Two Delhi entrepreneurs are betting that India's coffee habit does not always need a big cafe, a long menu or a Rs 300 bill. Their answer is First Coffee, a specialty coffee brand that has built its business around smaller outlets and cold coffee, and has now clocked around Rs 30 crore in revenue in FY26.
Founded by Shiv Dhawan and Sohrab Sitaram in 2024, First Coffee has grown to 25 outlets across Delhi, Haryana and Punjab as of August 2026. The brand, which started as a pure grab-and-go concept, has also changed its format after learning that Indian customers still like having the option to sit down with their coffee.
The shift seems to be working. First Coffee now handles around 20,000-25,000 orders every month and is targeting Rs 100 crore in revenue in FY27, as per a report by Startup Pedia. Its FY25 revenue stood at around Rs 3 crore before jumping to Rs 30 crore in FY26.
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Why Cold Coffee Is At The Center Of The Business
While the brand serves everything from espresso and cappuccino to matcha, frappes, smoothies and food, cold coffee remains its biggest draw. Cold coffee-based beverages account for 67% of First Coffee's overall revenue.
The menu mixes familiar drinks with more unusual options. Its seasonal offerings include Vanilla Maple Banana Latte, Mixed Berry Cheesecake Latte, Tiramisu Latte and Orange Americano. The brand also serves Vietnamese coffee, along with milkshakes, coolers, desserts, breakfast items and snacks.
The pricing is also designed to sit below what customers may usually spend at larger specialty cafés. Espresso starts at Rs 195, while drinks such as cappucino, latte and flat white are priced at Rs 250.
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The Idea Was To Make Specialty Coffee More Everyday
For Dhawan and Sitaram, the opportunity was not simply about opening another coffee chain. They believed there was room for a format that could sell quality coffee without carrying the same costs as a large café.
“Rising disposable incomes, greater exposure to global coffee culture and changing consumer preferences have also driven the growth of specialty coffee shops and homegrown coffee brands across the country. However, most coffee brands continue to operate large-format cafés, where customers often pay around Rs 250-300 for a cup,” Shiv Dhawan told Startup Pedia.
A large part of that price, the founders felt, goes into the cafe experience, including rent, seating and other overheads. First Coffee was therefore built around smaller stores and quicker purchases.
The original idea was a complete grab-and-go model. But the founders soon realized that the format needed to fit Indian habits.
“We started with pure complete grab-and-go, but then obviously at that time we realized that we were in India and the grab-and-go culture was not mature,” Shiv said.
The brand then began adding 8-10 seats at some outlets while continuing to keep the stores relatively compact.
From Keventers Experience To 25 Stores
Sitaram brought more than two decades of experience in hospitality and food and beverage to the business. He had earlier worked with Taj Hotels and later built and operated several restaurant and hospitality concepts. He also played a role in scaling Keventers to hundreds of outlets in India and overseas.
That experience helped the founders focus heavily on store locations, formats, hiring, supply chain and unit economics.
The first First Coffee outlet opened at Pacific Outlet Mall in Delhi in April 2024. Since then, the brand has expanded across Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Chandigarh, Mohali and Rajpura.
Location, however, is not simply about picking a popular city. The founders also look at details such as whether a store is on a high street or inside a mall, its distance from a PVR, its position near an escalator and the other food outlets around it.
The company has also raised $2.5 million across two funding rounds. Its latest $1.3 million pre-Series A round, led by Japan-based DG Daiwa Ventures in August 2026, is being used for further expansion, hiring, marketing and new products.
Beyond coffee, First Coffee is also trying to build a regular customer community through coffee workshops, run clubs, book clubs and film clubs. With cold coffee driving a large part of sales and the store network continuing to grow, the founders are now looking to take the brand from Rs 30 crore in FY26 revenue to their Rs 100 crore target in FY27.