# Rasa

Functional coffee alternative. Energize with adaptogens, not caffeine!


## Elevator pitch
We invented the world’s first functional coffee alternative. Sustainable energy, grounded moods, relaxed focus. We create highly effective products our customers adore, making it easy to replace a coffee with a new ritual that supports Energy Intelligence™.

- Canonical URL: https://wefunder.com/rasa
- Entity ID: wefunder:company:89899
- Last updated: 2026-06-07T05:02:26Z
- Generated at: 2026-06-08T04:00:46Z

## Quick facts
- ⚡️>500% YOY subscription growth
- ⭐️4.7 average rating, 10M+ cups sold, 100K customers
- 😎Founder on Forbes Next 1000 list, former Sr Advisor @ Richard Branson’s Carbon War Room, 1 prior exit
- 🥾 $12M cumulative revenue, GAAP profitable last year, bootstrapped until now
- ☕ Taking on the $465B global coffee market; featured in Bon Appetit & Rolling Stone as leading coffee alternative
- 📈 On track to 10x the business by 2026 thanks to superb 50% subscriber retention
- 🌿 Co-founder is a clinical herbalist, adaptogen expert, & was Sr Herb Buyer @ Celestial Seasonings.
- 🙌 Public Benefit Corp for sustainable supply chain, compostable packaging, & changing lives.

## Active fundraises
- wefunder:fundraise:49259: 506(b) successful (USD)
- wefunder:fundraise:58535: 506(c) successful (USD)
- wefunder:fundraise:46848: 4(a)(6) successful (USD)

## Story
Rasa is a Superfunctional morning brew of adaptogens that clears your mind with calm, jitter-free energy, sharpens your focus, and helps you regulate cortisol levels. We’re on a mission to take on the $465B coffee market and offer an alternative that is just as effective - and actually tastes good. Rasa’s rich, roasty adaptogen-powered proprietary formulations are taking on coffee in a big way. It’s a robust, delicious, science-backed morning ritual: boom.Doesn’t that sound like a better way to start your day?The SuperFunctional part of Rasa comes from adaptogens. Adaptogens energize and nourish, and have been used for millennia to restore balance to the body. More balance means you have more stress resilience, stronger immune system, better libido, sunnier moods, and more energy to be your epic self. Rasa blends pack 1,000-10,000 mg of these amazing herbs per serving.Each day comes with a finite supply of energy, and coffee jolts our systems into motion by blocking adenosine (the chemical that makes you feel sleepy) from binding to receptors. As a result, you don’t feel sleepy...until the caffeine wears off (hellloooo afternoon crash!)Infamously addictive, side effects of caffeine include anxiety, tremors, restlessness, and trouble sleeping. If you’re a caffeine junkie, you’re not alone. A staggering 64% of American adults rely on the mean bean to get through their day. But the tides are turning...After our founder and CEO, Lopa, went through a series of soap opera-worthy events in the year 2015—including leaving a cult, the death of a loved one, emergency surgeries, a cross-country move, and a dramatic falling-out with her family—she was understandably exhausted.And then she added her first baby to the mix.“Coffee was a dead end for what I was going through. My nervous system was fried—overstimulated and depleted. Coffee only made it worse. And I tried the available alternatives, but they lacked the delicious flavor, functional benefits, and energy support I craved and knew was possible.”So what’s a burned out but remarkably resourceful mom to do when faced with a life without coffee, and without the prospect of a promising alternative?Create one herself, obvs.She partnered with an herbalist to create the 12-herb Original blend, and hard-launched Rasa in April 2018. Under the guidance of our Chief Herbalist and co-founder (who has read over 100 peer-reviewed papers in the formulation process), our line has grown to 9 products: Original, Cacao, Dirty, Bold, Calm, Supper Happy Sunshine, Spicy Rose Cacao, Well, Well, Wellderberry, and our adaptogenic creamer, Créme de la Creamer. We’ll also be launching 5 new products in 2022.From a tired mama elbow-deep blending herbs in her kitchen, to a small team operating out of her garage...to the unstoppable success Rasa is enjoying today, we’ve proven our appeal and staying power as a functional and nourishing alternative to coffee, in a market craving change. While adaptogens fuel our customers, our subscription model drives our business. We love the beautiful synergy between the two: subscriptions reinforce the health benefits of sustained adaptogen consumptionWe’re ready to help the world kick their caffeinated habits and cultivate Energy Integrity™ using sustainable, science-backed, adaptogen-based deliciousness.Besides a veritable crapton of hard work, we’ve had nearly triple-digit YoY growth because we’ve taken 4 major trends and rolled them into one, in order to take on the behemoth global coffee market. With your support we are confident we can continue this growth.Our tireless commitment to only sourcing the best herbs and mushrooms in ways that empower our growers keeps our supply chain sustainable, ethical, and unparalleled. 48 botanicals sourced from 15 countries makes Rasa’s proprietary blends unlike any other product on the market today.By striving to source only ethical and sustainable ingredients, and working toward re-investing in our suppliers and their livelihoods, our products have a huge impact on the lives of the hard-working people who nurture and grow their botanicals to be worthy of our exceptional blends.In service of our values, we have incorporated as a Public Benefit Corporation. As a PBC, we are legally bound to pursue a public benefit above and beyond a pure profit motive. Our stated mission is "Sourcing sustainable herbs from traditional growing regions and promoting quality herbal education.Fans are absolutely RAVING about the taste and benefits of adding Rasa to their daily routines. With an average 4.7 ⭐️ rating, and 10+ million cups served to a steadily growing 100K customer base, Rasa is THE premier coffee alternative (and way to energize!) of the future...We’ve been featured in numerous publications (all organic—no PR agency or paid placements!), and we’re rapidly expanding our reach beyond our thriving online direct-to-consumer channel. People love us.Satisfying surging consumer demand, functional food and beverage disruptors are earning sky-high valuations.We want to crowd-source this business, not just crowdfund it. We keep our valuation reasonable because we are here to share our future with our community, not extract from our community. We want you to join us and be part of this entrepreneurial ride of a lifetime—having fun, generating impact, and hopefully making fat stacks in the process. 🤑 We invite you to introduce us to influencers online, and B2B clients such as coffee shops, offices, apothecaries, and healthcare practitioners. Vote on our next seasonal blend, and on our upcoming re-brand. Help us build your business! This is only the beginning of our journey to becoming a world-renowned functional coffee alternative & changing the way we energize from depleting to nourishing. We are going to harness the everliving-crap out of our momentum and market Rasa to the world. Your investment dollars are part of a movement that will change how the world relates to energy. Join us!

