Cleveland Avenue

Cleveland Avenue is a venture capital investment firm established in 2015 and based in Chicago, Illinois. The firm specializes in investing in a range of sectors, including food and beverage companies, lifestyle consumer brands, agricultural technology, and technology firms. As a registered investment adviser, Cleveland Avenue focuses on seed-stage, early-stage, later-stage, and growth-stage opportunities, aiming to support innovative companies that align with its strategic interests.

Matthew Wellington Burns

Senior Associate, Investments

Fernando Carranza

Venture Investor

Harry Coaxum

Managing Partner, Operations

Walker Cullinan

Analyst

Ellen Federbush

Project Manager, Office of the CEO

Keith Kravcik

Chief Investment Officer

Mingu Lee

Managing Partner

Randall Lewis

Managing Partner

Jason Mercer

Principal

Fabian Gosselin

Investor

Veronica Pierce

Director of Strategic Partnerships

Ryan Tlusty

CFO

Robert Wietecki

Senior Associate, Investments

Taylor Williams

Venture Investor

Don Thompson

CEO and Founder

Past deals in Beverages

Somrus

Series C in 2023
SomruS is a producer of cream liqueurs that combines distilled rum, dairy cream, and natural flavors to create a variety of unique beverages. The company's product lineup includes flavors such as bourbon chai, raspberry mango cooler, urban bourbon lift, iced dirty chai latte, mango fizz, chairish toast, mango bean, and mango colada. SomruS aims to deliver rich and flavorful liqueurs crafted from natural recipes, allowing consumers to enjoy their favorite drinks at affordable prices while promoting a sense of indulgence and enjoyment.

Bright Cellars

Series B in 2022
Bright Cellars is a monthly subscription wine club that matches members with personalized selections. It is designed to help new wine drinkers discover and define their taste in wine. It aims to inspire and educate a new generation of wine lovers by delivering a transformative, personalized wine experience. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Somrus

Convertible Note in 2022
SomruS is a producer of cream liqueurs that combines distilled rum, dairy cream, and natural flavors to create a variety of unique beverages. The company's product lineup includes flavors such as bourbon chai, raspberry mango cooler, urban bourbon lift, iced dirty chai latte, mango fizz, chairish toast, mango bean, and mango colada. SomruS aims to deliver rich and flavorful liqueurs crafted from natural recipes, allowing consumers to enjoy their favorite drinks at affordable prices while promoting a sense of indulgence and enjoyment.

Somrus

Series C in 2022
SomruS is a producer of cream liqueurs that combines distilled rum, dairy cream, and natural flavors to create a variety of unique beverages. The company's product lineup includes flavors such as bourbon chai, raspberry mango cooler, urban bourbon lift, iced dirty chai latte, mango fizz, chairish toast, mango bean, and mango colada. SomruS aims to deliver rich and flavorful liqueurs crafted from natural recipes, allowing consumers to enjoy their favorite drinks at affordable prices while promoting a sense of indulgence and enjoyment.

Red Bay Coffee

Venture Round in 2022
Red Bay Coffee Roasters was founded in 2014 by Keba Konte, a renowned artist and successful food entrepreneur with deep roots in the San Francisco Bay Area specialty coffee and hospitality industry. Red Bay Coffee is at the forefront of what they believe is the fourth wave of coffee—a firm commitment to ensure coffee production is not only high quality and sustainable, but a vehicle for diversity, inclusion, social and economic restoration, entrepreneurship, and environmental sustainability. They are foodies, artists, activists, community folk, and innovators who love, love, love what they do. Red Bay seeks to create unity by hiring and serving people of all backgrounds, striving to be diverse and inclusive of those who have traditionally been left out of the specialty coffee industry, especially people of color, the formerly incarcerated, women and people with disabilities.

Bright Cellars

Series B in 2021
Bright Cellars is a monthly subscription wine club that matches members with personalized selections. It is designed to help new wine drinkers discover and define their taste in wine. It aims to inspire and educate a new generation of wine lovers by delivering a transformative, personalized wine experience. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Sustainable Beverage Technologies

Venture Round in 2021
Sustainable Beverage Technologies Inc. is a company that specializes in producing beer and soda concentrates, leveraging a patented brewing process known as BrewVo. This innovative method allows for the efficient production and distribution of carbonators and wine products. The company focuses on enhancing brewing and distribution efficiencies, particularly for outdoor enthusiasts, by offering beer concentrate that can be easily mixed with water and carbon dioxide in a bottle. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Golden, Colorado, Sustainable Beverage Technologies also operates an online store selling branded merchandise such as water bottles, hats, T-shirts, and vinyl stickers.

