Modern Hippi identified a key opportunity in instant coffee
Most of us need a caffeine boost every morning to start the day—and in Singapore, there’s no shortage of options. The market is crowded with both international chains and homegrown coffee startups, making it a highly competitive and fast-growing industry.
However, Deepak Menon believed that the industry had overcomplicated the simple drinking experience and that instant options were of lower quality.
“I felt like a simple coffee had become extremely complicated with the rules. Even if you want to have a decent cup of coffee, it’s a lot of expensive machines and techniques,” he added.
Determined to create a solution that is both convenient and brings cafe-quality coffee to the masses, Deepak teamed up with Jae Tan, pooling S$150,000 of their savings to start Modern Hippi in Dec 2023.
The pair also received additional funding from Anna Lysenko, Deepak’s wife, who eventually became the business’s CEO. Vulcan Post spoke with Deepak and Anna to learn how Modern Hippi differentiates itself in Singapore’s crowded coffee scene and beyond.
Creating a fuss-free, cafe-quality coffee
Aside from selecting and roasting coffee beans, Modern Hippi uses freeze-drying to create its coffee granules, in which concentrated brews undergo rapid freezing and drying to form crystallised coffee granules. Doing so not only preserves the aroma of the original coffee beans but also allows customers to brew their coffee with either hot or cold water.
“Instant coffee was one space where we felt a serious gap in the current process, which was a lot of low-quality beans used with heavy chemicals and preservatives. So we felt that we needed to bring a high-quality product here that will combine the freedom of having coffee but is not restricted by the rules of expensive techniques and machines,” added Deepak.
While multiple coffee brands have since combined tech innovations and launched their own coffee experiments, Modern Hippi aims to make consumption simpler without compromising quality—in other words, offering the convenience of instant coffee with the cafe-level quality through freeze-drying.
“We don’t need to rediscover [coffee]. We need to just deliver the best product, and the rest will be taken care of by the community,” explained Deepak.
To establish quality in its coffee offerings, the business sources its beans from known farms in multiple countries, including Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, and Uganda. The beans are processed and manufactured in two factories in Shandong, China, and Vietnam before being shipped to Singapore.
Deepak shared that they dedicated six to eight months of R&D, with numerous rounds of taste tests before launching their products in May 2024, and Anna jokingly said she got sick of the beverage. “It’s the most coffee I’ve ever drunk in my life,” she shared with a laugh.
Navigating leadership & infrastructure changes
In Oct 2024, Jae chose to step down from the business to spend more time with his family and pursue other business endeavours. He officially handed over the operations to Anna, who took over as CEO.
However, Anna understood that the role carried a heavy amount of responsibility and had her reservations. “Looking at the potential of the company, I was pretty intimidated,” she candidly revealed.
“It would be a lie to say that I jumped in and said ‘oh my god, it’s an excellent opportunity!’ and I go with it. Absolutely not.”
But the offer came in at a time when the business was evolving quickly, which prompted Anna to jump in despite her initial reservations. She leveraged her past experience in human resource management across businesses worldwide, as well as her own organic products brand, Conscious Living, to establish SOPs that streamlined operations.
“If things stay ad hoc, you will not be able to grow the company,” emphasised Anna.
It made a S$500K revenue in 2025
The dedication to getting the product and internal processes straight paved the way for the business to grow. Today, Modern Hippi has expanded beyond its e-commerce platform, selling its products on Lazada, Shopee, and TikTok Shop.
The startup has also diversified its revenue streams to brick-and-mortar and B2B. It has participated in pop-ups, consumer markets, and expos to establish its offline presence, which led to a partnership opportunity with Dubai-based online beverage marketplace PerCup.
Initially, Deepak shared that Modern Hippi targeted gym-goers as its core audience, as they often needed a quick caffeine fix that could be easily mixed into cold water or protein shakes.
By removing the need for hot water or brewing equipment, the brand positioned itself as a convenient option for those looking to enjoy coffee seamlessly during workouts, leading to partnerships with fitness establishments such as REVL for pop-ups.
While Modern Hippi initially found traction among gym-goers, its emphasis on simplicity and convenience soon resonated with a wider audience, including professionals seeking an efficient coffee solution and older consumers seeking quality coffee without the hassle of machines or complicated brewing rituals.
“The number of subscriptions started increasing, and the business started growing quite heavily,” added Deepak.
That said, Anna revealed that the business has also gained its fair share of sceptics, who are quick to dismiss it as just another instant coffee brand. In response, the team launched starter packs priced at S$9.90 and S$10.90 (for the mixed starter pack) for six pods.
“It becomes an easy buy,” she said. “The majority are very surprised and love it, and then they buy 24 pods or even go for subscriptions.”
Since releasing its products in May 2024, Modern Hippi’s freeze-dried coffee is now sold at 14 Cold Storage outlets in Singapore, too, and supplied to local cafes, pubs, offices, and educational institutions.
As a bootstrapped business, these strategies have enabled the company to generate half a million in annual revenue in 2025. Anna and Deepak also shared ambitions for the business to earn double that figure this year.
Growing beyond Singapore
Besides establishing itself in Singapore, Modern Hippi has started testing its products in overseas markets. Early advertising campaigns in the US have indicated strong consumer interest, which the brand is using to validate demand rather than rush into full-scale expansion.
Going global also meant that Anna and Deepak needed to rethink their sustainability strategies. Currently, Modern Hippi has a pod return initiative that includes a reward points system to incentivise recycling.
However, replicating that system overseas proved logistically challenging. Thus, the team has decided to redesign its packaging using locally recyclable materials, ensuring that the brand’s environmental commitments remain practical and scalable.
Despite the challenges, Deepak shared that customers can expect to see the alternative packaging within the next couple of months and reiterated that, as a bootstrapped business, it’s more important to ensure it can grow on its own before taking in any external investment and expanding internationally.
“Here, we are extremely cautious because it’s our company, it’s our money,” emphasised Deepak. “We want to make sure that our money needs to be properly managed, so that any external investor can have confidence that this is a self-sustaining company.”
- Learn more about Modern Hippi here.
- Read more stories we’ve written on Singaporean businesses here.
Featured Image Credit: Modern Hippi
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