Cow! The Indonesian version of "Luckin Coffee" is valued at more than $1 billion! Li Ka-shing and the co-founder of Facebook compete to invest first!

Indonesian coffee chain Kopi Kenangan recently raised $96 million in round C financing, valuing the company at more than $1 billion, according to Forbes. This round of financing is led by Hong Kong Taiborn Capital Management, with existing investors participating. These include Li Ka-shing's Horizons Ventures and Educardo Saverin's B Capital.

At present, Kopi Kenangan has more than 600 stores, compared with the more than 5600 stores of domestic brand Luckin Coffee, the market valuation of 1 billion US dollars is crazy. So what is the origin of this coffee brand?

Edward Tiltanata, founder of Kopi Kenangan

Over the past few years, coffee has been a major outlet in the Indonesian market, as can be seen from the surge in the number of coffee shops across Indonesia. Although the current Indonesian coffee market is still dominated by foreign products such as Starbucks, the strength of local brands similar to Janji Jiwa and Kopi Kenangan should not be underestimated.

Kopi Kenangan was founded by Edward Tirtanata and James Prananto in 2017, according to the company's website. "Kopi Kenangan" means "coffee recollection" in Indonesian.

Thanks to the background of the upgrading of coffee consumption and the speed and convenience of the concept of "grab n go" (APP order pick-up or delivery service), Kopi Kenangan quickly opened up the market and its business grew rapidly. Iced Milk Coffee has also successfully conquered local Indonesian consumers, especially millennials' tongues and taste buds. And Indonesia, which is itself a big coffee grower, coffee brand has a certain mass base advantage.

The brand now says it plans to use new investment to expand at home and abroad, with a focus on Southeast Asia. In addition to coffee, the brand has expanded its range of products to include Cerita Roti bread, Chigo fried chicken and soft biscuit brand Kenangan Manis. Not only that, another goal of the brand is to fill the gap between Indonesian coffee extremes (expensive coffee and low-cost instant coffee).

Previously, Kopi Kenangan raised $109 million in round B financing in May 2020. This fund is led by Sequoia Capital, followed by B Capital, Horizons Ventures, Verlinvest, Kunlun Wanwei and so on. Interestingly, Educardo Saverin, co-founder of social media giant Facebook, has been financing the brand since round B, and Saverin has become a member of Kopi Kenangan's board of directors. Saverin also said at a press conference, "I look forward to working with Kopi Kenangan to build a global brand that celebrates Indonesian and Southeast Asian flavors."

In addition, Kopi Kenangan also received $8 million in seed funding from Indonesian venture capital Alpha JWC. Round A, which received $20 million from Sequoia India in June 2019, also received additional investment from celebrities such as singer Jay-Z, tennis star Serena Williams and basketball player Karis Lefort.

How to stand out in the increasingly fierce business competition? from Edward's success story of starting Kopi Kenangan, we can understand how important it is to have a strong business philosophy and a keen sense of business.

Edward does not seem satisfied with becoming a local coffee giant. "our mission is to become the most popular consumer brand in Southeast Asia as part of our five-year vision," Edward said at a press conference. We will continue to rapidly expand our footprint to thousands of stores in Southeast Asia and expand our product range. "

Photo Source: Internet