The coffee futures fund with Akshat Khandelwal

Akshat is the founder of Coffee Futures Fund, a  new initiative supporting early-stage coffee shop owners with capital, mentorship, and a trusted peer network.Akshat has a background in brand storytelling and business strategy, he brings over a decade of experience as an operator, investor, and advisor to global growth-stage companies. He has supported founders in raising over $20 million in capital, building scalable systems, and aligning purpose with growth. He’s also the founder of the Coffee Owners Roundtable, a global peer community he launched during the pandemic to give coffee shop owners a space to connect, collaborate, and learn from each other.The Coffee Futures Fund mission is to flip the industry’s survival rate, and help more coffee founders thrive, together. In this interview we dig into how the fund is being set-up, the criteria for applying, the benefits of being selected and some of the challenges. Chapters00:00 Introduction to the Coffee Futures Fund05:54 The Genesis of Coffee Futures Fund11:53 Understanding the Fund Structure18:14 Investment and Revenue Sharing Model23:50 Selection Criteria for Coffee Shops29:50 Long-term Vision and Impact of the Fund41:35 Understanding Revenue Sharing and Its Implications43:46 Evaluating the Cost vs. Investment Perspective45:52 The Importance of Revenue Growth for Sustainability49:00 Flexibility in Investment Amounts and Revenue Shares52:04 Mentorship Structure and Its Impact on Business Growth56:56 Aligning Interests: The Investor and Cafe Relationship01:00:04 The Role of Environment in Business Performance01:03:02 Final Thoughts on the Coffee Futures Fund Model