## FAQ
1. **Are there any investment level perks set as of yet?**
   - Yes, they've just been finalized: All investors: 50% off Sampler Packs - to try Rasa & also to share with friends! $250+: Drink More Plants canvas totes embroidered with a special touch from Cheri from Rasa's customer care team $500+: Enjoy 25% off Rasa subscriptions...for life. $2500+: Get 50% off The Whole Rasa Bundle—every permanent 8 oz blend at your door (270 servings of life-changing goodness!) for $160 off retail.
2. **the email I received stated starting as $250.00. I opened and was offered $100 minimum. Is the $250 for a "share".**
   - We had a slight confusion. The minimum is $100. The price per share is $2.69 for the early bird round, and $4.49 per share thereafter.
3. **Should I check the box saying I am investing with an entity/llc/etc when on the Invest page?**
   - The question is regarding whether you are passing your investment through an LLC you control into Rasa. If you are investing just in your name then you do not.
4. **Is the Ticker symbol decided? What is it?**
   - Hi Sadie! Because we are not a publicly-traded company, we won't have a ticker symbol. The only way to invest in Rasa and own shares is through WeFunder. Let us know if you have any questions!
5. **I would like to invest tonight or tomorrow but when I click Invest it does not say that the share price is $2.39. How can I be assured that is my share price?**
   - Looks like we got this one figured out! There have been some glitches with the WeFunder platform. So grateful to you for your investment, Christie!

