The CEO of Vietnamese F&B startup the KAfe Group, Ms. Dao Chi Anh, has announced she is no longer in the position after three years in charge.

“The position will be soon go to another person since I am no longer involved in the business activities of the KAfe Group,” she wrote on her Facebook page on October 27.

The KAfe Group has also changed the information on its enterprise registration papers. Charter capital has been increased from VND16 billion ($720,000) to nearly VND245 billion ($11 million) and it is working in the form of a company with 100 per cent foreign capital.

In the middle of this year it was accused by the Gia Tuong Company of delaying debt repayments of more than VND4 billion ($179,000). “We have sent written documents and made phone calls to ask the CEO of KAfe to work on resolving the debts but have received no response,” a representative from Gia Tuong told local media at June 28. 

Then another company, International Training and Education Development JSC (ITED), also accused the KAfe Group of delaying debt repayments just a few days later.

“ITED sent documents on April 14 and May 23 requesting the KAfe Group make specific plans to repay these debts,” a company representative told local media on June 29. “An inadequate response was received from staff at KAfe who lack the capacity to resolve the problem.”

The KAfe told VET on July 2 that it is being attacked by one individual who is working on behalf of Gia Tuong and ITED.

Founded in 2013, the KAfe Group Limited was the first urban fusion café chain in Vietnam offering fresh, affordable, and quality international casual dining for affluent consumers.

It secured a $5.5 million Cassia Investments-led Series A funding arrangement in October last year and acquired local cupcake chain Mint Cupcakes Creations (MCC) early this year.

The company currently operates 19 outlets in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City under four brands - The KAfe, KAfe Village, KAfe Box, and The Burger Box, as well as its beverage merchandise The KAfe Cup, The KAfe Pressed, and MCC. This year the Group planned to continue to expand the KAfe chain to more cities while providing new models like Burger Box, KAfe Box, and Mint in Ho Chi Minh City.

The startup community was quite surprised a year ago by information that the KAfe Group was receiving investment capital from London and Hong Kong investment funds totaling $5.5 million with the aim of expanding its markets.

At that time, the KAfe Group said the investment would serve its planned expansion around Vietnam. The KAfe had four new locations in Hanoi in late October and planned to increase the total number to 26 by the end of the year.

Ms. Dao Chi Anh was born in 1984 in Russia, studied at high school in Vietnam, then attended college in Singapore and worked for a large corporation. Before founding The KAfe Group she was known as an amateur chef. Building the KAfe Group was a dream of her and her colleagues for the three years.

She said she will now spend more time with her family and also revealed she has many plans to work with startups, especially F&B startups.

VN Economic Times