How First Coffee Built a ₹30 Crore Coffee Business in Two Years
India's coffee market is changing.
As disposable incomes rise and consumers become increasingly exposed to global coffee culture, specialty coffee has moved beyond traditional café formats. India is also a major coffee-producing country, ranking seventh globally in coffee production and fifth in coffee exports, according to the Coffee Board of India.
Yet founders Shiv Dhawan and Sohrab Sitaram saw a gap.
Why did premium coffee have to come with the economics of a large café?
Their answer was First Coffee, a specialty coffee brand built around smaller-format stores, convenience and a strong focus on cold coffee beverages.
Founded in 2024, First Coffee has grown to 25 outlets by August 2026, raised $2.5 million across two funding rounds, and increased annual revenue from approximately ₹3 crore in FY25 to ₹30 crore in FY26.The company is now targeting ₹100 crore in revenue in FY27.
The founders behind First Coffee
First Coffee brings together two founders with very different professional backgrounds.
Shiv Dhawan
Shiv Dhawan grew up in a family involved in garment manufacturing and exports. He studied Business Administration and Management at the University of Manchester, followed by a master's in Management Information Systems and Digital Innovations from the London School of Economics. He later completed a master's in Management and Entrepreneurship from Cambridge Judge Business School.
After returning to India, Dhawan co-founded India On Track, a sports management and consulting company that worked with organisations including the NBA, Arsenal and LaLiga on sports programmes and commercial opportunities in India.
Sohrab Sitaram
Sohrab Sitaram brings more than two decades of hospitality and food and beverage experience. After studying hotel management at the Institute of Hotel Management, Aurangabad, he began his career with Taj Hotels in 1996, working on setting up and operationalising restaurants.
In 2000, he moved into entrepreneurship and went on to establish and operate multiple restaurants, bars and hospitality concepts. In 2014, he joined Agastya Dalmia and Aman Arora to revive Keventers, helping scale the milkshake brand to hundreds of outlets across India and overseas.
Identifying a gap in India's coffee market
The founders saw two related opportunities. The first was the gap between India's coffee production and domestic consumption of quality coffee.
According to Sitaram, historically around 99% of good Indian coffee was exported, leaving an opportunity to build greater domestic demand for premium Indian coffee.
The second was the economics of the traditional specialty café. Many coffee brands operated large-format cafés where customers could pay approximately ₹250 to ₹300 per cup. A significant portion of that price could go towards real estate, seating and other overhead costs.
The founders believed a smaller footprint could change those economics. Their travels across Southeast Asia, China, Europe and New York exposed them to compact coffee outlets and grab-and-go formats. They believed the model could be adapted for India, potentially allowing smaller stores, higher purchase frequency and a wider outlet network.
Starting with grab-and-go
First Coffee launched its first outlet at Pacific Outlet Mall in Delhi in April 2024. The original concept was straightforward: create a pure grab-and-go coffee format that could deliver premium coffee without requiring the footprint of a conventional café.
But the founders quickly discovered that a model successful in other markets could not simply be transplanted into India.
Indian customers were still developing a strong grab-and-go culture. So First Coffee changed the format.
Some outlets began incorporating 8 to 10 seats, creating a hybrid between a compact takeaway store and a conventional café. At the same time, the company continued operating smaller stores focused primarily on convenience. And, this became an important lesson in the company's expansion strategy: the original concept could remain intact while the physical format adapted to local behaviour.
Location is more than a pin on a map
For a physical F&B business, expansion is not simply about entering another city. First Coffee places considerable emphasis on micro-location selection.
The founders assess factors including:
High street versus mall positioning
Proximity to PVRs
Positioning around escalators
Neighbouring food and beverage outlets
Office complexes
Commercial markets
Residential catchments
The first outlet became a starting point for refining this approach. Sitaram's experience scaling Keventers also brought operational knowledge around location selection, store formats, hiring, training, menu planning, supply chain and unit economics.
A cold coffee-led business
Cold coffee-based beverages account for 67% of the company's overall revenue. The menu combines these beverages with traditional coffee options, matcha, frappes, milkshakes, smoothies, coolers, breakfast items, sandwiches, bagels, desserts and retail coffee.
