Flash Coffee brews final cuppa in Singapore
Benjamin Cher
LAST week, trouble was brewing in Singapore for Flash Coffee. A viral TikTok video emerged on Thursday night (Oct 12) showing a sign that Flash Coffee’s baristas were going on strike, leading to the reveal that its Singapore business was shuttering.
The video showed a poster - pasted at the company’s Jurong Point outlet - which bore the message “ON STRIKE!” along with claims of late salary payments from baristas. On Friday (Oct 13), Flash Coffee’s Singapore outlets all appeared to be closed, with no delivery available.
Sharanya and Claudia then found out that the tech-enabled coffee chain had filed for a voluntary winding up, with S$14 million owed to both staff and creditors. However, the seemingly abrupt end to the company’s time in Singapore might be less shocking if viewed from a wider lens.
In November last year, Flash Coffee carried out a round of layoffs across the region in an effort to cut costs. Elsewhere, media reports said that the startup exited the Taiwan market earlier this year, and was looking to sell their leases of stores in Singapore.
A funding announcement back in May was also said to be a combination of all capital injections since the start of 2022.
This paints a rather bleak picture of Flash Coffee, as it now retreats to markets that it says are most promising.
Meanwhile, Biofourmis’ rough ride through current economic conditions continues. The embattled healthtech startup had enacted yet another round of layoffs, according to sources, with about 45 employees in Singapore getting the cut and totalling about 85 across the globe.
Impacted staff were not all immediately let go. Some had to serve out a notice period ranging from a few weeks to the end of the year. As macroeconomic conditions remain uncertain, Biofourmis faces a long road in turning around the business.
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