Rosie Goldwasser’s Matcha Brand Reached $125,000 in Its First Year

Goldwasser began building More Than Matcha in 2023 and launched it in March 2024. She said the idea grew from her frustration with coffee’s jittery highs and poor-quality matcha options at cafés and in stores. Drawing on four years in marketing and six years in customer experience consulting, she spent months researching matcha and sourcing a four-cultivar blend before committing $25,000 of her savings to the business. She received no outside funding.

For the first year, Goldwasser packed and shipped orders herself, sometimes enlisting friends and family to help in her 700-square-foot apartment. Outsourcing fulfillment later freed her to concentrate on product development, marketing and partnerships. She said she would also have focused more tightly on the matcha powder before branching out: the brand launched with four hats, but had not yet built a community eager to buy merchandise.

A planned launch of matcha travel products recently ran into trouble when a manufacturer’s single-serve sticks leaked. Goldwasser said she had approved production of 25,000 units, but the first four boxes arrived the night before launch and failed inspection. She canceled the launch and told customers what had happened in a video. According to Goldwasser, customers responded with support, and the company is now working with a new manufacturer.

More Than Matcha has rebranded, upgraded its packaging and website, and spent much of 2026 developing the travel collection, now scheduled for early 2027. Despite prioritizing those investments, Goldwasser said the bootstrapped company is on track for $400,000 to $500,000 in revenue this year. She advises aspiring founders to launch a small version of an idea and use customer response to guide what comes next.