The Shanghai-based coffee chain will use the funds to strengthen its supply chain, develop new health-focused beverages, expand its 1,800-store Chinese footprint and explore international opportunities
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Nowwa Coffee opened its first outlet in Shanghai in 2019 and now operates more than 1,800 stores | Photo credit: Nowwa Coffee
Chinese coffee chain Nowwa Coffee has completed a B++ funding round worth ‘hundreds of millions of yuan’, according to financial news agency 36Kr.
Founded in 2019, Nowwa Coffee opened its first store in Shanghai and currently operates over 1,800 stores across 150 Chinese cities – making it the sixth largest operator by outlets in the world’s largest branded coffee shop market.
Backed by investors including Yongshan Tianji, Shengjing Jiacheng Mother Fund and Yuanxing Capital, Nowwa Coffee will use the funding to strengthen its supply chain, develop new health-focused beverages and scale its domestic store network.
The coffee chain could also use the investment to explore international opportunities, particularly in Southeast Asia. Nowwa Coffee Founder Guo Xingjun told 36Kr that the brand will soon launch in Hong Kong and has signed contracts to open stores in Singapore, Thailand and Australia.
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Nowwa Coffee has raised more than RMB 400m ($56.2m) in five previous funding rounds, most recently raising RMB 200m ($28.1m) in December 2021. Its previous investors include V Star Capital, Jue Investment Management, Susquehanna International Group and Peakview Capital.
In December 2023, World Coffee Portal’s Project Café East Asia 2024 research showed that China had overtaken the US as the largest branded coffee shop market on the planet after achieving 58% year-on-year outlet growth to reach 49,691 outlets. Having sustained its rapid expansion in the first eight months of 2024, the total Chinese branded coffee shop market is on course to reach 86,300 outlets in 2028.
The market is led by Luckin Coffee, which reached 20,000 stores in July 2024, as well as Cotti Coffee and Starbucks – which each have more than 7,000 outlets in the vast East Asian country. Other key players include Lucky Cup, McCafé, Manner Coffee and Tims China.
