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Coffee subscription club Lokoly launches in Iowa

May 21, 2020

Coffee fans looking for the best small batch craft coffee across the country will have a new convenient option to choose from thanks to a new coffee of the month club.

Lokoly Coffee Club is a bi-monthly subscription club offering hard-to-find small-batch coffee made in limited quantities, tucked away in local communities, and delivered in a box curated by the mastermind roaster behind the product. Lokoly Coffee Club is being launched by Iowa State graduates Nicholas Hanstad and Joe Thatcher.

Lokoly Coffee Club will offer members the chance to uncover the best kept coffee secrets and the stories behind them. The club will work with artisan coffee makers to curate a customized box that takes members on a unique experience through their products.

“There’s all this really good coffee that’s hard to find and I want to share it with people all over the country,” said Hanstad. “That’s why we founded Lokoly Coffee Club. We want to tell the stories of these roasters and ultimately share their product.”

Memberships for Lokoly Coffee Club start at $44 every two months. Those who sign up by June 10 will receive Lokoly’s first box.

The first Lokoly Coffee Club box will feature Ross Street Roasting out of Tama, Iowa.

“Now more than ever it’s important for small businesses like ours to be able to offer our products direct-to-consumer online,” said Brian Gumm with Ross Street Roasting in an announcement. “We’re delighted to team up with Lokoly Coffee Club to showcase our products and our story to a wider audience at a particularly crucial time.”

For its first box, Lokoly is collaborating with with John Bosley of Bozz Prints. Bosley created the design that went on Ross Street Roasting Bag for our exclusively roasted coffee and is also designing a print that will be only available to Lokoly Coffee Club members.

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Tags: Coffee Subscription Club Lokoly

Coffee subscription club Lokoly launches in Iowa | Clay & Milk

A central Iowa ag-tech accelerator has secured more backers and finally has a name. The Greater Des Moines Partnership first announced the accelerator last year, naming four initial investors. On Monday, the Partnership said the program will be called the "Iowa AgriTech Accelerator" and named three new investors. The new investors include Grinnell Mutual, Kent Corp. and Sukup Manufacturing, all Iowa companies. They join investors Deere & Co., Peoples Co., Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Co. and DuPont Pioneer. Each investor has agreed to put up $100,000 for the first year of the accelerator. Startups entering the program will receive $40,000 in seed funding in exchange for 6 percent equity. Tej Dhawan, an angel investor and local startup mentor, is serving as interim director until the AgriTech Accelerator names a permanent leader. Dhawan held a similar role with the GIA before Brian Hemesath was named as managing director. As interim director, Dhawan said his main job includes hiring the accelerator's executive director, establishing a business structure and initial recruiting for the first cohort. The accelerator will place few filters, such as location and product, on the applicant pool, Dhawan said. "When you’re seeking innovation, innovation can come from every corner of the world so why restrict ourselves," he said. One area the the AgriTech Accelerator won't recruit from is biotech. For its first cohort, the AgriTech Accelerator will work out of the GIA's space in Des Moines' East Village, Dhawan said. A future, permanent home is still to be decided. The accelerator's program will host startups from mid-July through mid-October, ending with an event connected to the annual World Food Prize. The GIA, which the AgriTech Accelerator is based on, also ends with presentations at an industry event. The accelerator has also started lining up a mentor pool. The Iowa Corn Growers Association, Iowa Soybean Association and the Iowa Pork Producers Association have agreed to provide mentors, as has Iowa State University. While the AgriTech Accelerator is loosely based off of the GIA, it will differ in its business structure, Dhawan said. The GIA runs through a for-profit model for both operations and its investment fund. The AgriTech Accelerator will have a nonprofit model for its operations and a for-profit setup for its fund. Dhawan said the nonprofit model is being used so the accelerator can better work with other nonprofit partners, such as trade associations. "These are all organizations that are nonprofits and can be amazing stakeholders without ever having to be investors in the accelerator," he said. "It becomes easier to work with trade associations in their nonprofit role when we are also a nonprofit." When it's up and running, the AgriTech Accelerator would be one of a handful of ag-focused startup development programs in Iowa. Others include the Ag Startup Engine out of Iowa State University and the Rural Ventures Alliance from Iowa MicroLoan. Matthew Patane is the managing editor and co-founder of Clay & Milk. Send him an email at mpatane@clayandmilk.com.

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