https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/13/general-catalyst-tiger-global-lead-25m-investment-into-blank-streets-micro-specialty-coffee-shops/ > Vinay Menda and Issam Freiha are two coffee-obsessed friends who came to New York from Dubai and Lebanon to study at NYU and Columbia, respectively, and started researching the New York coffee scene. > In the U.S, they saw a coffee shop on every corner, but found the experience slow and overpriced: the shops were either a destination place or for buying coffee to brew at home, not a quality “grab and go” kind of operation, Freiha said. They noticed their friends going to different chain coffee shops for convenience or price point, but as college students, they couldn’t afford daily $6 cappuccinos.