## Team
- Lopa Van Der Mersch (Founder & CEO)
- Ben LeVine (Co-Founder & Chief Herbalist)
- Lenny Chase (VP, Head of Marketing)
- Ben Lovejoy (Creative Director)
- Erik Sirnes (General Manager)
- Leah Gidwani (Operations Director)

## Recent posts
- Thank you for supporting Rasa 💛 (2022-04-07T20:18:48Z)
- TWO HOURS LEFT TO GET ON THIS ROCKETSHIP 🚀 (2022-04-01T00:00:23Z)
- We’re oversubscribed but you can still invest! 4 HOURS LEFT & WE’RE FIRED UP 🔥 (2022-03-31T22:20:20Z)
- 💸 Less than 8 hours left! & I’m going live on IG in ONE HOUR (2022-03-31T19:32:26Z)
- I’m going LIVE TODAY on IG at 1:30pm PST / 4:30pm EST 🎙️ (2022-03-31T18:02:33Z)
- 🔔 Closing Day! I'm taking investor calls ALL DAY to answer your questions (2022-03-31T16:24:18Z)
- Rasa featured in First State Investor & we’re closing TOMORROW💥 (2022-03-30T16:49:46Z)
- 🚨We’re closing on Thursday! (2022-03-29T20:40:47Z)
- Closing Soon & Almost Sold Out! 🔥 (2022-03-24T17:21:27Z)
- Webinar Recording & Special Announcement 📣 (2022-03-23T14:48:29Z)
- You’re Invited! Live Investor Webinar with the Rasa Team 👀 (2022-03-17T17:45:59Z)
- Featured in Bon Appétit, Rolling Stone & Ebony! ⚡ (2022-03-15T16:10:14Z)
- Thank you for the love 💌 (2022-03-10T17:20:28Z)
- New product release 🍄→ New market entry (2022-03-08T17:30:57Z)
- 3 Reasons Why Rasa is an Incredible Investment Opportunity 💸 (2022-03-03T17:46:01Z)

