Octane Coffee provides an unconventional way to get a cup of coffee and now founder and CEO Adrian Deasy is using an unconventional way to grow the business by seeking investors through crowdfunding.
The first investment round that was kicked off this fall will help the City of Pewaukee-based company open a third location in Hales Corners on Highway 100, just to the north of the Festival Foods parking lot.
As of Thursday, $247,188 had been raised. On Aug. 29, an Octane Coffee location was opened in the Town of Brookfield on Bluemound Road near Best Buy. The original location is in the City of Pewaukee near Point Burger Bar on Westwood Drive, which has been closed following road construction.
Deasy said the Town of Brookfield location is off to a great start since it opened.
“We are immediately doing five times the business we ever did in Pewaukee,” he said.
Deasy cautions that if people driving by don’t ever see cars there, that’s kind of the point. The drive-thru coffee business offers a fully automated and fast experience. Customers place their orders on their online and the system is able to time the coffee for their arrival so they simply drive up, retrieve their coffee and are on their way. No long lines of vehicles winding their way around a building and past an ordering speaker system.
With an engineering background and growing up in a family involved in the food service, Deasy wanted to find a way to bring the two industries together. He said he would hear complaints about the big chain coffee shop experience of paying $6 or more for a coffee and then having to wait many minutes to get it.
After coming up with the idea of automating the process, Deasy said he worked during the COVID-19 pandemic to fundraise. Now, he hopes to raise the funds to continue growing the business and to begin to franchise it. He said he has gotten inquiries from around the world.
The minimal amount of investment required is $300. For that amount, or higher amounts, investors get a simple agreement for future equity. The valuation cap is set at $20.7 million. So far, according to the fundraising page on Start Engine, there have been 70 investors.
As of right now, Deasy said he wants to keep Octane Coffee’s growth to the Milwaukee area, which will allow for them to service the locations faster.
He’s hoping that in late 2026, they will be able to franchise Octane Coffee.
“For us, we are definitely looking to scale up our manufacturing,” Deasy said. “We want to build our automation in the Milwaukee area; it’s a great place to build a business like ours.”
Have a Waukesha County restaurant news tip? Email Katherine Beck at kbeck@conleynet.com