First Coffee, India’s grab-and-go speciality coffee brand, raised $1.3 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by Japanese venture capital firm DG Daiwa Ventures (DGDV). The round also saw participation from other notable investors such as BEENEXT, Sanjay Kapoor (Co-Founder and MD, Genesis Luxury), Shashank Bhagat (Chairman, BI Group) and other angels.
The deployed funds will be used to accelerate store expansion, build a formidable corporate team, strengthen brand value through marketing initiatives, and further investments in product line development. With this latest round, First Coffee has raised $2.5 million to date.
Founded by Sohrab Sitaram and Shiv Dhawan in 2024, First Coffee combines design, culture, and a new customer experience with mass-premium speciality coffee. The company integrates data-driven ethical sourcing with innovative menu engineering, creating a new-age retail model that streamlines operations and makes the purchase experience more convenient for customers. This investment marks DGDV’s foray into India’s speciality coffee market, signalling the country’s huge global and growing market potential.
Makoto Ibi, Head of Global Investment, DGDV, said, “We are glad to partner with First Coffee and fuel their ambition to change coffee culture in India. India remains a key market for us, and through First Coffee we are excited to tap into the speciality coffee space in the country.”
“Over the last year, First Coffee has built a very strong brand in North India, especially among younger consumers, serving their high-quality speciality coffee across more than 25 outlets. The founder’s previous F&B experience in founding and scaling Keventers has been instrumental in achieving that. We are happy to be a part of this funding round and continue supporting Sohrab and Shiv in their aim to elevate urban India’s coffee-drinking experience,” said Anirudh Garg, Partner, BEENEXT, on First Coffee and its offerings.
Shiv Dhawan, Co-founder, First Coffee, said, “We are happy to see our theory play out in practice. Over the last couple of years, we have learnt a lot, and the experiential data is further shaping our thesis. We believe that our hybrid go-to-market strategy that includes an increased focus on the small format model is a differentiated offering that elevates the customer experience. In the next decade, the size of the out-of-home coffee market in India will grow exponentially, and we want to position ourselves to be right in the middle of this revolution.”
Sohrab Sitaram, Co-founder, First Coffee and Keventers, said, “We started First Coffee with a simple belief: great speciality coffee should be more accessible and become part of everyday India. Over the last two years, our customers and 25 stores have given us strong validation of that belief. This investment marks the beginning of our next chapter. We want to take what we have built in North India and create a truly national coffee brand bringing together great Indian coffee, convenience, technology and a distinctive customer experience. We are excited to take First Coffee to the next generation of Indian coffee consumers.”
First Coffee has gained considerable market share amongst Gen Z consumers by offering premium beverages focusing on cold coffee-based beverages and matcha. It has experienced some of the highest repeat rates amongst young customers in the industry.
Currently, the brand has 25 stores across Delhi, Punjab and Haryana, where customers can conveniently purchase their daily cup of coffee. First Coffee is now gearing up to tackle the Tier-2 markets and widen its customer base.
