York-based speciality coffee business kWh Coffee has secured seed funding from York Angels and a grant through the Mayor of York and North Yorkshire’s Great Ideas programme, giving the young company fresh backing as it prepares to launch a new coffee platform for businesses.

The investment comes in the same year kWh Coffee was founded by Caitlin Walker and Shaun Feakins. Rather than simply expanding its roasting operation, the company plans to use the funding to build an end-to-end platform designed to give buyers a clearer view of the journey, cost and emissions associated with their coffee.

At the centre of the plan is a model that combines an online coffee platform with roasting-as-a-service. Businesses will be able to compare green coffees online, follow costs from farm to cup, view per-kilo Scope 3 emissions data and see pricing upfront. The platform is due to launch next month with an initial group of businesses in Yorkshire and London.

That focus on visibility is a significant part of how kWh Coffee is positioning the business.

Co-founder Caitlin Walker said many companies do not have a clear picture of what their coffee costs at each stage or the emissions associated with it.

“Most businesses have no idea what their coffee costs at each step or what it emits, and we think there’s a huge opportunity to hand that over.”

Walker said the company was pleased to have the backing of York Angels and described the appointment of Laurence Beardmore as chair as an important addition as kWh Coffee takes the platform to market.

A roasting model built around electricity

The technology platform is only one part of kWh Coffee’s approach.

The company operates an electric speciality coffee roasting operation at the Raylor Centre in York. Its production schedule is also unusual: roasting batches are timed to coincide with the periods when the electricity grid is at its cleanest. The business then uses an electric vehicle for deliveries and says it places an emphasis on ethical sourcing of green coffee.

That gives the company a model that connects the way coffee is sourced, roasted, priced and delivered rather than treating each step separately.

Its existing presence already extends beyond the roastery. kWh Coffee operates a bar at First Bus’ Askham Bar Park and Ride, where it serves a location used by up to 750,000 passengers annually. It also supplies wholesale coffee to businesses across Yorkshire and has taken part in industry events including Everything Electric.

Laurence Beardmore joins as chair

Alongside the fundraising, kWh Coffee has brought in Laurence Beardmore to chair the business as it moves into its next stage.

Beardmore previously grew York Coffee Emporium into a seven-figure business before its sale to the Upton Group. He has also served as president of the York & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce.

He described the York Angels investment as a vote of confidence in kWh Coffee’s plans and said he would work with the founders and investors to support the company’s growth.

“kWh Coffee represents a truly innovative startup, one that has the potential to introduce the next generation of fresh ideas and disruptive offerings to the coffee industry.”

Beardmore added that he was looking forward to working with the team to accelerate growth and bring further innovation to the market.

From roasting coffee to exposing the numbers behind it

The next test for kWh Coffee will be whether businesses see value not only in the coffee itself, but in having more information about how it reaches them.

Its planned platform brings several pieces of that process into one place: sourcing choices, pricing, emissions information and roasting. The pilot in Yorkshire and London will mark the first step in putting that model in front of business customers.

For a company founded in 2026, the York Angels round, Great Ideas grant and addition of an experienced coffee industry chair give kWh Coffee resources and expertise as it moves from an electric roasting operation towards a broader business platform. The company’s next phase will begin with that pilot launch next month.

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