Flash Coffee Enters Centaur Ranks After Closing Series B1 Funding

Flash Coffee recently booked another round of funding, this time for the B1 series. Although reluctant to provide details, when contacted DailySocial.id, a company representative confirmed the news. It is even said that the closing of the B2 round will soon follow and has the potential to bring startups coffee chain it becomes unicorn.

From the data that has been submitted to the regulator, a number of investors were involved in the B1 Flash Coffee round. The funds raised amounted to more than $30 million, catapulting the company's valuation to $175 million and cementing them in the ranks of cenatur.

Previously in 2021, Flash Coffee had posted series A pendanaan funding of $15 million. White Star Capital led this funding, followed by a number of other investors, namely DX Venture, Global Founders Capital, and Conny & Co.

Founder & CEO of Flash Coffee David Brunier at the time said the company would expand to 10 countries in Asia Pacific by targeting 300 new outlets or three new outlets every week.

Brunier considers that the retail coffee outlet market in Indonesia is very attractive and has great room for growth. In addition to the high population, the upper middle class segment is thirsty to try new products and coffee consumption per capita continues to increase.

Flash Coffee was founded in January 2020, and now has more outlets in Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand. It is claimed that the majority of Flash Coffee outlets have made a profit, while demonstrating the success of their business model

According to data on its website, there are currently around 82 outlets spread across the Greater Jakarta area. Flash Coffee is still able to attract coffee lovers even during the pandemic. .

Technology-based coffee shop growth

In the last two years, technology-enabled coffee shop platforms have received substantial funding. Starting from ForeCoffee, Soul Promise, Jago Coffee, to Memories Coffee.

Even though the F&B business is under a lot of pressure during the pandemic, a technology-based (O2O) approach makes it possible for startups coffee chain This is to stay afloat and accelerate the business. One of them with the concept grab &go --- using the developed application, users can make orders and payments to be picked up later on o closest. Or take advantage of the service food delivery.

According to research (MIX, 2020), 40% of young coffee customers in Indonesia are also starting to switch to outlets grab &go. This demand is supported by the shift away from instant coffee, as consumers want a higher quality drink -- as well as pairing it with complementary snacks. The products sold on average are in the middle price range --- below premium coffee, but above instant coffee.

The presence of the application is also not solely used for transactions. But also as a medium to increase user retention through a series of promotional programs and -based activities loyalty. Moreover, traffic in the application is also useful data for studying user habits and trends to be later translated into product and service innovations.