36Kr Exclusive | After a four-year hiatus, "Algebraist Coffee" secures a new round of financing and is moving forward more steadily than ever.

To this day, when it comes to new consumption, the first things that come to mind are still the financing myth narratives from the previous wave of enthusiasm. The "craft coffee wave" is one of the themes. During that period, several craft coffee brands with both quality and aesthetic characteristics broke through the competition, and "Algebraist Coffee" is one of the successful ones.

This brand, established in 2015, completed four rounds of financing successively between 2019 and 2022, thanks to its unique high - quality coffee products and simple and unadorned space aesthetics. In 2019, it received angel investment from Wuyuan Capital. In 2020, Yuansheng Capital invested in the Series A round. In 2021, it continuously obtained strategic investment from Tencent and a new round of investment from Yuanhe Holdings.

Stores of "Algebraist Coffee"

The beautiful scenery at the peak made people a little dizzy to some extent. "At that moment, everyone ignored the cost and regarded the momentary glory as a sustainable business model," said Dai Yi, the founder of Algebraist. Later, the consumption environment changed a lot, and the ups and downs also made him "see through" some things: "I don't envy others opening fast - food stores anymore. Ensuring the survival of my company and having a positive monthly balance sheet is a more essential thing."

Today, when scale expansion and price competition have become the themes of the industry, and the spotlight has long been on Luckin and Cotti, what have the brands "outside the spotlight" experienced and what are they doing?

36Kr learned that Algebraist Coffee completed a new round of financing of tens of millions of yuan in early 2025, exclusively invested by Suzhou High - tech Financial Holding Group. So far, the cumulative financing amount has exceeded 200 million yuan. It is worth mentioning that since the third quarter of 2024, Algebraist has achieved positive monthly financial profit and cash flow, and its performance has been increasing month by month. Therefore, the purpose of this round of financing focuses on the product and brand side. "It is a bonus rather than a lifesaver."

Products of "Algebraist Coffee"

Looking back on the past few years, timely adjustment and steady rhythm were the keys for Algebraist to get through the trough.

According to 36Kr, at the peak before the pandemic, Algebraist had more than 170 directly - operated stores that had completed opening contracts and renovations. Later, 80 unopened stores were all cancelled due to the pandemic. Dai Yi believes that "if the company had expanded rapidly during the pandemic, it might have been on the verge of bankruptcy." At that time, Algebraist was also the first well - known coffee brand to clearly make a "contraction" move.

Today, Algebraist positions itself as "upgrading the consumption of mass - market brands". While continuing its gene of "seriously making coffee", it optimizes prices, costs, and the supply chain. Its product innovation ability is still praised by consumers, maintaining a new product launch frequency of once a month. The "KIRI French Cheese Latte Series" sold 117,000 cups in the first month of its launch. The "Double - petal Rose Breve", first created in 2019, is one of the best - repurchased single products, with more than 650,000 cups sold in 2024.

In addition, Dai Yi thinks more about specific and implementable issues in the store model - whether to open large or small stores? How to allocate the manpower of a single store? What about the cost - efficiency of the supply chain? "Today, everyone's management is very detailed. Essentially, we still need to return to products and consumer demand, and store location selection should also return to the starting point of consumer convenience."

The simple aesthetics in the space design of "Algebraist Coffee"

In March 2024, Algebraist announced the recruitment of business partners, experiencing an important transformation from direct operation to franchising. Currently, the number of newly - opened stores per month is approximately stable at 8 - 10, and the total number of stores exceeds 150. Franchised stores constitute the main business model of Algebraist. However, horizontally speaking, its store - opening speed in the industry is not aggressive.

"We have some internal thresholds and ideas," Dai Yi told 36Kr. "At this stage, in terms of consumers and the overall consumption psychology, we haven't seen a significant turnaround in the industry yet. We need to operate the brand more steadily."

When it comes to the expansion plan, Dai Yi said that the "Yangtze River Delta region", which has always been its advantageous area, will still be Algebraist's main battlefield. It will continue to explore cross - regional opportunities, but will not take too big steps.

Now, the fates of the once - famous craft coffee star brands are different. Some have disappeared, while others are still trying to keep their own pace in the highly competitive market. In the conversation with 36Kr, Dai Yi emphasized more on "solidly doing a good job in product and team building, and creating a brand that more people like and whose quality is trustworthy."

The coffee consumption market in China is getting bigger and bigger, and there will always be people who need high - quality coffee. There won't be only one consumption form. For brands like Algebraist, the most important thing is to stay in the game and wait for a better opportunity.