Kahawa 1893 Coffee Brand Founder Strikes a $350K Deal on ABC’s ‘Shark Tank

Margaret Nyamumbo has been added to the list of Black women reeling in deals on ABC’s Shark Tank.

The founder of the coffee brand, Kahawa 1893, recently scored a deal with British entrepreneur Emma Grede, according to The Star, for $350,000 for eight percent of her company.

The Kenyan native started her company in 2017 with a mission to “pay homage to Kenya’s coffee history and support African women farmers, as stated on the company’s website. The Harvard graduate took to Twitter to make the announcement, saying “We did it! We got a deal” with a shark emoji.

We did it! We got a deal 🦈 pic.twitter.com/lkGDkOdO98

— Margaret Nyamumbo (@maggycoffee) February 19, 2023

Nyamumbo impressed the sharks with her story of how she grew up on her grandfather’s coffee farm. She noticed the lack of compensation for coffee farmers, which launched her business journey in the food and beverage industry. “90 percent of the labour and coffee come from women but so many are not compensated because they do not own the land that’s why I created a new way to compensate the coffee farmers,” she said, as The Star reported. “We are very proud of the coffee that grows on our soil, unfortunately, farmers don’t always make enough for the delicious coffee that they produce.”

Her impressive deal is an addition to her company’s story. BLACK ENTERPRISE reported last year that Kahawa 1893 became the first Black woman-owned coffee brand sold at Trader Joe’s. The New York-based brand is being sold at 200 retail stores within the U.S. A press release making the announcement said Trader Joe purchases will help farmers in Kenya. “When a consumer buys coffee at Trader Joe’s, they can scan a QR code and send a tip to a farmer’s e-wallet who will receive that money directly,” Nyamumbo wrote.

“Kahawa 1893 matches all tips to double the impact.”