China's startup Luckin Coffee will have 2,000 stores by the end of this year, more than doubling its current locations, the company announced at a press conference Wednesday.

The expansion move came after a fund raising of US$200 million in a Series A financing round on July 11, which valued the company at US$1 billion.

In seven months after its launch on a trail base in January, the company has opened 809 stores across 13 cities in China, selling more than 18 million cups of coffee with a customer base of more than 3.5 million.

The fast-growing company also planned to expand its business to light meals and snacks, as it will partner with UK-based Bakkavor, U.S.-based Bama Companies Inc. and China's food group COFCO Corp as its suppliers.

To increase its foothold and market share, all stores will offer a 50 percent discount for both delivery and pick-up of food items, includingsandwiches, muffins, and salads, from Aug. 1 to Dec. 31, the company said.

"Light snacks are natural companions of coffee as a key part of coffee business, and have a great potential,"said Guo Jinyi, co-founder and senior vice president of Luckin Coffee."We hope to help customers develop habits for light meals through subsidies."

Luckin Coffee was founded by Qian Zhiya, former COO of UCAR, one of China's biggest car rental services.

Considered as an emerging rival to Starbucks in the Chinese market, Luckin Coffee has provided customers with delivery services since its launch by working with a local delivery company.

After placing orders online, customers can choose to either pick them up in nearby stores or have them delivered within 30 minutes. 

"The average delivery time of each Luckin order is now about 18 minutes,"said Guo.

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