Indonesia’s Otten Coffee raises series A from East Ventures for its coffee geek online store

Otten Coffee, an online shop for coffee and coffee related products, just secured a series A investment from East Ventures. The amount was undisclosed. (Disclosure: East Ventures also invests in Tech in Asia. See our ethics page for more details).

The Medan-based startup plans to put the fresh funds towards growing its range of products and services, improving its online shopping system and investing in human resources. This investment marks the first time East Ventures has invested in a startup from the city of Medan, which is located at the northern end of Indonesia’s island of Sumatra, a region known for its coffee plantations.

Otten Coffee is a one-stop shop for coffee lovers. On it they can order everything they need to prepare the best coffee possible, including beans, espresso machines, grinders, and specialized tools for baristas.

Co-founders Robin Boe and Jhoni Kusno started their coffee venture as as an offline store in Medan in 2012. In 2014 they began gearing their business for ecommerce in order to be able to ship their products all around Indonesia and well beyond the local reach of their shop.

According to Boe, the idea to expand the business online sprang from the observation that the appreciation for good coffee was growing in Indonesia. According to Boe, the market has shifted. While coffee consumption used to be more about enjoying the drink, there is now a noticeable curiosity to find out about the art and science behind it.

“People are willing to explore coffee making techniques, which is not easy because delivering one great cup of coffee requires the knowledge of a variety of tools and equipment,” says Boe. “This motivates us to educate Indonesians about the industry. We want to introduce people to the various types of coffee beans and show them how to master diverse brewing methods.”

Based on the founder’s research, Indonesia’s population of 260 million people had a per capita coffee consumption of 0.96kg in 2012. However, Indonesia’s per capita coffee consumption on a global scale ranks very low. The same is true for most other Southeast Asian countries.

Otten Coffee believes the market has the potential to grow, though, and the company is considering expanding into other markets as well. “Indonesia is our focus on the short-term, as it has a large internet population. Once we are able to settle in Indonesia, regional expansion will be next,” says Boe.

The company is currently monetizing the products sold through the website. Kusno adds that Otten is planning several innovations which are not ready to be made public just yet. The founders declined to reveal data on the performance of the site and total sales volume to date.

Otten Coffee competes with a number of other Indonesia-based coffee sites including Java Lorek, Maharaja Coffee and Tools, Paradise Coffee, and Bur Gayo Coffee.

The Otten Coffee team believes it has a competitive advantage due to its broad range of products, which is constantly updated, and the founding duo’s past experience in the coffee industry.