Crowdfunding a Capital Raise: How Cartel Roasting Co. Is Funding Expansion — and Keeping Growth Local
Amy and Jason Silberschlag
For most growing companies, raising capital means giving up control — and often, giving up local roots. But Cartel Roasting Co., the Arizona-born coffee company known for its fiercely independent streak, is taking a different path: growing through community investment.
Started in 2007 by Amy and Jason Silberschlag as a single coffee shop in Tempe, Cartel has since become an Arizona mainstay, with 12 cafés across the state and one in California. As demand continues to grow, the company faces the same question that many successful local businesses eventually do: How do you scale up without selling out?
For the Silberschlags, the answer came in the form of a table tent.
During a stop at Mother Road Brewing Company in Flagstaff, they noticed a flyer explaining the brewery’s “community capital raise” through StartEngine, an investment platform that allows individuals to purchase equity shares in private companies. The idea clicked. Cartel, too, could invite the community that’s fueled its success to become actual investors in its next stage of growth.
The Challenge with Traditional Capital
Kristina Grappo, Cartel’s Director of Marketing
For many small businesses, a common way to fund expansion is through traditional venture capital — but that route comes with tradeoffs. Venture investors typically seek fast returns, pushing for rapid growth, cost-cutting and standardized decision-making that can override local priorities.
That kind of structure didn’t align with Cartel’s values, said Kristina Grappo, the company’s director of marketing.
“Unfortunately, a lot of your decisions are then basically to accommodate the bottom line, and that’s not the way Cartel has ever run,” she said. “We’ve always valued doing the right thing over what’s most profitable for the business. We didn’t want to leave those decisions in the hands of other people.”
A Community-Grown Model
Cartel’s StartEngine campaign launched in August, offering shares for $5 each with a minimum buy-in of $300 and a fundraising goal of $1.2 million. Within weeks, the company had already raised nearly $350,000.
The funding will support equipment upgrades, wholesale growth and the opening of new brick-and-mortar locations — all while maintaining the company’s mission of paying living wages, sourcing transparently and investing in local supply chains.
“It’s less an investment in Cartel and more an investment in your community,” Grappo said. “It keeps your dollars circulating in the local economy.”
Unlike large institutional investments, community crowdfunding creates a shared stake in the company’s future. Each investor becomes a small-scale shareholder, not just a customer, linking personal gain to collective prosperity.
And while financial returns may not match Wall Street’s scale, the local economic return is exponential: jobs, wages and supplier relationships that stay in the community.
Rethinking Returns
Traditional investing focuses on extracting profit. Community investing, by contrast, builds reciprocal value. When Cartel’s community-based shareholders spend their dividends — or even just their daily coffee money — it goes back into local circulation. Employees’ wages fund other small businesses. Local vendors and producers grow alongside the company.
This model also gives Cartel the flexibility to keep decision-making close to the communities it serves. Each of its cafés — from Phoenix and Tucson to Palm Springs — partners with regional vendors, artists and makers to create spaces that reflect local identity. Growth doesn’t mean cloning; it means scaling community.
That’s the distinction between expanding from Arizona versus expanding beyond it.
“We understand the impact a local business has on the local economy,” Grappo said. “Not just through sourcing and wages, but through the community spaces we create and the partnerships we build. When you take outside money, some of those decisions get diluted. This way, we stay true to what makes us Cartel — wherever we grow.”
“We’ve always believed coffee can be a vehicle for something bigger,” said Grappo. “When people invest in Cartel, they’re investing in a business that invests back — into people, communities and the places we call home.”
Coming Full Circle
Cartel’s journey began with inspiration from Mother Road Brewing Company — and that relationship has only deepened. Mother Road’s success showed what’s possible when local investors fuel local growth, and their ongoing mentorship has helped Cartel navigate its own path forward.
“They’ve been a great model for us,” Grappo said. “We love those guys.”
Brewing a New Kind of Economy
At its heart, Cartel’s community investment model is about rewriting what business growth can look like — not just faster or bigger, but fairer. It’s about proving that profitability and purpose don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
While some investors might see higher returns in the stock market, those who invest in Cartel are buying into something different: an economy that stays personal, principled and local.
Related Information:
To learn more about Cartel Roasting Co., visit their website here.
Local First’s micro-loan programs offer local businesses up to $25,000 in low-interest loans.
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