Coffee chain Third Wave Coffee raised $35 M Series C funding from Creaegis
Third Wave Coffee, a coffee chain, has raised $35 million in a Series C round led by local private equity company Creaegis. Sujeet Kumar, a cofounder of Udaan, and previous investor WestBridge Capital also took part in the round.
According to a press release from Third Wave Coffee, the company will use the funds for technology investments, supply chain improvements, and national expansion.
The company did not disclose its valuation, but according to a report in the ET, it is worth roughly $150 million (Rs 1,200 crore).
Third Wave Coffee, a six-year-old coffee chain, provides a hand-selected coffee menu along with a curated food menu. Hyderabad, Coonoor, Bengaluru, Delhi (NCR), Mumbai, Chandigarh, and Pune are just a few of the Indian cities where it has cafes.
It claims to have 105 stores total, with 50% of those open and running in Bengaluru. This year, the company hopes to grow by another 50 to 60 employees across metro and tier-I cities.
It was founded by Ayush Bathwal, Anirudh Sharma, and Sushant Goel, and in December 2021, a series A funding round saw a $6 million investment. WestBridge Capital oversaw a $21 million Series B investment in the Bengaluru-based business in May 2022. According to startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, Westbridge held the largest stake in the company prior to this round with 26.19%, followed by the three co-founders who held a combined 33.19%.
Starbucks and other well-known coffee chains, as well as specialty coffee brands like Blue Tokai, Sabko Coffee, Rage Coffee, Slay Coffee, Sleepy Owl, and Seven Beans Co., are competitors of the startup.
In its Series B funding round, which was spearheaded by A91 Partners, Blue Tokai raised $30 million in January.
Third Wave Coffee has not yet released its FY23 financial results, but in FY22 it saw a 2.7X increase in operating revenue to Rs 31.75 crore. TheKredible reports that the company’s losses increased 3.3X to Rs 14.5 crore during the same time frame (FY22).
In the week since announcing the launch of its $426 million first fund for Indian startups, Creaegis has made two investments. It supported Doceree, a network of physician-only platforms for programmatic messaging, on Wednesday. Companies like Kale Logistics, Zopper, and Medikabazaar are included in its portfolio.
