Luckin Coffee: China’s New Coffee Unicorn?

The new retail coffee chain Luckin Coffee was rumored to have closed its Series A round at $200 to 300 million with a valuation exceeding $1 billion. The investors of this round has not been disclosed.

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Founded in October 2017, Luckin Coffee has been striving to cater to the needs and interests of young consumers in an internet-based marketing approach. Seen from the rivalry with Starbucks covered by Pandaily in May, Luckin Coffee has proved its strong influence among the new generations of coffee drinkers, especially the white collar workers.

Luckin Coffee previously released a set of data specifying that as of May 2018, the chain has opened 525 stores in 13 cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. CEO and founder of Luckin Coffee Qian Zhiya stated during an exclusive interview with Xinhua.com in May that their strategy is to “achieve a certain level of retail store density in a short period of time, which will not only provide more convenience for customers, but will also help us elevate our marketing and operational efficiency.”

Given the rising coffee consumption in China, it is no surprise that Luckin Coffee will continue to expand rapidly. However, as Thomas Bai has mentioned in his article, at this growth rate, the company should put more effort in managing the team and guaranteeing the quality of the product.