Besides securing funding from Jay Z’s fund Arrive and Serena Ventures, Indonesia’s rising star coffee chain Kopi Kenangan has also obtained investments from several big-name angel investors, including Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, Northstar Group co-founder and managing partner Patrick Waluyo, and Sweetgreen CEO Jonathan Leman.
Kopi Kenangan co-founder James Prananto said that these angel investors were part of the company’s extended series A fundraising round in December, not long after it had raised funds amounting to USD 20 million from Sequoia India in June 2019. He declined to disclose the amount of funds raised, but did share that the coffee chain startup has secured a total of USD 28 million from Sequoia and Alpha JWC Ventures.
“We picked several individuals and funds who can be our strategic partners in the long run. We have a total of five investors,” Prananto told KrASIA on Tuesday.
The fresh investment will be used to secure between 600 and 700 outlets by end 2020, and expand to another country in Southeast Asia during the second quarter of this year. By the end of 2019, the series A company had 230 outlets.
The company also plans to monetize its brand by selling merchandise and more types of foods and snacks this year. It will also revamp its mobile app and plans to relaunch it on February 1st. The mobile app will help gain more loyalty points for customers and allows them to pre-order food and beverages.
Indonesia’s coffee consumption has increased in recent years. According to Statista, domestic coffee consumption has almost quadrupled since 1990, reaching the equivalent of 4.7 million bags of coffee in 2018. This growing demand has been fueled by a younger generation switching from tea to coffee, and who have a newfound appreciation for locally-produced coffee.
More local coffee shop chains which offer affordable prices have expanded in the past two years, including Kopi Kenangan. Compared to international brands like Starbucks, local coffee is much cheaper. Starbucks’ average price is IDR 55,000 (USD 3.96) per cup. Meanwhile, Kopi Kenangan’s average price is IDR 20,000 (USD 1.44) per cup.
Founded in 2017 by Edward Tirtanata, James Prananto, and Cynthia Chaerunnisa, the startup aims to offer high-quality coffee at affordable prices while introducing a digitally-enhanced consumer experience. Kopi Kenangan lets you pre-order through an app and it makes deliveries, which appeals to the country’s young and tech-savvy consumers. It is comparable to China’s Luckin Coffee.