Philz Coffee Gets $15 Million in Funding, Plans Nationwide Expansion

"One cup at a time" is a mantra that will soon extend outside of California, as Bay Area-based Philz Coffee has announced that they've gotten another round of funding (to the tune of $15 million), and will be expanding their caffeinated empire nationwide by the end of the year. As TechCrunch reports, the new round of investment brings the coffee company's total to $30 million, with 10 locations planned to open in 2015; among them will be the company's still-undisclosed first outposts outside of California. (They currently have 18 Bay Area locations, and opened their first SoCal outpost, in Santa Monica, last summer.) Whether they'll head to New York first, like fellow local-gone-national roasters Blue Bottle, or choose another city to target, remains to be seen.

Philz is headed up by a 27-year-old CEO, Jacob Jaber (son of founder Phil), and has a deep following in the tech community—it's the house brew at Facebook, where it even has a shop on-site. Jaber is emphasizing Philz' commitment to customer service, complete with intensive "Philz University" training for new managers and employees. To that end, the company is opening a massive new Dogpatch headquarters and retail shop, set to debut in the next few months. They've also launched a FiDi coffee truck in recent months, which is doing killer business with the downtown crowd; more of those may be on the way as well.