Third Wave Coffee, a Bengaluru-based coffee chain popular among the city’s startup community, is in advanced talks to raise $20-25 million in institutional capital led by WestBridge Capital, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Some of the round’s early individual investors will exit through a secondary share sale. According to those familiar with the situation, the business will be valued at $80-100 million if the purchase is finalized.
“WestBridge is leading the round which will include secondaries as Third Wave had raised capital initially through smaller cheques from many individuals and several of them are being given exits,” a person aware of the matter said. The quick service restaurant (QSR)-format coffee chain firm had raised $6 million in December 2021.
According to the people mentioned above, in addition to WestBridge Capital, existing backer Sujeet Kumar, cofounder of Udaan, is investing more in this round.
Sushant Goel, Ayush Bathwal, and Anirudh Sharma founded Third Wave in 2017, which now has roughly 40-50 locations across India’s top five cities, including Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru. According to sources, the company’s monthly income is around Rs 7-8 crore. Under the same brand, it also sells a variety of coffee powders.
The new capital will be used to accelerate post-pandemic expansion in Mumbai, Delhi, and other cities.
“They are expanding in Mumbai significantly now after having entered the Delhi-NCR market. Pune is another market for them in the western part of the country,” a source said.
