Making the leap from real estate to superfood lattes

You've likely seen Blume's pastel-coloured pouches at your local Anthropologie, Indigo, Whole Foods, or even on your Instagram feed. Founded in 2017 by Karen Danudjaja (and Ella Dalling), the Vancouver-based company is remaking your favourite cafe lattes with the magic of superfoods.

Recently, Blume raised a $2 million oversubscribed round in a five-week period. The round was led by Fulmer & Company Investments, a Vancouver-based private equity firm. Alberta-based venture firm The51, Judy Brooks (executive chair of SmartSweets), and Ethan Song (former CEO of Frank & Oak) also participated. Here, we chat with CEO and co-founder Danudjaja about how it all started and what’s next for Blume.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How did you start Blume?

I used to work in commercial real estate. It’s a relationship-focused industry — I went to Starbucks and other coffee shops for meetings several times a day. But it was just so hard to choose something on that menu that was actually healthy for me. I was so over-caffeinated that my coffee consumption was disturbing my mental health, sleep and digestion. That's really where the idea for Blume was born— to create not just delicious drinks, but ones that were accessible in terms of price points and were made of simple, familiar ingredients. We also wanted to build a company that had a more broad version of what wellness looks like to reach a bigger audience.

During the day, I worked in the commercial real estate industry and by night I worked on Blume, doing things like deliveries and answering customer emails. There was a smoothie shop on my way to work in downtown Vancouver. I went in there one day to order a turmeric latte but the shop didn’t have it. They eventually became my first customer.

After a year, sometime around 2019, I quit my job and went full in on Blume because I was just so passionate about what we were building. For a while, it was just me, but we’ve now grown to a team of 13 women in Canada.

Can you tell us a little bit about your business model?

We have the direct-to-consumer (DTC) side where we sell latte mixes online. Then we have another side of the business just selling to cafes, boutiques and natural grocery stores such as Whole Foods. We blend the powders here in Vancouver and source our ingredients from all over the world, including India, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Aside from a one-time $100,000 loan from the BDC, we've been bootstrapped until now. With just that, we were able to do $7.5 million last year. We now work with 1,500 retailers across Canada.

What’s next for Blume?

The goal is to expand into the U.S.—both DTC and in stores—so part of the funding will help marketing efforts and build awareness in the American market. We’ll also use some of that funding to expand our team.

What’s your advice for anyone interested in entrepreneurship?

The biggest one is to just take the step. One thing a lot of entrepreneurs ask me is how did you get started? And it was literally just deciding one day to start. The first step is the hardest, but just take one step in front of the other. And then every decision after that kind of happens in its own course. Even now, when challenges come up in the business, I try not to be scared of them, but instead to face them head-on, make a decision and move forward.

Maintain relationships. I was a finalist for one of The51’s competitions, so that's how I was first introduced to them. I had several relationships from a few years ago that continued casually over the last few years and now they're investors and some of them are becoming advisors in the business. I think there's this concept that businesses are cutthroat, and perhaps that's true in certain industries, but I've definitely felt that women founders just want to see others succeed and that it's actually a very supportive environment.

Now for the fun part: what are some of your favourite books, TV shows and podcasts?

TV shows: If I’m watching TV, it’s to unwind. Right now, I’m into The Wire, which is an older police crime show.

Podcasts: How I Built This, Female Startup Club and Female Founder Club.Books: Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…And Others Don’t by Graham King.

What are some of your work-from-home essentials?

Lots of light, drinking lots of water and a change of scenery, especially if I’m working from home.

How do you start your mornings?

I wake up around 6:30 am. I need to get into the right frame of mind to start working. To do that, I start with movement in the morning by walking my dog and making a coffee with one of our blends in it. I’m usually working by 7:30 am.