Indonesia's Kopi Kenangan becomes a unicorn when it raises $96M in Series C
(ASEAN Startups) Kopi Kenangan, an Indonesia-based coffee chain, announced Monday that it has raised $96 million in the first closing of a Series C funding, giving the company a valuation of more than $1 billion.
The oversubscribed Series C round was led by Tybourne Capital Management, with participation from existing investors including Horizons Ventures, Kunlun, and B Capital, and new investor Falcon Edge Capital, Kopi Kenangan said in a statement.
The funding round comes as Kopi Kenangan is seeing strong domestic demand for its expanded product offerings such as its bread brand Cerita Roti, its “chicken on the go” brand Chigo, and soft-cookies brand Kenangan Manis, as well as the continued rapid growth of its home-grown coffee brand including the latest topping addition, Sultan Boba.
According to the statement, the company has delivered strong top-line growth during the past 12 months, with year-on-year sales more than doubling and it has maintained profitability due to its robust store-level margins and attractive store-level payback period. Over the past year, Kopi Kenangan’s app has also become the most downloaded and best-rated coffee app in Indonesia.
With the latest round of funding, Kopi Kenangan said it will accelerate the expansion of its new brands, Cerita Roti, Chigo, and Kenangan Manis across Indonesia, and will continue to build the Kopi Kenangan network and broaden its footprint internationally.
“I am very pleased to announce this fundraising, which positions us as the first new retail food and beverage (F&B) unicorn from Southeast Asia. The continuing support of our investors, as well as the new backers in this funding round, is a testament to our continued focus on increasing store productivity and using technology to create the best user experience for our customers,
“Our mission is to be the most-loved consumer brand in Southeast Asia and, as part of our five-year vision, we remain committed to rapidly expanding our footprint to thousands of stores across Southeast Asia and broadening our offerings,” said Edward Tirtanata, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Kopi Kenangan.
Kopi Kenangan was founded in 2017 by Edward Tirtanata, James Prananto, and Cynthia Chaerunnisa, targeting a gap in the market in Indonesia between the high-priced coffee served at international coffee chains, and the instant coffee sold in the country’s many street stalls.
Customers were offered the convenience of ordering through an app and either having coffee delivered to their doorstep or pick it up at one of Kopi Kenangan’s many stores across the country. This new retail online and offline model has been embraced by consumers and in a little, over 4 years Kopi Kenangan has grown to employ more than 3,000 staff in over 600 stores across 45 cities.
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the company learned to quickly adapt to the changing business environment and challenges by employing new strategies, such as adopting contactless booking requests which accelerated its revenue and user base. It has served 40 million cups of coffee in the last 12 months and is expected to serve 5.5 million cups per month in the first quarter of 2022.
Kopi Kenangan has raised over $240 million to date from investors such as Sequoia Capital India, Verlinvest, Sofina, Horizon Ventures, B Capital, and more.
“In a few short years, Edward and James, together with the highly experienced management team, have grown the business significantly and helped it navigate the challenges of the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. We are extremely excited about the potential of Kopi Kenangan as it continues to tap into the rapidly growing F&B market in Southeast Asia.
“The strength of the Kopi Kenangan team, coupled with their entrepreneurial spirit, deep knowledge of the F&B industry and their ability to use technology to retain and engage with customers and improve efficiency and sales, bodes well for the future of this new Indonesian unicorn,” said Bosun Hau, Managing Director of Tybourne Capital Management.
Tybourne Capital Management is a global growth investor in public and private equity markets, focusing on investments in the consumer, financials, healthcare and technology, Media and Entertainment, and Telecommunications (TMT) sectors. The firm was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Hong Kong with an office in San Francisco. Tybourne manages long-duration capital on behalf of prominent non-profits, university endowments, sovereigns, corporate pensions, and family offices.
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