Sensaterra announces that it has raised €1 million from various business angels, including Denis Fayolle (The Fork), to launch its digital platform for selling coffee, tea, herbal tea, chocolate and equipment directly from independent artisans, to at all lovers of hot drinks. The startup is launching at a time when the hot drinks market (€663 billion in 2019, according to Statista) is beginning to seize the opportunity offered by digital technology to reinvent itself.
Created in January 2020 by Camille Rodriguez, Maxence Béguin, Clément Marty and Denis Fayolle, Sensaterra offers a wide range of coffees, teas, herbal teas, chocolates, equipment and accessories, sourced directly from carefully selected artisans in Europe. With an average of 4 hot drinks drunk per day, the founders want to help everyone consume better, and at a fair price.
Sensaterra’s objective is to contribute to bringing back to the forefront craftsmen, who are still operating too much in the dark compared to the big industrial groups of hot drinks. To do this, it allows them to become digital and international without risk and without prior digital knowledge. Indeed, the startup states that less than half of the European specialists (15,000 in the first three target markets) have a direct sales site. The startup, made up of an international team of 15 people, provides them with a simple, turnkey and customized platform to meet their needs and those of their consumers.
Sensaterra was able to surround itself with business angels with strong digital expertise. The amount raised enabled Sensaterra to accelerate its development in a European hot drinks market valued at €170 billion, according to the team. To date, the site has more than 2,000 products, 120 artisans in all hot beverage segments, including global players in the equipment sector. Thanks to a three-language version of the site, French, Italian and German consumers can count on Sensaterra to offer them qualitative everyday products.
The startup’s team includes, Camille Rodriguez, a former top-level sportswoman, who launched her first company in Spain before joining P&G France. Her taste for sales, negotiation and human relations has led her to take charge of artisans sourcing and to lead the operations at Sensaterra.
Then there is Maxence Béguin, who has developed his appetite for startups and the foodtech industry by working as a VC at OneRagtime. He is the analysis and data man, responsible for online customer acquisition (a skill developed during an experience in a digital strategy consulting firm), and finance.
Clément Marty, CTO, is a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to technology. His experience as a Microsoft Dynamics CRM consultant and then as a Tech Lead at Club Identicar has given him a wide range of skills. He is the technical expert in charge of developing the entire site internally.
Denis Fayolle (non-operational), a successful serial entrepreneur, co-founded LaFourchette.com (sold to TripAdvisor for $150M), Habiteo, Manawa, Singulart, Farmitoo, Next Station, and was the first business angel for ManoMano and Zensoon. He accompanies Camille, Maxence and Clément on a daily basis in their respective fields.
