(Yicai Global) May 12 -- A recent investment from Tencent Holdings will help Canadian coffee brand Tim Hortons open stores across China at a faster clip.

The Chinese tech giant has invested an undisclosed sum in Tim Hortons China, tech media portal 36Kr reported today. The unit will use the new funds to quickly expand from 50 outlets, which are mostly in Shanghai, and upgrade digital infrastructure. In December it said it aims to have more than 1,500 stores across the country in the next few years.

"We are very pleased to get investment from Tencent and look forward to tapping the huge potential of China's coffee market," the unit's Chief Executive Lu Yongchen said.

Tencent’s boost to Tim Hortons’ expansion plans in the country, one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing coffee markets, comes after local Starbucks challenger Luckin Coffee was rocked by an accounting scandal last month. On April 2, Xiamen-based Luckin Coffee admitted that its chief operating officer and other employees had faked sales figures by as much as CNY2.2 billion (USD310 million).

Tim Hortons set up its Chinese joint venture in May 2018 in tandem with New York’s Cartesian Capital Group. The JV opened its first China store in Shanghai in February last year. It also has coffee shops in other locations such as the northeastern port city of Dalian and the central transit hub of Zhengzhou.

Tim Hortons lags far behind Starbucks, Luckin and other peers in China store density, so the newcomer’s main strategy is to open more venues. It also plans to work with Shenzhen-based Tencent to explore digital upgrades to its online channels.

"Tencent built a unique platform that connects consumers' online and offline lives,” Lu said. “We will accelerate digital innovation, including the use of [Tencent’s] WeChat [messaging and payments] app, to bring customers a better consumption experience.”

Tim Hortons' Toronto-based parent Restaurant Brands International, which formed in 2015, owns various long-established fast food chain brands like Burger King, Popeyes and others.

With stores everywhere throughout Canada, the chain is the country's number one eatery. Of its 4,800-plus stores worldwide, nearly 4,000 are in Canada, with over 5 million cups of coffee sold daily and 80 percent of Canadians consuming in the stores at least once each month.

Eponymous co-founder Miles Gilbert 'Tim' Horton was a Canadian professional ice hockey player for 24 seasons in the National Hockey League with the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres. Named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in history in 2017, he died in a car crash in 1974.

Editor: Ben Armour