Barista Bot Opens Showroom and Studio in Midtown Oklahoma City
The new studio space in Make Ready, showcases AI-powered order-by-text technology in collaboration with TMRW Coffee
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Barista Bot Opens Showroom and Studio in Midtown Oklahoma City
The new studio space in Make Ready, showcases AI-powered order-by-text technology in collaboration with TMRW Coffee
Oklahoma City, OK — [January 6, 2026] — Barista Bot, an AI-powered, text-based ordering and payment platform for coffee shops, has opened a new showroom and studio in partnership with TMRW Coffee at Make Ready in Midtown Oklahoma City’s Automobile Alley. The space serves as both a live demonstration environment and innovation studio, highlighting how conversational commerce can streamline café operations while enhancing the customer experience.
The Barista Bot showroom allows guests to experience firsthand how customers can order and pay for coffee simply by sending a text message. For coffee shops, Barista Bot automates ordering and payments so baristas can focus on crafting quality drinks and delivering focused craft service and hospitality.
“Coffee shops are busy, high-touch environments,” said founder Sam DuRegger. “Barista Bot removes friction from ordering so teams can spend more time on what matters—great drinks and great service.”
About Barista Bot
Barista Bot is an AI-powered, text-based ordering system built specifically for coffee shops. The platform integrates directly with point-of-sale systems, including Square, and runs alongside existing order-ahead workflows. By allowing customers to order and pay via text message, Barista Bot reduces line congestion, improves order accuracy, and helps cafés drive incremental revenue through faster, more convenient transactions.
Following a successful pilot launch supported by pre-seed financing from i2E and Plains Ventures, Espresso + Milk, LLC—the venture studio behind Barista Bot—is now seeking a strategic round of funding to expand the platform and onboard additional café partners.
Venture & Accelerator Support
Barista Bot is a 2024 alumni of the Bridge2 2024 cohort, with funding and support from:
Plains Ventures, funded by the Oklahoma Seed Fund
i2E, funded by Accelerate Oklahoma, a funding arm of OCAST and i2E
Key milestones include:
August 2023: Completion of i2E’s E3 Micro-Accelerator
January 2024: Completion of i2E’s inaugural Bridge2 Pre-Accelerator
January 2026: Showroom & Studio opens in Make Ready, Midtown OKC
Founder Background
For more than a decade, Sam DuRegger has been building at the intersection of coffee and technology.
His career began at Alpha Dominche, where he served as Director of Business Development and Marketing for the company’s automated siphon brewer, named the Specialty Coffee Association’s 2012 Product of the Year. Under his leadership, Alpha Dominche placed brewers with Starbucks, Stumptown, Intelligentsia, Blue Bottle, La Colombe, and other industry leaders across the globe.
Later in 2012, DuRegger co-founded La Barba Coffee in Salt Lake City. What started as a small roasting project grew into four retail cafés, a wholesale program, and a bottling line before the company was successfully acquired in 2019.
After relocating to Oklahoma City, DuRegger launched Woodshed Tea in 2015. The business evolved from a wholesale tea company into a beloved neighborhood café in North Oklahoma City, known for its iced matcha lattes, bottled cold brews, and curated loose-leaf teas. The café closed in 2024, creating space to focus fully on technology-driven coffee innovation.
That exploration began in earnest in 2023 with Barista Bot, built on machine learning, conversational UX, and AI. Today, with the launch of the new showroom and the ecmmerce and roasting support of TMRW Coffee, DuRegger is returning to his roots in roasting and craft beverages—this time with a clear focus on what comes next.
About Espresso + Milk, LLC
Espresso + Milk, LLC is a coffee innovation studio that develops and houses coffee-centric brands and products at the intersection of craft and technology.
TMRW Coffee
A roasting and beverage company focused on single-origin coffees and signature blends, available online and through limited-release Drops powered by Barista Bot.
Barista Bot
An AI-powered platform that allows customers to order and pay for coffee via text message, helping cafés streamline operations and elevate service with the goal of increasing the frequency of visits by loyal customers.
Location:
Barista Bot Showroom & Studio
Make Ready — Midtown Oklahoma City (Automobile Alley)
219 NW 12th St
Suite 23
Oklahoma City, OK 73103
Website: baristabot.app