Third Wave Coffee
Third Wave Coffee is expanding fast, opening its 250th café and entering Kochi as its 27th market (The Hindu BusinessLine, 30 Sept), after raising ₹408 crore (YourStory, 29 Aug). FY25 brought a net loss of ₹94 cr on operating revenue of ₹285 cr (Entrackr, 24 Aug).
What it means Rival café chains face a funded competitor targeting approximately 320 cafés by FY27.
Latest moves
Our read of each move first, where we have one; what the report said is marked Reported.
- Reported: Third Wave Coffee and CaratLane launch 45-day Ube beverage range, running through November 15Reported: Watch:
- Reported: Third Wave Coffee’s accelerated rollout and move into desserts and all-day food make it a stronger partnership, supply-chain and potential strategic-acquisition ecosystem player.Reported: Third Wave Coffee raises ₹408 crore to fund 100-store-a-year expansion. The funding will also support a push into desserts and all-day food.Watch: Actual store-opening pace versus the stated 100 stores per year.
Footprint: where Third Wave Coffee opened
1 store opening in 1 city on record since May 2026; 2 announced plans.
Background
From 6 stories, the newest dated 3 Oct 2026. Summary written 3 Oct 2026. Newer developments are under Latest moves.
Show 3 paragraphs and 6 sources
Third Wave Coffee is an Indian café chain that operates over 240 cafes, YourStory reported in August 2026.[1] source: YourStory In September 2026 it opened two cafés in Kochi, which marked its entry into Kerala and its 27th market. Its South India footprint reached 104 cafés.[2] source: The Hindu BusinessLine It also plans to expand into desserts and all-day food.[1] source: YourStory
Third Wave Coffee raised Rs 408 crore in August 2026, which YourStory put at Rs 408 crore ($42.8 million).[3] source: YourStory The funding is meant to support entry into eight new geographies and the addition of 100 stores annually.[1] source: YourStory ET Small Business reported in September 2026 that the chain plans to grow from 240 to 320 cafes by the end of the current financial year.[4] source: ET Small Business ET Retail reported in September 2026 that it opened its 250th café and targets approximately 320 cafés by FY27.[5] source: ET Retail At the Kochi opening, Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode were named as priority markets.[2] source: The Hindu BusinessLine
Third Wave Coffee ran an Instagram creative for International Coffee Day on 1 October, alongside Cafe Coffee Day, Nescafé India and Blue Tokai.[6] source: ET BrandEquity
Sources
More stories about Third Wave Coffee
- Third Wave Coffee bets on desserts and $100M round to fix its loss-making cafe math
- Third Wave Coffee closes in on $80-100M round at up to $500M valuation
Stories that mention Third Wave Coffee
5 stories
Third Wave Coffee is named in these stories but is not their subject.
- UNIQLO opens first Thane store at Lake Shore, a roughly 18,000 sq ft outlet
- Temasek emerges as sole contender for $100m Blue Tokai stake, Mint reports
- India's specialty coffee chains draw major funding as out-of-home market doubles toward $3.5-4B by 2030
- Devyani names Pradeep Das CEO of KFC India as Rajat Luthra exits to Third Wave Coffee
- India's specialty coffee market set to double to $6.52 Bn by 2031 as Blue Tokai, Third Wave, Subko scale