Singapore entrepreneur Sebastian Ang has revealed that it cost S$250,000 to launch Amacha, his modern herbal tea concept that combines traditional Chinese medicine-inspired drinks with the familiar format of milk tea.
Ang founded Amacha with business partner Alex Ng, drawing inspiration from the herbal teas his grandmother used to prepare for him during his childhood. The pair wanted to give traditional liang cha a more contemporary identity and make herbal drinks more appealing to younger consumers.
The first Amacha outlet opened at Pagoda Street in Chinatown in April 2025 after the founders invested S$250,000 into the launch. The concept was built around freshly prepared herbal drinks, house-made milk blends and lower-sugar options rather than the heavily sweetened profile associated with many conventional milk tea businesses.
The founders also spent time studying traditional Chinese medicine before launching the brand. They travelled to China for a two-part TCM course, learning about the properties and applications of herbs before studying traditional herbal-tea preparation in Guangzhou and Hunan.
For Ang, the business is closely connected to his family history. His grandmother regularly prepared herbal drinks for the family, and those childhood memories eventually became the foundation for Amacha’s brand identity.
Rather than positioning the drinks as medicinal products, Ang has described Amacha as a lifestyle beverage concept inspired by herbal traditions. The challenge was to retain the character of traditional ingredients while creating flavours that modern consumers would actually want to drink.
The strategy has helped the brand expand beyond its original Chinatown location. By early 2026, Amacha had grown to three outlets and had sold more than 150,000 cups since opening. The company has also been preparing for further expansion, including another Singapore outlet and longer-term plans to take the concept overseas.
The brand’s drinks generally sell for around S$5.90, while its menu includes both herbal teas and herbal milk teas. Some recipes draw directly from traditional ingredients such as chrysanthemum, barley, ginseng, lily bulb, dried pear and red dates.
Scaling the business has also created new challenges. Ang has said maintaining consistency becomes more difficult as the number of outlets increases, particularly because Amacha prepares its herbal drinks in-house and some brews require several hours of preparation. The company had 17 employees as it expanded to three locations earlier this year.
The S$250,000 initial investment also reflects the risks involved in building a differentiated food-and-beverage concept in Singapore’s highly competitive market. Amacha was not simply another milk tea outlet: the founders had to develop recipes, source specialised ingredients, establish a distinctive brand and create an operating system capable of reproducing the same flavours across outlets.
Ang has also acknowledged that lessons from his earlier business ventures influenced how he approached Amacha. He said previous mistakes made him more cautious about expansion, resources and decision-making. He subsequently completed a business management course while developing the brand.
The company’s expansion suggests that traditional herbal drinks can find a new audience when presented through a format familiar to younger consumers. Amacha’s combination of heritage, modern branding and milk-tea culture has allowed Ang to turn a childhood memory into a growing commercial concept.
What began with a S$250,000 investment is now developing into a multi-outlet Singapore brand, with ambitions that extend beyond the country’s borders.
