The 356-strong boutique coffee chain has reportedly raised ‘hundreds of millions of yuan’ to scale across China, with new investment led by social media and e-commerce platform Xiaohongshu
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M Stand's Huashan Road outlet in Shanghai | Photo credit: M Stand
Chinese coffee chain M Stand has closed a Series B+ funding round to support further outlet growth across the country.
The sum of the investment, led by Chinese social media and e-commerce platform Xiaohongshu, has not been disclosed but is reported as being ‘worth hundreds of millions of yuan’ by local media.
Founded in Shanghai in 2017, M Stand currently operates 356 stores across 28 cities in China. The funding will allow the coffee chain to expand further across the country and strengthen its position in China’s increasingly competitive branded coffee shop market.
M Stand, which places a strong emphasis on flagship boutique stores, competes with fellow mid-size operators Tims China, Manner Coffee, SeeSaw Coffee and Costa Coffee across the country.
Highlighting the post-pandemic growth potential for branded coffee chains in China, market leader Luckin Coffee reached its 10,000-store milestone in June 2023, while US-based Starbucks recently reaffirmed its goal of opening nearly 2,800 stores in China to reach 9,000 stores by 2025.
World Coffee Portal research forecasts the total branded Chinese coffee shop market will exceed 36,000 outlets by 2025, with substantial growth expected for coffee-focused chains.
M Stand’s latest funding round follows a RMB500m ($70m) Series B round in July 2021. Previous investors in the Shanghai-based coffee chain include private equity firms CMC Capital Partners, GenBridge Capital and BA Capital.