe of investors, employees, partners and you.
When we riff on an idea, we start with a question: What if? What if we brewed coffee cold, for a sweeter, smoother flavor? What if we poured it on tap? Into a glass, not a mug? What if we met for coffee in the evening? With friends, and maybe—gasp—without wifi? What if it weren’t sacrilegious to drink our coffee decaffeinated, spiced, fruited, or even barrel fermented with wild yeast? Now we’re talking. Let’s Riff! For more information visit riffcoldbrewed.com or call 458-206-0825.
