The $200M Refill: When Coffee Chains Teach Us About Liquidity

Indonesia’s Kopi Kenangan isn’t just pouring lattes anymore, it’s pouring lessons in venture capitalism.

The Jakarta-born chain is reportedly raising around USD 200 million at a USD 1.2 billion valuation, with UBS steering the deal. But unlike the classic caffeine-fueled expansion story, this one’s about something less talked about: liquidity.

The fresh round isn’t driven by a cash crunch. It’s a mix of primary shares (new money for the company) and secondary shares (existing investors selling to new ones). Early backers like Peak XV Partners and Alpha JWC Ventures are said to be taking some chips off the table, boosting their DPI, or Distributed to Paid-In Capital (VC-speak for “cash actually returned to investors”).

So what does that mean for the rest of us, the founders raising and the investors deploying in Southeast Asia’s messy, magical startup scene? Let’s break it down, WOWS-style.

Part 1: Understanding the mechanics

Primary sale: Company issues new shares → company receives capital → money goes into operations, marketing, expansion, etc.

Secondary sale: Existing investors or shareholders sell → they receive the cash → the company’s bank balance stays the same, but ownership shifts.

When a round combines both, it’s a hybrid. It signals confidence in the business (new buyers still want in) but also maturity (early backers want partial liquidity).

At WOWS, we call this the “mid-journey zone”: where companies are still growing, but early investors are ready to taste a little ROI.

Part 2: What the numbers whisper

Kopi Kenangan became a unicorn back in 2021 after raising about USD 155 million. Fast-forward to today, valuation creeps up to USD 1.2 billion.
Not a huge jump, but that’s the point. The company’s footprint has expanded to 1,200+ stores across six countries, aiming for 1,700 outlets in nine global cities by next year.

That’s steady, operational growth, but not hyper-scaling. The valuation story reflects that reality.

Part 3: Lessons from WOW, for both sides of the table

1) Liquidity is strategy, not surrender

• For founders: Allowing early investors to exit (even partially) doesn’t mean weakness. It shows confidence, your cap table evolves as your company matures.

• For investors: Enabling liquidity at the right time keeps LPs happy and portfolio turnover healthy. It’s DPI that pays bills, not paper valuations.

• WOWS Insight: We encourage founders and investors to discuss secondary opportunities before they’re urgent. Planning for liquidity early avoids messy negotiations later.

                   

2) Flat valuations can still be good business

• For founders: Growth isn’t only about the next multiple. Consistency and sustainable expansion beat vanity numbers every time.

• For investors: The small valuation bump might reflect realism, not stagnation. Rational pricing today can protect future IRR.

• WOWS Insight: When structuring fundraising, we focus on “valuation logic”,  ensuring the next round makes sense given actual growth metrics, not just hype momentum.

3) Know which kind of deal you’re in

• Primary vs Secondary: The difference changes everything, ownership, dilution, incentives.

• For founders: Make sure you understand how much dilution you’re taking and who’s actually getting paid.

• For investors: Ask where your capital is going, to the company or another shareholder. Your governance rights should reflect that.

• WOWS Insight: We’ve seen hybrid rounds strengthen companies when used transparently, but kill trust when hidden behind “headline” raise numbers. Clarity builds confidence.

4) Expansion ≠ automatic value creation

• For founders: More countries don’t always mean more value. Sometimes your home market ROI beats the global adventure.

• For investors: Regional rollouts sound exciting but come with regulatory, cultural, and logistical traps.

• WOWS Insight: When our CFO and modeling team assesses cross-border plans, we focus on return-on-expansion, not just top-line growth.
  
  

                   

5) Narrative control matters

• For founders: A secondary-heavy round can raise eyebrows. Manage the optics,  communicate that it’s planned liquidity, not a lifeboat.

• For investors: Transparency goes both ways. Announcing liquidity as a success milestone can strengthen brand credibility with LPs and the next generation of founders.

• WOWS Insight: Craft the narrative before the market does. Investors respect clean storytelling as much as clean numbers.

WOWS Takeaway: The caffeine-truth

Southeast Asia’s ecosystem is maturing. Liquidity events are no longer reserved for IPOs or trade sales,  they’re happening mid-journey.

Founders need to design for that, and investors should normalize it.

For WOWS Global, this is the new reality we’ve built our model around:

• helping founders prepare for and secure capital that’s smart, structured, and purposeful;

• helping investors connect with opportunities where liquidity isn’t an accident, but part of the plan.

Because sometimes, the smartest move in growth, is knowing when to take a sip, not a gulp. ☕

Want a sanity check on your next round structure (primary vs secondary mix, dilution math, valuation logic)? Book a Capital Readiness Session today.