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Bengaluru-based start-up, Third Wave Coffee has raised $6 million as part of its Series A funding round. Several existing and new shareholders participated in the private equity round, including Sujeet Kumar (Co-Founder, Udaan), Arpan Sheth (Bain & Company) and Ayyappan Rajagopal (CEO, Cleartrip), among others. Third Wave Coffee is a coffee chain that also offers a curated food menu and handpicked coffee.
The fresh infusion will be used by the company for expansion across the country and to hire a leadership team from top Quick Service Restaurant chains. Third Wave Coffee has a presence in both North and South India and in key cities of Delhi and Bangalore.
The Series A funding comes just months after the start-up closed its pre-series A funding round in April from a clutch of investors including Sujeet Kumar, Nikhil Kamath, Neelesh Bhatnagar, Ayyappan Rajagopal and others.
Third Wave Coffee was founded by Ayush Bathwal, Anirudh Sharma and Sushant Goel. Since its launch in 2017, it has scaled up and increased the number of stores. In the last 12 months, the brand has grown from 10 outlets at the end of 2020, to 35 outlets across 4 cities. It will be opening stores in Mumbai shortly.
In an earlier interview with Mint, Sushant Goel, co-founder and CEO, Third Wave Coffee said the company plans to expand to over 300 stores in 20 cities by FY ’23. Coffee at Third Wave is about 25% cheaper than Starbucks. Goel said availability of fresh food is a key insight the chain picked up from consumers.
“As the Indian economy grows, coffee consumption becomes a daily part of GenZ and early millennial habits, especially given their active social lives. A large part of this population falls within the high disposable income group and thus consumes premium organised brands more frequently,” said Sushant Goel, Co-Founder and CEO, Third Wave Coffee.
“With more opportunities to visit cafes and more evolved tastes, consumers are drawn to QSRs that produce and source both ethically and locally. Third Wave Coffee aims to disrupt the coffee space by breaking the monotony of the usual flavours with globally-influenced coffee and food pairings that match the palate of the modern, discerning Indian consumer,” he said.
Mint had earlier reported that Coffee chains such as Blue Tokai, Third Wave Coffee and Dope Coffee are expanding the number of outlets, helped by the availability of cheaper real estate and younger consumers seeking new hangout spots.
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