Rocket Internet-backed Flash Coffee lays off staff across markets
Claudia Chong
FLASH Coffee, a coffee chain headquartered in Singapore and backed by venture capital, has become the latest startup to lay off staff amid a weakening economy. Retrenchments were made regionwide, including in Singapore and Indonesia, going by the LinkedIn posts of some former employees.
The extent of the layoffs could not be determined. Flash Coffee did not respond to multiple requests from The Business Times for comment.
Flash Coffee, known for its brightly coloured yellow and pink kiosks, is among the handful of coffee chain startups in Asia rapidly expanding on a “tech-enabled” formula made popular by Luckin Coffee and fuelled by venture capital.
It opened over 250 outlets across seven countries in two years after raising millions of dollars from investors including Global Founders Capital, White Star Capital and foodpanda parent Delivery Hero. The company raised over US$30 million in the first close of a funding round in June 2022.
CEO David Brunier said in April last year: “Our dream is to have a Flash Coffee every 500 metres in all major Asian cities.” Brunier, a 31-year-old former chief marketing officer for Asia-Pacific at foodpanda, co-founded Flash Coffee with Sebastian Hannecker, formerly from Bain.
The startup had 130 full time employees in Singapore, according to LinkedIn’s list of top startups published in September. It employed 1,400 staff in total, online news publication Vulcan Post reported in March.
Tech companies are rapidly scaling back on expansion plans and cutting costs in a bid to conserve cash amid an increasingly uncertain economy and funding winter. GoTo last week announced plans to shed around 1,300 staff, while Sea has reportedly cut around 7,000 employees.
