The Bengaluru-based company posted a net loss of Rs 110 crore for fiscal 2024, compared with Rs 54 crore the year before, according to its financial statements sourced from Tofler. Operating revenue rose to Rs 241 crore from Rs 144 crore.
Total expenses increased to Rs 358 crore from Rs 201 crore. The company spent Rs 97 crore on employee benefits and Rs 88 crore on cost of materials.
The firm had laid off more than 100 employees in December last year after raising $35 million in a funding round led by private equity firm Creaegis in September 2023. It has so far raised $66 million, as per data intelligence platform Tracxn.
The WestBridge Capital-backed company spent Rs 12 crore on selling and marketing in FY24 as compared to Rs 2 crore the prior year. Rent costs surged 88% to Rs 81 crore.
In April this year, Rajat Luthra, a former head of KFC India and Nepal, took over as the chief executive of the specialty coffee chain, while former CEO Sushant Goel transitioned to a board role. The firm competes with legacy players like Starbucks and Cafe Coffee Day along with specialty coffee brand Blue Tokai.
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A major chunk of Third Wave’s revenue comes from beverages and the rest from food and merchandise. On June 18, ET reported about the company’s plan to open 50 stores in its existing markets such as Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad, besides entering new cities like Chennai.Third Wave has more than 110 stores at present, half of which are in Bengaluru. Rival Blue Tokai has over 130 outlets while Starbucks has more than 400 stores across the country. In FY24, Tata Starbucks saw its operating revenue increase by 12% to Rs 1,218 crore. Starbucks has introduced low-priced offerings to increase footfall at its stores.
Several new-age specialty coffee brands have come up in this space including Slay Coffee, Sleepy Owl Coffee, Hatti Kaapi and Rage Coffee. These chains have drawn investor interest as they scale their operations and experiment with their offerings.
On September 26, ET reported that First Coffee, a grab-and-go specialty coffee brand, raised $1.2 million in a funding round led by South Asia and India-focused venture fund Beenext.
In March, specialty coffee chain AbCoffee raised $3.4 million in a funding round led by venture capital fund Nexus Venture Partners, while Subko, a specialty coffee roaster and craft bakehouse, raised $10 million in a funding round led by Zerodha cofounder Nikhil Kamath.