Congratulations to The Coffee Equipment Company

The Coffee Equipment Company, founded in Seattle in 2004, married sophisticated product engineering with that quintessential daily ritual: the cup of coffee. Having achieved a nationwide market for its innovative Clover brewing system – and an attractive exit for investors – the Alliance of Angels’ 2008 Company of the Year is flying high.

The award, which was presented by Technology Alliance board member and entrepreneur Jeremy Jaech during the State of Technology Luncheon, recognizes a company’s entrepreneurial spirit, progress toward achieving business plan goals, and positive impact on the economy.

“This is an incredible honor, and quite a surprise, actually,” said company co-founder Zander Nosler in accepting the award. “Doubly so because we finally are considered a technology company…I’ve been saying that from day one.”

After thanking his family for its emotional and financial support, Zander credited AoA investors and the Seattle angel community with helping the company progress to where it is today.

“The AoA has a ten-year history of investing in successful companies,” said AoA chair Dan Rosen, president and CEO of Dan Rosen & Associates. “We are delighted to honor The Coffee Equipment Company with the AoA Company of the Year Award for their passion, innovation, tenacity and vision.”

The company’s Clover was the first commercial-grade coffee brewing system that offers independent control over the variables of water temperature, grind, coffee-to-water ratio and brew time. The system enables baristas to prepare single cups of brewed coffee fresh to order, while the company’s software-based service, CloverNet, provides Clover owners with the ability to track brewing and sales activity and control their machines online.

“The elegant engineering of the Clover led to a successful acquisition by another angel-funded success story: Starbucks,” noted Rosen. “Congratulations to The Coffee Equipment Company.”

“As an investor in The Coffee Equipment Company since the very early days, I’m thrilled we have the opportunity to recognize Zander, Randy and their team for the Clover and its success,” said Geoff Entress, member of the AoA executive committee.

The Coffee Equipment Company was one of three finalists considered for the award, selected from among the technology-focused companies that presented to the AoA membership within the last four years which have demonstrated active growth and traction with investors. Ten such companies were nominated by AoA members, and the pool was narrowed to three finalists by our selection board; those invested in any of the companies recused themselves from voting.

The other finalists were Buddy TV and CleverSet, both also based in Seattle. Buddy TV is the creator of a dynamic online community for television fans that combines interactive features with original content on more than 500 shows. CleverSet, which was recently acquired by ATG, develops e-commerce software tools that enable its more than 90 commercial customers to generate automated, personalized recommendations for visitors to their web sites.

Update: Read more at John Cook's blog; this post generated so many (tangential) comments that it was the "talk of the blog" for weeks after the event.