Indonesia’s Fore Coffee notches strong growth in Q1, adds $1m to series A funding

Indonesian online-to-offline specialty coffee startup Fore Coffee announced it has almost doubled its physical outlets – from 19 in January to 35 across Jakarta in March – two months after closing its series A funding. It also notched more than 500,000 app downloads, ranking in the top three of Apple App Store’s food category.

Fore Coffee added US$1 million in funding to its series A round from January, closing a total of US$9.5 million. The investment was led by East Ventures and joined by SMDV, Pavilion Capital, Agaeti Venture Capital, and several angel investors.

Go-Jek drivers queuing at a Fore Coffee outlet / Photo credit: Fore Coffee

Founded by Robin Boe and Elisa Suteja in August 2018, Fore Coffee leverages its app – integrated with existing payment platforms like Ovo and Go-Pay – to provide quality coffee at a low cost but high speed. “Coffee is a necessity for so many people, but not everyone has the time to go to a coffee shop, wait in line, then wait for their order, and then return back to their workplace,” said Boe.

Since launching the app in December 2018, the startup claims to see a sharp increase in sales, growing from 19,000 monthly cups of coffee sold to 300,000 today. Its team has also grown to 200, half of which are baristas.

Fore Coffee aims to open 100 outlets by the end of June 2019. For comparison, Starbucks Coffee operated for 17 years in Indonesia before opening its 364th store.

“The confidence our investors have in us is extremely encouraging, especially considering the skeptics we faced in the early days of Fore Coffee. We know we are on the right track, and we are excited to get advice, insights, and networking opportunities from our experienced investors,” Boe said.

Fore Coffee purchases 6.5 tonnes of coffee beans per month, which translates to 137 hectares of coffee plantation land area cultivated by 600 farmers in Indonesia each year.