Bartesian

Series A in 2021
Bartesian Inc. is a Chicago-based company that manufactures a capsule-based cocktail machine, designed to enable users to create customized, bar-quality cocktails at home. Founded in 2014 and originally known as MaxMixology Inc., the company rebranded in 2015. The Bartesian machine operates using pre-mixed ingredient capsules, which include a variety of alcoholic choices, allowing consumers to prepare drinks such as martinis and cosmopolitans at the touch of a button. The system combines specialty pods containing liquors, bitters, extracts, and juice concentrates, making it possible for users to enjoy authentic cocktails without the need for extensive bartending skills.

Red Bay Coffee

Convertible Note in 2020
Red Bay Coffee Roasters was founded in 2014 by Keba Konte, a renowned artist and successful food entrepreneur with deep roots in the San Francisco Bay Area specialty coffee and hospitality industry. Red Bay Coffee is at the forefront of what they believe is the fourth wave of coffee—a firm commitment to ensure coffee production is not only high quality and sustainable, but a vehicle for diversity, inclusion, social and economic restoration, entrepreneurship, and environmental sustainability. They are foodies, artists, activists, community folk, and innovators who love, love, love what they do. Red Bay seeks to create unity by hiring and serving people of all backgrounds, striving to be diverse and inclusive of those who have traditionally been left out of the specialty coffee industry, especially people of color, the formerly incarcerated, women and people with disabilities.

Sustainable Beverage Technologies

Venture Round in 2020
Sustainable Beverage Technologies Inc. is a company that specializes in producing beer and soda concentrates, leveraging a patented brewing process known as BrewVo. This innovative method allows for the efficient production and distribution of carbonators and wine products. The company focuses on enhancing brewing and distribution efficiencies, particularly for outdoor enthusiasts, by offering beer concentrate that can be easily mixed with water and carbon dioxide in a bottle. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Golden, Colorado, Sustainable Beverage Technologies also operates an online store selling branded merchandise such as water bottles, hats, T-shirts, and vinyl stickers.

Bartesian

Convertible Note in 2020
Bartesian Inc. is a Chicago-based company that manufactures a capsule-based cocktail machine, designed to enable users to create customized, bar-quality cocktails at home. Founded in 2014 and originally known as MaxMixology Inc., the company rebranded in 2015. The Bartesian machine operates using pre-mixed ingredient capsules, which include a variety of alcoholic choices, allowing consumers to prepare drinks such as martinis and cosmopolitans at the touch of a button. The system combines specialty pods containing liquors, bitters, extracts, and juice concentrates, making it possible for users to enjoy authentic cocktails without the need for extensive bartending skills.

Bright Cellars

Series A in 2020
Bright Cellars is a monthly subscription wine club that matches members with personalized selections. It is designed to help new wine drinkers discover and define their taste in wine. It aims to inspire and educate a new generation of wine lovers by delivering a transformative, personalized wine experience. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Somrus

Convertible Note in 2020
SomruS is a producer of cream liqueurs that combines distilled rum, dairy cream, and natural flavors to create a variety of unique beverages. The company's product lineup includes flavors such as bourbon chai, raspberry mango cooler, urban bourbon lift, iced dirty chai latte, mango fizz, chairish toast, mango bean, and mango colada. SomruS aims to deliver rich and flavorful liqueurs crafted from natural recipes, allowing consumers to enjoy their favorite drinks at affordable prices while promoting a sense of indulgence and enjoyment.

Bartesian

Seed Round in 2019
Bartesian Inc. is a Chicago-based company that manufactures a capsule-based cocktail machine, designed to enable users to create customized, bar-quality cocktails at home. Founded in 2014 and originally known as MaxMixology Inc., the company rebranded in 2015. The Bartesian machine operates using pre-mixed ingredient capsules, which include a variety of alcoholic choices, allowing consumers to prepare drinks such as martinis and cosmopolitans at the touch of a button. The system combines specialty pods containing liquors, bitters, extracts, and juice concentrates, making it possible for users to enjoy authentic cocktails without the need for extensive bartending skills.

Bhakti

Convertible Note in 2019
Bhakti Chai blends fresh and sustainably sourced (Fair Trade, NonGMO, Organic) with triple bottom line and B Corp business practices. Iced Bhakti Chai bottles are available in six varieties: Original, Decaf, Coffee Blend, Semi-Sweet, Almond Blend, and Toasted Coconut Almond Blend. Concentrate products are available in quarts, half gallons, and gallons in Whole Foods, Costco, and cafe's across the country.

