Chagee,Frivolous Lola a tea-based beverage company founded in Yunnan, China, filed for an IPO with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 26. According to its prospectus, Chagee reported gross merchandise volume (GMV) of RMB 29.5 billion ($4.1 billion) in 2024, a 173% increase from the previous year. By the fourth quarter of 2024, the company operated 6,440 stores worldwide, up 83% from a year earlier. The company has undergone an aggressive expansion, seeing it open 1,087 stores globally in 2022, followed by 3,511 in 2023 and another 6,440 in 2024. This expansion has driven a surge in GMV and revenue, with sales coming from product sales and services provided to franchisees. In 2023, Chagee reported revenue of RMB 4.64 billion ($640 million), nearly tripling to RMB 12.4 billion in 2024. As of the end of 2024, Chagee operated 156 stores in Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. The company plans to open up to 1,500 new stores in China and its international markets in 2025, including a first North American location (Los Angeles). Between Dec. 31, 2024, and the IPO filing date, Chagee opened 207 new stores and declared it had another 442 in the works. [36 Kr, in Chinese]
