Rocket Internet-backed coffee startup to enter 6 more countries after Taiwan launch

Flash Coffee, the Rocket Internet-backed coffee startup with operations in Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand, has launched its first Taiwan store this week. By the end of 2022, it plans to enter six other Asian countries: Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

Recently, the company also announced that it has sold 1 million beverages, with a majority of the transactions happening in the last few months.

Flash Coffee founder and CEO David Brunier / Photo credit: Flash Coffee

Founded by ex-Foodpanda chief marketing officer David Brunier and former Bain & Company executive Sebastian Hannecker in 2020, Flash Coffee offers premium coffee at prices more than 50% lower than Starbucks. It’s been backed by Germany-based Rocket Internet since its inception.

Compared with other coffee startups like Luckin Coffee and Kopi Kenangan, which often still focus on one market, Flash Coffee aimed to be a regional player since the beginning.

“It’s understandable for some players to focus on Indonesia because it’s more than enough. However, we also see market opportunity in other countries that also have a lot of population, tech infrastructure, and – the most important thing – high coffee consumption,” Brunier told Tech in Asia.

The company currently has a total of 90 coffee stores in countries where it operates in and aims to open 260 more shops in Asia by the end of 2022. Flash Coffee now has 500 staff members, with 300 of them are baristas who served coffee at the offline stores. The company says those baristas will get some bonuses after it hit its 1 million cup milestone.

In April this year, Flash Coffee landed US$15 million in series A funding led by White Star Capital. Delivery Hero-backed DX Ventures, Global Founders Capital, and Conny & Co also participated in the round, which boosted the total capital raised by Flash Coffee to US$20 million.