Cartel Coffee Lab Brews a New Future Through StartEngine

After 17 years of brewing bold coffee and quiet growth, Arizona’s Cartel Coffee Lab turns to equity crowdfunding inviting the community to become part-owners in its next chapter

To report on this story, I (Mat Sherman) interviewed the President and COO of Cartel Coffee, Jesse Pangburn.

Harper Writes

then took that interview and turned it into this story. We hope you enjoy!

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Cartel Coffee Lab, the beloved Arizona-based coffee brand that’s become a mainstay in the Valley over the past 17 years, is embarking on a bold new chapter—inviting its community to become co-owners.

Known to some as a one-off neighborhood coffee shop, Cartel has quietly grown into a regional powerhouse, now operating 13 cafés across Arizona and California (including Palm Springs), plus a bustling bakery and a new 12,000-square-foot production facility. They’re scaling fast, selling canned cold brew in Whole Foods across multiple states, distributing bagged beans to Sprouts, and producing everything in-house—from coffee to the much-loved twice-baked almond croissant.

Now, for the first time, Cartel is opening the door for fans and customers to invest in the company directly through a campaign on StartEngine, a leading equity crowdfunding platform.