Flash Coffee’s Singapore business shutters, files for winding up

THE Singapore unit of coffee chain Flash Coffee has shuttered its outlets and filed for a voluntary winding-up, The Business Times (BT) has found.

Flash Coffee’s founder and chief executive David Brunier and director Sebastian Hannecker on Wednesday (Oct 11) gave notice that the company was unable to continue its business “by reason of liabilities”, according to filings seen by BT.

The company was placed under provisional liquidation on Wednesday, with BDO Advisory appointed as liquidator.

Backed by German venture builder Rocket Internet and foodpanda owner Delivery Hero, Singapore-based Flash Coffee rode on the mania of tech-enabled coffee chains and opened more than 200 stores globally within two years.

Now the company appears to have shuttered its outlets in Singapore. None were available for order pickups or delivery on the company’s app and on delivery app GrabFood.

On social media platform TikTok, a video posted on Thursday showed the Jurong Point Flash Coffee outlet shuttered, with a poster titled “ON STRIKE!” pasted on the wall. This has not been independently verified by BT.

The poster in the video read: “In light of several late salary payouts, this outlet will be indefinitely closed. Your Flash baristas islandwide deserve a conducive work environment. We thank you for these memories. Till next time, goodbye.”

The Jurong Point outlet was empty and closed when BT visited on Friday morning, but the notice was not there. The outlet in Paya Lebar Quarter was also closed.

Brunier and BDO did not immediately respond to calls from BT.

The developments come five months after Flash Coffee said it raised US$50 million in an extended Series B round, led by existing investor White Star Capital.

Flash Coffee has been facing stiff competition from a growing number of entrants into the region’s coffee scene.

Earlier this year, the startup exited the Taiwan market after being forced to shut stores due to intense competition, local media reported. It laid off staff regionwide in November 2022, including in Singapore and Indonesia, BT previously reported.

Flash Coffee posted a net loss of S$177,284 for FY2020 ending December, on the back of S$104,407 in revenue, its regulatory filings show. The company has not filed more recent financial statements.(See *Amendment note)

With additional reporting by Yong Hui Ting and Yong Jun Yuan

*Amendment note: A previous version of this story misstated the financial numbers of Flash Coffee; this has been corrected.