Further boost for India’s coffee shop market as Subko reportedly raises $9.5m

Subko Coffee Roasters’ Cacao Mill store in Mumbai | Photo credit: Subko Coffee Roasters 

Investors continue to seek opportunities in India’s burgeonong specialty coffee market, with Mumbai-based Subko Coffee Roasters the latest operator to reportedly receive new funding.

The specialty coffee and cocoa start-up has raised Rs 80 crore ($9.5m) in a new investment round led by tech-focused private equity firm NKSquared, according to sources quoted by start-up and tech media platform Entracker. The round values Subko Coffee at $34m.

NKSquared is reported to have contributed Rs 70 Cr ($8.3m) of the total raise and has acquired a 25% stake in Subko Coffee. Blume Ventures and Progressive LLP are among the other investors cited as participating in the financing round. 

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Founded in 2020 by entrepreneur Rahul Reddy, Subko Coffee currently operates three boutique sites and a roastery, which distributes packaged coffee to horeca businesses across India. The specialty coffee roaster and café operator also ships coffee to the UK, the US and the UAE. 
 

Subko Coffee previously raised $3m in seed funding in June 2022. 

It becomes the latest Indian coffee operator to raise significant funds within the last 18 months to support growth plans and launch new sales channels. 

Gurugram–based Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters raised $30m in Series B funding in January 2023 which it said would enable it to open 200 new stores by 2026.  

In June 2023, New Delhi-based Barista announced that it would invest $12.1m to fund its drive of reaching 500 stores across the country by 2025, while Bengaluru-based Third Wave Coffee raised $35m in September 2023 to accelerate growth and invest in tech-enabled convenience. 
 

Additionally, small-format chain abCoffee closed a $3.4m Series A funding round in March 2024, adding to its $2m seed round five months earlier.