Its classic coffee menu includes:
Espresso: ₹195
Hot Americano: ₹215
Cortado: ₹215
Cappuccino: ₹250
Latte: ₹250
Flat White: ₹250
Caramel Macchiato: ₹250
Its seasonal menu includes beverages such as the Vanilla Maple Banana Latte at ₹260, Orange Americano at ₹270, and Tiramisu Latte and Mix Berry Cheesecake Latte at ₹300. The emphasis on cold coffee gives the brand a specific consumption occasion within India's increasingly diverse coffee market.
From one outlet to 25
First Coffee's expansion has largely been concentrated across northern India. By August 2026, the company had 25 outlets across Delhi, Haryana and Punjab.
Its Delhi presence includes locations across Defence Colony, South Extension, Hauz Khas, Greater Kailash, Kailash Colony, Vasant Vihar, New Friends Colony, Connaught Place, Dwarka, Netaji Subhash Place and Pacific Mall, Jasola. In Gurugram, outlets include DLF Cyberpark, DLF Atrium, DLF Galleria Market, Vatika Towers and Nirvana Court.
The company has also expanded into Faridabad and the Chandigarh region, including Chandigarh, Mohali and Rajpura.
$2.5 million raised in two rounds
First Coffee has raised $2.5 million across two funding rounds.
The first was a $1.2 million seed round in September 2024, led by BEENEXT. Investors included Ashish Gupta of Helion Venture Partners, AngelList India, Ritesh Malik of Innov8, Sahil Malik of Da Milano, and Keventers' Aman Arora and Agastya Dalmia. The capital was allocated towards expansion, hiring and marketing.
In August 2026, the company raised another $1.3 million in a pre-Series A round led by Japan-based DG Daiwa Ventures. BEENEXT, Sanjay Kapoor, Shashank Bhagat and other angel investors also participated. The latest funding is intended to support further store expansion, corporate hiring, marketing and new product development.
20,000 to 25,000 orders every month
The physical network has translated into a substantial recurring order base. First Coffee currently handles approximately 20,000 to 25,000 orders every month.
Its revenue growth has been even more striking.
Metric | Figure |
Founded | 2024 |
First outlet | April 2024 |
Outlets by Aug 2026 | 25 |
FY25 revenue | ₹3 crore |
FY26 revenue | ₹30 crore |
FY26 revenue growth | 10X |
Monthly orders | 20,000 to 25,000 |
Funding raised | $2.5 million |
Cold coffee share of revenue | 67% |
FY27 revenue target | ₹100 crore |
The jump from ₹3 crore in FY25 to ₹30 crore in FY26 represents a tenfold increase in annual revenue. The company is now targeting another major step up to ₹100 crore in FY27.
Building a coffee community
First Coffee's strategy extends beyond beverages and store locations. The brand has organised coffee workshops, run clubs, book clubs and film clubs around its outlets.
The company operates its own app, allowing customers to place pre-orders and participate in its 1st Sip Cru Club loyalty and rewards programme. It also promotes cashless payments and a gamified customer experience.
This gives the brand additional ways to encourage repeat purchases while building a relationship with customers beyond the individual transaction.
What's next for First Coffee?
First Coffee has moved from a single Delhi outlet in April 2024 to a 25-store network by August 2026.
The original pure grab-and-go concept became a hybrid format in response to Indian consumer behaviour. Its store strategy became increasingly focused on micro-location. Its menu developed a strong cold coffee identity. And its physical expansion was supported by technology, loyalty programmes and community-led activities.
Now, with ₹30 crore in FY26 revenue and a ₹100 crore FY27 target, the next phase will be about scaling that model while maintaining the operational discipline required by a growing physical network.
The story of First Coffee is therefore not simply about selling coffee.
It is about adapting a global format to Indian consumption habits, finding the right physical footprint, and building a repeat-purchase business around a very specific product category.
From grab-and-go to hybrid cafés, from one Delhi outlet to 25 stores, First Coffee is betting that India's next coffee habit may be smaller, faster and much more frequent.
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