ICA Fund is thrilled to announce our newest investment in Nirvana Soul Coffee, a vibrant cafe with locations in San Jose and Cupertino and growing. Founded by sisters Jeronica Macey and Be’Anka Ashaolu, Nirvana Soul is a coffee company built on a commitment to community, creativity and flavor. From its bright and bold branding to its eclectic drinks (like the popular Mabuhay Ube Latte) and vibrant events, Nirvana Soul is more than a coffee shop: it's a cultural hub where people come together to connect, create, and caffeinate. In addition to creating a customer-centric experience, the founders also source their beans carefully, hold direct relationships with fair trade growers, and roast their own coffee. Nirvana Soul Coffee participated in the ICA Fund Accelerator in 2023, and this week we closed an investment to help the cafe continue to expand. The investment was made using the ICA Impact Note, our innovative investment structure that partners with entrepreneurs to prioritize social impact – like good jobs, workforce diversity, and employee wealth creation – as they grow their business.
A cafe rooted in community
Nirvana Soul Coffee began with a vision to create an inclusive space that celebrates diverse community. Jeronica and Be’Anka brought their dream to life in 2020, opening their first cafe with core values of inspiration, accountability, and customer-centricity. Nirvana Soul is on a mission to use the power of coffee and tea to bring people together. And it's not just the customers, creating an inclusive space for their team is important too.
“Our team is super representative of our community. We get our staff inbound — they want to work here, and it's a lot of people that look like us. They want to be part of a proudly Black- and woman-owned cafe.” - Jeronica Macey, Nirvana Soul Coffee co-founder
In addition to creating a workplace that centers diversity, Nirvana Soul pays higher than average wages, 401k, paid time off, and other benefits that stand out in the food service industry.
Seeing how rare Black-owned, multi-location businesses are is part of what inspires Jeronica and Be’Anka to grow the cafe. They plan to expand further across the South Bay, eventually into other parts of the Bay Area, and to prioritize communities that don’t have specialty cafes.
“Growing Nirvana Soul means we can do more in our community. We live in a reality where Black women do not get adequate funding and don’t have pathways to grow their businesses. We’re here to disprove that. Working with ICA Fund has been a blessing. Having your team see us, see how hard we’re working, and join us in making this dream come true, means everything.” – Be’Anka Ashaolu, co-founder
Growing their vision
With the support of ICA Fund, Nirvana Soul Coffee is poised to grow their unique value proposition of coffee and community, alongside the CPG brand and merch. They are especially interested in places that don’t have strong third wave cafe offerings yet. Building off of successful pop-ups at universities like Stanford, the business will also continue to seek expansion into college settings. Next on the horizon is a soon-to-open cafe inside MLK Library at SJSU!
“We’re proud to lead Nirvana Soul’s $1M equity raise. Their coffee is incredible, the cafe experience is welcoming and unique, and most of all, Jeronica, Be’Anka, and Dap (Dapo Ashaolu, CFO & Head of Products), are some of the most creative, hard working entrepreneurs in the coffee business. I can’t wait to see where they take their business next.” – Hector Ramos, Director of Investment, ICA Fund.
Learn more about Nirvana Soul Coffee on their website or Instagram, or visit their location in Downtown San Jose, where they have open mics every Thursday and Friday night, or on Main Street Cupertino. And don’t miss their public roastery tours every first Wednesday!
ICA Fund accelerates great businesses through mentoring and investments to close the racial and gender wealth gaps. We support small businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area led by founders of color and women by providing capital, coaching, and connections. ICA Fund helps entrepreneurs grow the value of their businesses and create wealth for themselves and their employees, driving toward our vision of an economy that works for all. ica.fund
