Image Credits:<\/strong> Ume<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

She, along with her three co-founders, who come from a mix of engineering and finance backgrounds, self-funded the business up to this recent round of investment. The bootstrapping approach separates Ume from other bubble tea chains, many of which are franchised outlets of established brands from Asia.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of these franchised store owners just want a passive income and don\u2019t spend a lot of time running the business. Ume is different. It started from scratch and the four founders really devote all of their efforts to the startup,\u201d said Shen.<\/p>\n

\u201cOpening a bubble tea shop might look and sound easy, but doing it right and profitably actually isn\u2019t. It takes a team to possess a holistic skillset including product innovation, supply chain, online and offline marketing, in-store management, data analytics and so on,\u201d the investor continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother venture-backed bubble tea startup has burned $10 million after opening 10 stores.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Ume\u2019s Asian competitors, product development often happens back at the headquarters that lack a good grasp of American consumers; they also iterate at a slower speed than a small, local brand like Ume, Li argued. While these bigger rivals might introduce just two to three new products a year, Ume sources from local farms and often offers seasonable drinks.<\/p>\n

Over the years, boba, which originated from Taiwan, has evolved from its pristine form of Assam tea, tapioca from the cassava plant and powdered creamer into a broad range of tea-based drinks that may involve fresh tropical fruit and salted cheese foam. In Asia, \u201cpeople want something that\u2019s more refreshing,\u201d explained Li. \u201cBut here, thick, rich flavors sell best, like our Oreo option, which has creamy brul\u00e9e loaded with crushed Oreo cookie crumbs and chewy pearls.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAsians tend to prefer less sweet drinks, but teenagers here might ask for 120% sweetness,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Ume\u2019s steady expansion in America is also a stark contrast to bubble tea chains in China that pursue breakneck growth at the cost of investor money and profitability. With the new seed funding, however, Ume is ready to accelerate its expansion plan and plans to set foot in Chicago and Dallas next.<\/p>\n

\u201cSure, investors can give them [bubble tea chains] a ton of money to expand and hire aggressively, but to ask a company to grow so fast prematurely and at a loss, it\u2019s a doomed path,\u201d said Shen.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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