Chinese investment firm Shunwei Capital is supporting Be+Star Coffee’s outlet growth with new investment as the start-up chain seeks to operate 500 stores in China within three years.
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Be+Star Coffee has ambitious plans to operate 500 stores across China within three years | Photo credit: Shunwei Capital
Chinese start-up coffee chain Be+Star Coffee, also referred to as Bixing Coffee, has completed an investment round, led by Shunwei Capital, which it will use to fund outlet growth across the country.
Beijing-based Shunwei Capital, a venture capital firm with a traditional focus on technology companies, did not disclose the investment sum but said it totalled ‘tens of millions of yuan’.
Founded in January 2022 by entrepreneur Wu Binbin, Be+Star Coffee has 18 stores set to launch in the Chinese cities of Shanghai and Suzhou later this year.
The chain has ambitious plans to operate 500 stores in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai within three years, with the establishment a Be+Star Coffee Academy and development of a retail offering for both digital and Chinese convenience store channels also slated.
“First- and second-tier cities are driving the rapid development of China's coffee consumption market. The infrastructure is constantly improving, and a new generation of coffee brands has begun to emerge,” said Cheng Tian, Partner, Shunwei Capital.
“Bixing Coffee is unique, and I look forward to working with the founding team to steadily devise strategies to build Bixing Coffee into the most cost-effective leading brand,” he added.
Coffee culture is rapidly gaining traction in China with several domestic and international coffee chains recently investing in expansion plans. Technology-led coffee chain Luckin opened 556 net new location in the first quarter of 2022, reaching nearly 6,600 stores, while US chain Starbucks is targeting 6,000 stores in the country by the end of the 2022.
In July 2022 Lucky Ace International Ltd., which operates Japanese boutique café group % Arabica in China, was reported as seeking $300m to support its expansion plans in the country.