In 2023, New York-based Kenyan businesswoman Margaret Nyamumbo made headlines when she secured a ksh 44M investment deal from Shark Tank billionaire Emma Grede.
Nyamumbo’s eloquent pitch was what first caught the public eye, with a viral video showing her seeking KSh 44 million (350,000 USD) as she tried to convince five tycoons on the popular American reality TV show Shark Tank to buy a 5% stake in her Kahawa 1893 coffee company.
At first, it was not clear whether her eloquent presentation had made any headway.
The ‘shark tanks’ who listened to her presentation were Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec, Emma Grede, and Kevin O’Leary.
It was not until she took to the socials the next morning that she confirmed winning a partnership with British businesswoman, co-founder, and CEO of Good American, Emma Grede.
Grede, a self-made tycoon, holds the distinction of being the first Black woman to serve as an investor on the Shark Tank show, with a net worth of Ksh.44.9 billion ($360 million).
The billionaire posted her partnership with Nyamumbo on her official X account, saying, “We did it! We got a deal. Emma! I am so excited to partner with the incredible @emmagrede to grow Kahawa and bring our mission to millions of women in the world! Let’s go.”
However, the deal did not align with Nyamumbo’s initial terms, with Grede offering to put up an 8% stake in her company, worth about $350 000.
The Story Behind Kahawa 1893
In her Shark Tank presentation, Nyamumbo, who studied in the USA, praised her coffee company and stated that her product is the best in the world.
She stated that she grew up on her grandfather’s coffee farm in Kenya, where she noticed that farmers rarely receive the compensation that is commensurate with the delicious coffee they produce.
She noted that while women provide 90% of the labor, they are rarely paid well because they do not own the land.
This lack of proper compensation was what inspired Nyamumbo to create Kahawa 1893 as a way of offering them proper compensation to coffee farmers.
1983 represents the year that coffee became commercially cultivated in Kenya.
“We source our coffee directly from women farmers in Africa, but that’s not all; we go one step further: our customers can tip the coffee farmers, and we match the tips,” she said.
In her Shark Tank presentation, Nyamumbo noted that her company had made $2million in 2022 revenues, $ 1.3 million year-to-date performance, projections of $4million for 2024, and $10 million revenue targets for 2025.
Her sojourn in the US began when she completed her high school education, when she received a scholarship to pursue an MBA at Harvard University.
Her parents could not raise enough money for her plane ticket, so she had to depend on additional fundraising from relatives and villagers.
After Harvard, she landed a job on Wall Street before she decided to venture into the coffee business in 2017.
Success After Shark Tank
Following her partnership with Grede, Nyamumbo gained valuable capital and resources that helped her brand expand to major national retailers like Sprouts, Target, Costco, and The Fresh Market.
The Shark Tank appearance also helped Kahawa 1893 gain unprecedented momentum, which helped Nyamumbo sell over $1 million worth of coffee in just two months following her presentation.
The company also achieved $4.2 million in overall sales during the year following the Emma Grede partnership, overtaking its previous record of $7million in lifetime sales.
Currently, Kahawa 1893’s net worth is approximately $8.75 million, with annual revenues exceeding $3million.