Welcome to the Future of Coffee
Obvious invests in Taika
I’m excited to share the story behind our investment in Taika: a new kind of functional beverage company based in San Francisco, CA.
We first met Taika co-founders Michael Sharon and Kal Freese in early 2019. We were on a quest to find and fund a next-generation beverage company that could deliver a health and wellness boost alongside the taste and quality of a world-class coffee or tea to start the day.
The Taika founders were on a similar journey they call Stealth Health — a vision to hijack everyday food and beverage habits with efficacious wellness benefits. We quickly fell in love with their approach and in April 2019 we invested in the Taika seed round in partnership with our good friends at Kindred Ventures.
Michael, Taika’s CEO, is the tech leader. He was Facebook’s first mobile product hire and ultimately led the Pages product group. Kal, Taika’s master barista, is the coffee wizard. He’s a two-time Finnish Barista Champion and previously co-founded Sudden Coffee. Together, they started formulating Taika (magic in Finnish) for their friends.
After many alpha and beta iterations, they landed on a set of plant- (and myco-) based ingredients that enhance their carefully crafted coffee to keep you calm, focused, and clear.
Taika’s proprietary adaptogen blend found in every can includes:
- L-theanine — An amino acid found in green tea leaves that counteracts some of the negative side effects of caffeine (like jitters and crashes) and helps improve focus.
- Ashwagandha — A leafy, flowering plant that helps you cope with daily stress and promotes calm.
- Lion’s Mane — An odd-looking mushroom that supports memory, concentration, and cognitive function.
- Reishi — An immunity-boosting mushroom used in preventative medicine.
- Cordyceps militaris — An energy-enhancing mushroom that increases stamina.
All of these compounds are FDA GRAS certified. Perfectly blended together to create the coffee of the future!
Taika products are available cold-shipped direct to you in SF, NYC, and LA, as well as in the cold case at select retail partners. Learn more at Taika.co
p.s. wondering about that phone number? just shoot it a text :-)
