Will Xi Cha be listed in Hong Kong in 2021? Nie Yunchen, founder of Xi Cha CEO, responded to the news of listing.

According to Hong Kong media reports, the new tea chain "Xi Cha" was reported to be listed in Hong Kong last year. The news pointed out that Xi Cha has launched a plan to list in Hong Kong and will be listed in Hong Kong in the second half of the year. CICC and UBS will arrange a management roadshow for Xi Cha.

As for the re-spread of IPO, Xi Cha denied listing in Hong Kong. Founder Nie Yunchen reposted a screenshot of the report on moments at about 19:00 on the 30th and commented: "because there are too many times, we do not have any listing plans this year."

In fact, as a perennial line of online celebrity tea shop, the rumors about the listing of happy tea has never been broken, coupled with the fact that at the beginning of the year, another new tea chain brand "Nai Xue's tea" suddenly issued a prospectus to announce the official sprint for IPO, which naturally led to speculation: is happy tea coming on the market soon?

On September 8, 2020, sources said that Xicha sought to be listed in Hong Kong in 2021 and then attracted a lot of attention. There was no response from Xicha at that time, but there were rumors that Xicha would be listed in Hong Kong in 2019.

Xi Cha was founded in Shenzhen in 2012 and originated in Jiangmen Riverside alley. in the following two years, the founder opened 50 stores throughout Guangdong. From 2018, Xi Cha began to enter overseas markets, opening stores in Hong Kong and Singapore successively. By the end of 2019, Xi Cha had opened 390 stores in 43 cities, while by December 31, 2020, it had opened 695 stores in more than 60 cities around the world.

Founder Nie Yunchen founded Huangcha (Huangcha is the predecessor of Xi Tea) in Jiangmen City, Guangdong Province in 2012, as a direct chain brand specializing in all kinds of leisure drinks under Shenzhen Mexi Food and Beverage Management Co., Ltd. Due to the non-standard market of the former "Huangcha" brand and the negligence of brand awareness, which led to rampant copycat, coupled with the lack of trademark registration and other reasons, "Huangcha" was forced to change its name to "Xicha". At the beginning of its establishment, Xi Cha expressed the hope that it would one day become a happy tea of Starbucks.

Since its inception, Xi Tea has completed three rounds of financing.

In August 2016, Xi Cha completed round A financing by IDG Capital and Today's investment, with a specific financing amount of RMB 100 million. The funds were mainly used for stores, product research and development, supply chain construction, delivery business, and so on. Shortly after financing, Xi Cha began to expand across the country, opening stores in first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

In April 2018, Xi Tea completed the B round financing of Dragon Ball Capital and Black Ant Capital of Meituan, with a specific financing amount of 400 million yuan. With the background advantage of Meituan Dianping, Xi Tea launched the takeout service online. In addition, Xi Tea also entered the overseas market. In November of the same year, Xi Tea officially landed in Singapore and opened its first store in the ION Orchard shopping mall on Orchard Road.

In March 2020, Xicha received a new round of strategic financing, led by Hillhouse Capital and CoatueManagement (Kotu Capital). The specific amount was not disclosed, but after the completion of this C round of financing, Xicha will be valued at more than 16 billion yuan.

Finally, as a giant in the tea and beverage industry, according to the current development situation, it is only a matter of time before Xi Cha goes on the market.

* Image source: Internet