Chye Seng Huat Hardware founder’s coffee tech firm raises US$5M funding in Series A round

Homegrown coffee technology company Morning announced today (June 14) that it has raised US$5 million in a Series A round led by East Ventures.

Other notable investors include zVentures, the corporate arm of Razer; P9 Capital, Wee Teng Wen of The Lo & Behold Group, among others.

“This investment will enhance Southeast Asia collaboration and showcase (regional) ecosystems to the global market, integrating the best of Indonesia coffee beans with the ease of Singapore-designed coffee technology and machine of Morning,” said Willson Cuaca, co-founder and managing partner of East Ventures. 

Prior to this fresh injection of funds, Morning raised US$1.27 million funding led by zVentures in a pre-Series A round in August last year.

This latest investment is also marked by the official signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, which was witnessed today by the participants of Indonesia – Singapore Business Forum at Hilton Singapore Orchard.

According to Morning, it will utilise the fund on two fronts — to develop and diversify their product offering, and to expand their global presence.

Morning has grown and expanded its presence from Singapore and Southeast Asia to the United Kingdom, with plans to continue its global expansion over the next 12 to 18 months.

Morning has sold thousands of its IoT-enabled coffee machines

Morning was co-founded by Leon Fee and Bowen Chiou. Leon is a veteran in the coffee industry and is the man behind cafes like Chye Seng Huat Hardware and Papa Palheta.

While meeting with potential manufacturers in Taiwan, he crossed paths with Bowen, who was running his family’s manufacturing business, handling projects for prominent precision coffee equipment such as Acacia and Hiroia.

He was compelled by Leon’s vision and the business’ unique proposition that he decided to join him on his journey and thus Morning was born.

Morning is essentially a coffee tech ecosystem that combines a marketplace of the world’s best specialty coffee capsules with a coffee machine that has precision-brewing features.

Since its official launch in mid-2021, the brand has sold thousands of its IoT-enabled Morning Machines in almost 30 countries. The machine allows users to easily set precise recipes and brew ratios, enabling them to brew cafe-quality coffee at the touch of a button.

Today, the Morning app is a repository for over 1,000 roaster recipes developed by their community of 60 leading coffee roasters.

“Coffee culture has been evolving by leaps and bounds around the world in the last decade. Coupled with an exploding demand for better convenient home coffee solutions, fuelled by the pandemic and remote working trends, we believe that Morning is optimally positioned to capitalise on this trend,” said Leon Foo, co-founder and CEO of Morning.

Featured Image Credit: Morning