Oslo based Verdane controls majority stake in Cropster
October 19 - 2024
Coffee Geography Magazine
Verdane, a private equity firm based in Oslo, Norway which is engaged in investment focused on business-to-business and business-to-consumer digitalization sectors acquires the majority stake in Cropster.
Together Cropster and Verdane partner to work jointly on coffee industry innovation and growth. Cropster, a software platform for the coffee industry, and Verdane, the European specialist growth investor, have announced the partnership which will build on Cropster’s development and long-standing customer relationships, further expand the company’s software offering, accelerate growth and consolidate Cropster’s global market position as an operating system for the coffee industry.
Cropster’s software tools address the business-critical needs of coffee professionals who produce, buy, roast and sell coffee through wholesale and retail channels, both online and offline. The company’s tightly integrated suite of tools and real-time data analytics help coffee farmers, traders, roasters, and cafes to improve quality, consistency and efficiency from crop to cup to deliver the best coffee taste to their customers. As B-Corp certified businesses, Cropster and Verdane are united in driving the coffee industry’s transition into a more socially fair, economically sustainable, and environmentally responsible model.
With the partnership, Verdane acquires a majority stake and will support Cropster on its growth path, which includes both M&A and organic growth. Cropster identifies growth opportunities in the rising presence of specialty coffee in conventional coffee markets like the US and Europe, along with the trend of tea-drinking countries across Asia gradually substituting tea with coffee.
Prior to founding Cropster in 2008, Andreas Idl, Norbert Niederhauser, and Martin Wiesinger collaborated closely with coffee farmers in Colombia to improve their supply chain integration. The founders aimed to enhance the living conditions of coffee farmers not just in Colombia, but globally. Since that day, Cropster has expanded its global presence in recent years and works with well-known coffee companies in all market segments in over 100 countries. Customers include US supermarket Whole Foods, Starbucks and Blue Bottle.
Verdane’s partnership with Cropster is its eleventh investment in the DACH region in the last 12 months and its fourth transaction in Austria, signaling the strong growth potential for businesses in the region.
Dominik Schwarz partner at verdane
Dominik Schwarz, partner at Verdane, commented: “Andreas, Norbert and Martin as well as the entire Cropster team have demonstrated how to develop a successful software tool for the benefit of their customers and how to adapt it to the needs of more and more market participants along the value chain in the coffee market. From day one, we have been impressed by the customer love, loyalty and community Cropster has built in the global roaster and coffee ecosystem as well as the strong value driven culture within the company.”
Ralph Karg director at verdane
Ralph Karg, Director at Verdane, added: “We look forward to working with the team, contributing our in-house functional specialists, ecosystem, and expertise to build on Cropster’s achievements evidenced by its sustainable market-leading position, and to jointly write the next chapter of this remarkable growth story.”
Andreas Idl CEO Cropster
Andreas Idl, CEO and co-founder at Cropster, said: “Verdane outshines the market. We are extremely happy to have found a new partner that shares our same values and who will join us as we take Cropster to the next level. We are confident of their expertise in software and their ability to work in international markets, as demonstrated by their excellent buy-and-build track record. Also, they fell in love with coffee really quickly.”
Verdane has over €7.7 billion in assets under management and its funds have made over 400 investments in fast-growing businesses since 2003.