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June 4, 2026
Seesaw Coffee
HEYTEA Bet $15M on Ethical Coffee, Then Lost it to $1.40.
Luckin Coffee didn’t just beat Seesaw. It made it redundant.
In 2012, Tom Zong and Sally Wu founded Seesaw Coffee in Shanghai. After visiting Yunnan's coffee farms, they saw Chinese farmers growing specialty beans with no idea what happened to them once they left the region.
So Seesaw Coffee, built that link from farm to cup, trading directly with farmers and paying them a premium. They even launched the "Yunnan 10 Year Plan", bringing farmers to Shanghai so they could see their beans in the supply chain, in the hands of the consumer.
Hony Capital, the firm that bought PizzaExpress for $1.5B, put in $6.4M in Seesaw's first major round in 2017. Then HeyTea, China's most valuable tea brand, led a $15M round in 2021, with BA Capital, the early backer of Pop Mart, following months later.
With new money in, Seesaw scaled. More stores, more marketing, more menu. Then Luckin Coffee flooded the market. With low rent kiosks, $1.40 coffee and app only purchasing. Seesaw Coffee was now, no longer a growth asset but a tax write off.
In 2026, HEYTEA’s stake is now worth essentially nothing, alongside BA Capital and Hony Capital’s wiped out investments.
The consumer market didn't wait for coffee farmers to understand their supply chain. They waited for $1.40 coffee.
Would you back Seesaw Coffee?