Parma could finally get a locally owned coffee shop

Driving the news: The Badger House Coffee Company was one of six aspiring businesses that recently graduated from Co-op U and pitched their ideas in a "Dolphin Tank" event at Rust Belt Riders this week.

• "It's like Shark Tank, but for co-ops," the local business incubator Cleveland Owns said in a press release.

The big picture: Co-op U is a 14-week program run by Cleveland Owns and partner organizations in Cincinnati and Dayton.

• Participants spend 14 weeks developing business plans and cooperative ownership models.
• Two other participating co-ops from Cleveland were Brewkicks, a proposed Muay Thai gym and brewery, and Good Building, a carbon capture manufacturing startup that wants to bring Earth-friendly materials to modular home construction.
• Good Building and Badger House won prize money in the Dolphin Tank event.

Zoom in: Badger House interviewed potential customers as part of Co-op U and learned that most consumers frequent coffee shops near where they live.

• "It's all about location and convenience," co-founder Danielle Thompson said in a presentation.
• The closest competitors to Badger House's proposed location are a 10-minute drive away. The "closest ideological competitor," Phoenix Coffee, is confined to Cleveland, Cleveland Heights and Lakewood.

What they're saying: "We're bringing something brand new to the market," Thompson said.

• "We want to be the antithesis of the cold and sterilized Instagram aesthetic. We want to offer natural wood, jewel tones, lush indoor plants, bookcases, pillows and rugs, and all the nutmeg, cinnamon and cardamom feelings."

What's next: Badger House is seeking $350,000 in seed funding, which would pay for the acquisition and renovation of a building in Parma and four to six months of operating costs.