## Q&A
- Q: Hi Lopa, I'm working on a write-up on Rasa for the Angel Notes Newsletter - https://angelnotes.co - where I help 800+ angel investors find valuable investments on equity crowdfunding platforms with in-depth research and analysis. I just discovered Rasa and haven't yet gone through proper due diligence. However, from a first impression, this looks like a no-brainer! I headed over to your website to buy a pack of Rasa but only saw the United States as an available shipping country. I would love it if we could arrange shipment to Italy! Looking forward to knowing more and investing in Rasa. Appreciate any help you might provide! All the best, Manuel
  - A: Manuel, please reach out to investors@wearerasa.com and we can arrange to send you a sample. However our stunning reviews from our customer-investors tell you everything you need to know.
- Q: I am from Hong Kong. If I invest 2500, Could we also work out distributorship for the Hong Kong and China market? We have connection to greater China and it will surely benefit the company and fellow investors too =)
  - A: Oh HECK yes. Would love to discuss this with you! Email our customer care team and we'll put you in touch with the person on our team who can move this forward with you.
- Q: Hi, I see $5MM is forecast revenue for your FY2021. Has it been met? FY2021 must be over by now. Cheers!
  - A: Yes!! $5.1M to be precise :-)
- Q: Hi Lopa, I am excited and proud to invest in Rasa. I wanted to ask if you considered RASA branded outlets, similar to Starbucks. Also what are you plans for international sales? Do you consider localized distribution outside US?
  - A: Hi Zohrab! Great questions - indeed we have goals to open cafes (with our first one being in Boulder and made possible by the crowdfunding). We are starting international expansion by doing market-testing via Amazon and are currently in Amazon UK, Canada, & Australia, with plans to open Germany (and therefore the rest of the EU) this year. From there we will find in-country distribution partners in markets with proven traction. Let me know if you have any other questions! Lopa
- Q: Hi Lopa, I love the product!! It is top notch. Looks like a super team, too! I have a few questions on the investment front. I appreciate your patience and assistance with the question, in advance! 1) Can you please send or post any due diligence package including financials and pro forma forecast that you may have? 2) In the Pitch Deck, you said page 38 has info about your vision for exit. However, the pitch deck ends at page 20; It appears it was revised in February. Can you please speak to your preferred path for an exit? 3) On the cap table, 5,243,065 shares of common stock are outstanding, and it appears that 99.53% of that is owned by you, Lopa. Is that correct? I'd like to understand any stock allocation to Ben LeVine (co-founder & chief herbalist), Ben Lovejoy, Lenny Chase, and Erik Sirnes. I like to see alignment of incentives, and I don't see that right now. 4) Can you share more about your diversity? The pitch Deck says you are "52% women" (not 52% women-owned), but I only see you and the men. Same for BIPOC- the Deck says 29% BIPOC but that is not apparent. Can you share more about the diversity numbers? 5) How many employees do you have right now? 5.5) What is the run rate on monthly overhead and personnel expenses? 6) Under highlights, it says "Public Benefit Corp"- Is Rasa a Certified B Corp? I don't see that certification on your website, and don't see any details, so wanted to get more info, please. 7) It seems there was an earlier valuation on this round of $15M for the first ~$1M invested; and then the pre-money valuation stepped up to $25M for the follow-on investors. Is that right? You mentioned that the increase in valuation is primarily due to the level of new investors that came on board. Has there been any other material growth, partnerships or new contracts over the last few months that has added to increased value? 8) Past Fundraises show 12 different "priced rounds." and it appears you were the primary funder for all of them? Can you share the appraisals for any or all of those priced rounds? 9) Under Use of Funds, the totals add up to $5,149,999- Please confirm if this is the cap on total $$ fundraising for this round? 10) The Form C says you are offering 37,175 share of Preferred stock in this offering, and the share price is $4.49 each. Is that still accurate? And the 37,175 shares will be issued for this fundraise out of 1,262,615 authorized preferred shares. Is that right? And given the 5,243,065 issues shares of common stock, the total outstanding shares after investment will be 5,280,240, is that right? So if we divide 37,175 shares /by 5,280,240 total shares, the investors will own 0.7% of the post-money valuation. Is that right? This does not make sense from an investment point of view, so if there is additional or updated information regarding this, please share, or correct the math for me! 11) Will the post money valuation be determined by the pre-money valuation + money raised; or is there anything else that will factor in? 12)- Many thanks for a thorough follow-up!!
  - A: Hi Kathleen, this is an awesome set of questions, best addressed by phone. Please write us at investors@wearerasa.com so we can set up a call this week!
  - A: Just following up here - would love to answer your questions in detail, and it'll simply take a lot less time over the phone. Please send an email to investors@wearerasa.com and we can set up a time to chat!
- Q: Are you thinking of adding more flavors that contain less herbs and focus more on taste. This is a potentially huge market.
  - A: Hi Ed! Yes, we have already made a shift to more flavor-forward blends with our Golden Chai and Peppermint Cacao (which both resulted in record days of sales for Q4), and previously as well, with our ginger-cardamom Immune Tonic and our Spicy Rose Cacao. Our Cacao also has eked out over Original as the bestseller, and we have some exciting developments moving forward on both our existing line and our future pipeline. We currently have 10 SKUs and so are being judicious about how we expand our portfolio, but are constantly listening to customer feedback on taste. I'm curious which products you've tried so far? They all taste different, and I feel very confident that we have the best-tasting herbal coffee alternatives on the market so far, and that's only going to improve from here. Let me know any other questions and thank you! Lopa
- Q: Hi Lopa, I wanted to quickly ask how the January and February sales went in numbers, since it is the start of your high season. Have a great weekend. Cheers
