Specialty coffee chain Blue Tokai raises $35-M from Verlinvest

Belgium-headquartered Verlinvest has invested USD 35 million (INR 293.6 crore) in Gurugram-headquartered specialty coffee retailer Blue Tokai . The Series C round also saw participation from existing investors Anicut Capital and A91 Partners.Blue Tokai plans to deploy the fresh proceeds to expand to over 350 locations, drive new products and branch out into new channels.Blue Tokai was founded in 2013 by Matt Chitharanjan, Namrata Asthana and Shivam Shahi. It operates 4 roasteries and over 120 physical outlets in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Mohali and Pune. It also has a presence in Tokyo, Japan.