Indonesian unicorn Kopi Kenangan has made its debut in Malaysia with the official launch of its outlet at Suria KLCC, a shopping mall at the iconic Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, marking its first outlet outside its home country.

The coffee chain Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Edward Tirtanata said the company’s expansion beyond the Indonesian market started with Malaysia and it would be operating under brand name “Kenangan Coffee” for its international outlet, national news agency Bernama reported on Monday,

Malaysia was chosen as the first country for its expansion plan due to the steady growth in its coffee culture, especially the grab-and-go concept, with many similarities shared between Malaysians and Indonesians in terms of taste profile, he said.

“The food and beverage (F&B) sector’s future also appears promising as Malaysia is transforming into a high-income digital economy with a key focus on digitalization, in line with our business operation.

“We also started Kenangan Coffee with the aim of making quality coffee affordable and accessible for everyone and we are thrilled to be sharing our Indonesian coffee flavors with Malaysians,” he was quoted as saying at the launch of the outlet on Monday.

The company plans to open up to 10 outlets in Malaysia by the end of the first quarter of 2023 with four locations already in the pipeline and set to open by the end of this year.

Edward also said the other four locations soon to be launched are the MyTown Cheras, Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, NU Sentral KL, and Sunway Pyramid in Petaling Jaya.

“Prior to entering new markets, especially within this region, we envisioned opening up to 100 outlets in the country and that is subject to the expansion rate for each country. For the Malaysian market, we do plan to enter the country in a big way,” he added.

Founded in 2017, Kopi Kenangan expanded to more than 850 outlets in 64 cities in Indonesia and officially became the first Southeast Asia company to achieve ‘unicorn’ status in the F&B category in December last year.

The Indonesia-based coffee chain announced then that it has raised $96 million in the first closing of a Series C funding, giving the company a valuation of more than $1 billion.

The company counts Tybourne Capital Management, Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing’s Horizons Ventures, Kunlun, B Capital, Falcon Edge Capital among its backers.

Indonesia’s Kopi Kenangan hits unicorn status with $96M Series C fundraise