Entrepreneur Edward Tirtanata, who has found a sweet spot in Indonesia’s competitive coffee-selling business, aims to sharply expand in coming years.

The cofounder and group CEO of Southeast Asia’s first food-and-beverage unicorn, Kopi Kenangan, says the unlisted firm is Indonesia’s largest coffee chain, now selling nearly 6 million cups a month. Revenue in 2023 was $106 million, and Tirtanata expects it to increase 32% this year to $140 million and to quadruple to $430 million by 2028.

That’s just one of his ambitious goals. He aims to go to more countries—at present the only overseas outlets are in Singapore and Malaysia–and wants 3,000 sales-points by 2028, compared with nearly 1,000 now. Tirtanata also aims to get at least $100 million in pre-IPO funding by 2028, and then get listed by 2029.

Kopi Kenangan aims to open in more countries, with both fully-owned stores and franchises under the name “Kenangan Coffee.” It is partnering with Fredley Group of Companies as franchise holder in the Philippines to open stores there, starting in October. Early next year, the chain plans to have fully-owned stores in India.

“It is the time for us to run again, to become the number one coffee chain in Southeast Asia,” Tirtanata, 35, told Forbes Asia in his office in Menara Sentraya in South Jakarta in mid-August.

Kopi Kenangan means “coffee memories,” and the chain has........

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