Bhakti

Convertible Note in 2019
Bhakti Chai blends fresh and sustainably sourced (Fair Trade, NonGMO, Organic) with triple bottom line and B Corp business practices. Iced Bhakti Chai bottles are available in six varieties: Original, Decaf, Coffee Blend, Semi-Sweet, Almond Blend, and Toasted Coconut Almond Blend. Concentrate products are available in quarts, half gallons, and gallons in Whole Foods, Costco, and cafe's across the country.

Red Bay Coffee

Series A in 2019
Red Bay Coffee Roasters was founded in 2014 by Keba Konte, a renowned artist and successful food entrepreneur with deep roots in the San Francisco Bay Area specialty coffee and hospitality industry. Red Bay Coffee is at the forefront of what they believe is the fourth wave of coffee—a firm commitment to ensure coffee production is not only high quality and sustainable, but a vehicle for diversity, inclusion, social and economic restoration, entrepreneurship, and environmental sustainability. They are foodies, artists, activists, community folk, and innovators who love, love, love what they do. Red Bay seeks to create unity by hiring and serving people of all backgrounds, striving to be diverse and inclusive of those who have traditionally been left out of the specialty coffee industry, especially people of color, the formerly incarcerated, women and people with disabilities.

Somrus

Series B in 2018
SomruS is a producer of cream liqueurs that combines distilled rum, dairy cream, and natural flavors to create a variety of unique beverages. The company's product lineup includes flavors such as bourbon chai, raspberry mango cooler, urban bourbon lift, iced dirty chai latte, mango fizz, chairish toast, mango bean, and mango colada. SomruS aims to deliver rich and flavorful liqueurs crafted from natural recipes, allowing consumers to enjoy their favorite drinks at affordable prices while promoting a sense of indulgence and enjoyment.

Bright Cellars

Venture Round in 2018
Bright Cellars is a monthly subscription wine club that matches members with personalized selections. It is designed to help new wine drinkers discover and define their taste in wine. It aims to inspire and educate a new generation of wine lovers by delivering a transformative, personalized wine experience. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Somrus

Venture Round in 2017
SomruS is a producer of cream liqueurs that combines distilled rum, dairy cream, and natural flavors to create a variety of unique beverages. The company's product lineup includes flavors such as bourbon chai, raspberry mango cooler, urban bourbon lift, iced dirty chai latte, mango fizz, chairish toast, mango bean, and mango colada. SomruS aims to deliver rich and flavorful liqueurs crafted from natural recipes, allowing consumers to enjoy their favorite drinks at affordable prices while promoting a sense of indulgence and enjoyment.

Bhakti

Series B in 2017
Bhakti Chai blends fresh and sustainably sourced (Fair Trade, NonGMO, Organic) with triple bottom line and B Corp business practices. Iced Bhakti Chai bottles are available in six varieties: Original, Decaf, Coffee Blend, Semi-Sweet, Almond Blend, and Toasted Coconut Almond Blend. Concentrate products are available in quarts, half gallons, and gallons in Whole Foods, Costco, and cafe's across the country.

Bright Cellars

Convertible Note in 2017
Bright Cellars is a monthly subscription wine club that matches members with personalized selections. It is designed to help new wine drinkers discover and define their taste in wine. It aims to inspire and educate a new generation of wine lovers by delivering a transformative, personalized wine experience. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Drink Simple

Venture Round in 2017
Drink Simple specializes in the production of packaged maple water, a natural beverage derived from the sap of maple trees. This sap, often mistaken for sticky syrup, is actually a clear liquid that undergoes a natural process, allowing it to retain essential nutrients. Harvested in early spring, the water is rich in naturally occurring electrolytes and prebiotics, providing a refreshing and hydrating option for consumers. Drink Simple's products are organic, free from added sugars, and cater to various dietary preferences, including being GMO, gluten, and dairy-free. By offering a unique, tree-based hydration solution, the company aims to promote health and wellness among its customers.

Drink Simple

Venture Round in 2015
Drink Simple specializes in the production of packaged maple water, a natural beverage derived from the sap of maple trees. This sap, often mistaken for sticky syrup, is actually a clear liquid that undergoes a natural process, allowing it to retain essential nutrients. Harvested in early spring, the water is rich in naturally occurring electrolytes and prebiotics, providing a refreshing and hydrating option for consumers. Drink Simple's products are organic, free from added sugars, and cater to various dietary preferences, including being GMO, gluten, and dairy-free. By offering a unique, tree-based hydration solution, the company aims to promote health and wellness among its customers.
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