Arun Nanda’s passion for fine coffee beverages began when he first moved to the U.S. and discovered a love of bold roasts. In 2012, he opened his first specialty coffee venture, Brewshot at Liberty Harbor, on Regent Street in Jersey City, New Jersey, where he brews specially roasted and blended coffees and teas. Today, he’s furthering his dream with a hybrid coffee shop, full bar and quality-casual restaurant called Brewshot at Cast Iron Lofts, also in Jersey City. Here, he serves fresh breakfasts, lunches and dinners – as well as craft cocktails and his signature Brewshot coffees – to people living and working in an emerging urban enclave with very few nearby amenities.
Despite his record of success, Arun ran into a common barrier for new businesses – funding. Although he had invested his savings in the new Brewshot restaurant, he needed additional funds to complete it and get through the first several months of operations.
“I was looking for a loan to start a new location for my restaurant, but I did not meet bank requirements as a startup,” he explains. “Luckily, a friend introduced me to a loan officer at Pursuit and I started the loan process with them.”
After working with his loan officer and the Pursuit team, he secured a loan for $250,000 to make the build-out of the new Brewshot Cast Iron Lofts location possible. With the funds, provided through Pursuit’s Community Advantage Loan Program, Arun completed renovations, purchased equipment, furniture and fixtures, and built up the working capital needed to get started.
About his experience with Pursuit, Arun continues, “I am very pleased that they helped me obtain the loan that Brewshot needed. The team took extraordinary and painstaking care to help me through the application and documentation process.” The opening of the new location has created 10 new jobs, too.
Now, with the funding he needs to grow Brewshot Cast Iron Lofts, Arun’s expanding even further, with a new Brewshot food truck at the well-trafficked Exchange Place PATH station serving fresh baked goods, light lunch items and, of course, great coffee.