  - A: Hi there! Sorry for the delay on this response. In Jan we did $460K in revenue, and Feb saw $409K, and we ended the month with a 15% subscriber increase MoM. This is intentionally a lighter quarter for us because we've just brought in our Head of Marketing who is doing foundational work to build a fully scalable funnel, and we're really pleased with the subscriber growth we were able to drive on the first test of that funnel in February. Let me know any other questions! 💛, Lopa
- Q: Hi Rasa Team, Congrats on the success so far. I like that you've got such strong traction. One of my readers passed along your deal to me and asked for my thoughts. I’ve written a first pass of a deal memo (https://muhanzhang.com/rasa/) for myself and other investors. My primary question is: is this essentially a competitor to Four Sigmatic coffee? I know there's a lot of growth in the coffee alternative space (such as ZestTea and the like) and am trying to figure out what the comp is. Thanks in advance for your responses. Bests, Muhan https://muhanzhang.com/rasa/
  - A: Hi Muhan, fun! Four Sigmatic is a boosted coffee, so caffeine + extra stimulants. Rasa is the world's first caffeine-free coffee alternative. We are creating a new category, so the comp discussion is a bit complex as there aren't straight comps. The adaptogenic herbs in Rasa help reduce fatigue and improve focus, among a host of other benefits. Scientifically comes down to stimulants vs. adaptogens, which is a slide in our investor pitch deck linked at the bottom of our WeFunder raise page. Please write us at investors@wearerasa.com and we can hop on a call and discuss more in detail with you.
- Q: Last update in March was "Update coming soon". What's happening over at Rasa? Any more updates for this year?
- Q: When does RASA estimate projections to give returns back to initial investors? Are you on track for original growth of 6.3x of the company capital. Originally projection of 81.6 Mil by 2026.
- Q: Hi. How do get back my investment if the need arises. I invested through wefunder. Thanks. Shirley
- Q: Hi there love the rasa story………. At first I just threw in 200 bucks but after listening to the webinar I doubled down with a grand………… that might be small for some but a lot for me ….. a student……… but u have so much to offer so I just have to join……….. as far as the kosher certification……… being an Orthodox Jew myself I would recommend using the “ou “ certification……….. that is something that is respected and trusted by all( some of the other certifications some people like and others don’t ………….. not meaning to say an opinion of who is trustworthy or not just giving over what I know and what will help drive more business ) love to be part of the rasa family…………. Btw I downloaded the webinar wanna keep it as a keepsake……….. yeh I’m still young!!!
  - A: Thank you, Eliezer! Our ops team has taken note of your recommendation.
- Q: With the $2.5K perk, is the 50% bundle discount for life or a one-time purchase? And does each tier include the perks of the ones below it as well?
  - A: Yes, the perks stack, and it's for a one-time purchase. But if you want to share Rasa samples with friends reach out to investors@wearerasa.com and we'd love to help you build the brand!
- Q: Hi Lopa, I have been looking for an alternative to coffee for a long time, but always the flavor, the availability, or the habit have brought me back to coffee. Hope you have success. From the business point of view I have 2 concerns: (1) being the product a mixture of (unprocessed?) herbs, the elaboration is simple? expensive, complex machinery? How many specialized personnel are involved in the production? Could you double the production in a short period of time? or would you need new production centers? (2) since part of the attraction of coffee is socialization, it is widely available on the street, but for now your product must be prepared and consumed at home, right? how about the possibility of selling it in coffee shops or restaurants? have you found accessibility in these channels? and what about the expiration period for every bag? (that perhaps could be important for business clients giving it a try) Best of luck,
  - A: Hi Alberto! My humble apologies for having missed this question - the mechanism for Wefunder sending me notifications for new questions appears to be broken, and I'm working on getting that fixed! To answer your questions... 1. Our manufacturing process is actually not complex at all. There are multiple contract manufacturers just in Colorado that can produce for us if needed. And our current partner can easily triple production and more if needed. Our herb sourcing is much more complex, and includes some herbs that are very specialized and hard to get. We’ve been working for the past couple years to develop back-up suppliers to mitigate this risk and we now have multiple suppliers in both India & China. 2. Such a great question - yes, we want to be everywhere coffee is, and distribution in food service locations (cafes, restaurants, offices & co-working spaces, hotels, etc) is a key part of our distribution strategy starting in 2023. We currently have about 3 dozen cafes who are helping us test and operationalize this for scale. The herbs in Rasa are mostly hardy roots, and thus each bag has a 2 year shelf life, which helps tremendously with some of the supply chain complexities and having enough raw inventory on hand for scale. Let me know any other questions you have! Best, Lopa
- Q: Hi Lopa, I just noticed this in the fine print on the Peppermint Cacao: "Do not use this product if you are taking SSRI antidepressants." I didn't check all the products but I didn't see that on any of the others I looked at. Is that unique to that product? Or do all the adaptogen products carry that warning? I have never tried Rasa and am very interested, but as you might have guessed I am currently taking an SSRI and have never tried adaptogens. I realize you're not a doctor and I'm not looking for medical advice, just a little more specific guidance on the impact of mixing your products and SSRIs.
  - A: Hi Derek! I'm so sorry we missed this, it appears as though our "you have a question" notifications have not been going through and we missed a bunch of excellent questions! This warning is on only our Peppermint Cacao & our Super Happy Sunshine blends, because those blends contain an herb called sceletium, which is contraindicated with SSRIs. SSRI drugs increase serotonin levels in the brain. Sceletium, one of the herbs in our Happy Sunshine blend, is a proven SRI (serotonin reuptake inhibitor) which can also raise serotonin levels in the brain. If these levels are raised too high, unpleasant, and even dangerous side-effects can occur. All of our other products do not have any contraindications with SSRIs. And yes, we're not doctors, but we do have 2 clinical herbalists on staff! Let us know if you have any other questions. Best, Lopa