New Delhi, May 25 -- Homegrown quick-service coffee chain abCoffee has secured Rs 61 crore ($6.4 million) in its pre-Series B round led by Kliff Ventures, the newly launched consumer retail fund from the by K Hospitality Corp, a top executive told VCCircle. This is the first investment made from the fund, which is focussed on early and growth-stage companies.
The round comprises majorly of equity, with debt portion of about 7%, founder Abhijeet Anand told VCCircle. Hero Enterprise Partner Ventures, Merisis Venture Fund and Stride Ventures also participated in the funding.
"We will be expanding our network of coffee stores and places that we are present in. So, we'll densify our presence in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru," said Anand. "We'll be further building on the technology capabilities, and double down on technology on the customer facing side."
Post this funding round, the brand is planning to expand across existing and new markets in high-density office, residential and transit-led micro-markets where high-quality coffee remains underserved, according to a statement issued by the company.
The company was founded in 2022 by Anand, an alumnus of IIT Dhanbad and offers a wide variety of brewed coffees at affordable prices sourced from the farms of Chikkamagaluru in Karnataka. The brand has positioned itself as a 'grab and go' coffee chain, with more than 90 outlets across Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, and Bengaluru in corporate hubs, high streets, and residential complexes.
The latest fundraise comes more than two years after its Series A in March 2024 when it raised $3.4 million led by Nexus Venture Partners, with participation from existing investor Tanglin Venture Partners. In 2023, it raised $2 million in a seed funding round, which was led by Singapore and Bengaluru-based Tanglin Venture Partners along with participation from other VC players such as 100X.VC, Panthera Peak, OTP Venture Partners and individual investors.
"We believe abCoffee has the potential to emerge as the leading brand in India's rapidly growing coffee category," said Karan Kapur, Executive Director, K Hospitality Corp and Kliff Ventures.
Anand said that the company had grown its revenue 100% last financial year, while also growing its profitability by about 193%. "We're a couple of months away from corporate profitability in our model," he said.
"Our play has been on the habit space, where we become a part of a daily lifestyle," he said. "We do coffee, which is a lifestyle product, then we do protein coffee range (Procaff), which is again a habit product, matcha for the younger generation who love better tasting products than bobas and slushies."
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.