# Jiachun Li

> Jiachun "Summer" Li is the founder and CEO of UMe Tea, a California-born beverage chain that she started in 2019 while working as a mechanical engineer. She and three co-founders bootstrapped the company to nine profitable California locations before raising outside capital, blending localized drinks, playful surprise-cup collectibles and technology-led store operations. UMe now reports more than 30 stores across three states and 900,000-plus members, while Li is inviting AI startups to use its California stores as live retail testing grounds.

- **Role:** Founder & CEO at UMe Tea
- **Organizations:** UMe Tea
- **Education:** Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, North China Electric Power University
- **Known for:** Co-founded UMe Tea in California in 2019 and grew it from a side project into a multi-state beverage chain., Bootstrapped UMe Tea with three co-founders to nine profitable California locations before raising outside capital., Helped develop an automated drink-assembly workflow that reduced employee training from two to three days to about two hours.

## Career timeline

- **2013** — Received first place in the Purdue Calumet University Undergraduate Research Award.
- **2014** — Completed graduate study in mechanical engineering at Purdue University.
- **2019** — Started UMe Tea as a side project while working full-time as a mechanical engineer in the automotive industry; the first store opened in Cupertino in July.
- **2020** — UMe Tea opened its second store in Milpitas.
- **2021** — UMe Tea opened in Palo Alto.
- **2022** — UMe Tea expanded across the Bay Area, including Davis, Fremont and Mountain View.
- **2023** — UMe Tea raised its first outside financing, a $2.2 million seed round from iFly.vc, after reaching nine profitable California locations; it also opened its first store outside California in Chicago.
- **2025** — UMe Tea raised a reported $10 million Series A and expanded with additional Bay Area stores.
- **2026** — UMe Tea reported more than 30 stores across three states and invited AI startups to test retail technology in its California locations.

## Achievements

- Co-founded UMe Tea in California in 2019 and grew it from a side project into a multi-state beverage chain.
- Bootstrapped UMe Tea with three co-founders to nine profitable California locations before raising outside capital.
- Helped develop an automated drink-assembly workflow that reduced employee training from two to three days to about two hours.
- Raised a $2.2 million seed round from iFly.vc in 2023.
- Raised a reported $10 million Series A in 2025.
- Built a company that reports more than 30 stores across three states and more than 900,000 members.
- Won first place in the 2013 Purdue Calumet University Undergraduate Research Award.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — UMe Tea opened a Menlo Park store and reported more than 30 stores across three states.
- **2026-04** — Li was listed among participants in the Conductive Ventures CEO Summit.
- **2026-04** — Li joined an iFly.vc Consumer Summit discussion on culture, AI and the reinvention of restaurant and beverage chains.
- **2026-04** — Li publicly invited AI startups to test computer vision, voice, robotics, customer-experience and analytics products inside UMe Tea's California retail operations.
- **2025-10** — UMe Tea raised a reported $10 million Series A from investors including Conductive Ventures and iFly.vc.

## Links

- Website: https://umeteaca.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jiachun-li-377642a3
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/umetea/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/jiachun-li
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-18