(Yicai Global) April 2 -- Luckin Coffee, China's first coffee chain unicorn, has secured new funding of CNY45 million (USD6.7 million) by pledging its coffee machines as collateral, according to public mortgage information.  

The lender is Zhongguancun Science-Tech Leasing, a state-owned company in Beijing, and the debt will mature at the end of next March. The coffee machines belong to Luckin outlets in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen among others.

Launched in 2017, Luckin expanded quickly last year reaching 2,000 stores as of the end of 2018, though the Beijing-based firm also ran up a loss of CNY850 million (USD126.6 million) for the last three quarters.

The company aims to continue its expansion this year and open 2,500 more locations to become China's largest coffee chain, said founder Jenny Qian in January.

 Editor: William Clegg