China's Luckin Coffee Raises $150 Million in Latest Funding

By Saurabh Chaturvedi

The operator of China's Luckin Coffee chain on Thursday said it is now valued at $2.9 billion, after raising $150 million from BlackRock Inc. and other investors in its latest funding round.

The Beijing-based upstart, which was founded by a Chinese entrepreneur and counts Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC and venture-capital firms as investors, has challenged Starbucks Corp. in China over the past 18 months.

Luckin was founded in October 2017 and has opened roughly 2,000 stores across China

Its owner, Ruixing Coffee (Beijing) Co., said BlackRock invested $125 million in its most recent funding round. The company has raised funds multiple times in the past and is aiming for an initial public offering that could take place as soon as this year, The Wall Street Journal previously reported.

Write to Saurabh Chaturvedi at saurabh.chaturvedi@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 18, 2019 04:11 ET (08:11 GMT)

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