ZUS Coffee, Malaysia’s biggest coffee chain operator, raised RM250 million ($74.6 million) from a group of investors including buyout firm KV Asia Capital as it seeks to expand globally.
The other investors are Malaysia’s largest state pension fund, Kumpulan Wang Persaraan Diperbadankan, and Indonesia’s Kapal Api Group, owner of Excelso coffee shops, ZUS Coffee said.
The investment “signals a new chapter and springboard for ZUS Coffee’s growth”, the Shah Alam, Selangor-based firm added.
The company, which currently has about 550 outlets in Malaysia and 50 in the Philippines, said it will debut in Singapore and Brunei this year and is in talks with potential partners in other countries to build new stores there in 2025.
ZUS Coffee set up its first outlet in Kuala Lumpur in 2019 while also introducing its own app that allows customers to place their orders, even before the global pandemic accelerated a shift toward online ordering.
“With our shared tech-driven approach, we are committed to making speciality coffee accessible,” said company founder and CEO Ian Chua.
The expansion plans of Malaysia’s home-grown coffee chain come at a time when rival Starbucks has been stung by losses in the Muslim-majority country amid calls to boycott brands perceived to be linked to Israel amid the conflict in Gaza. BLOOMBERG
