Third Wave Coffee fires 120 employees after $35 million funding boost: Report

Third Wave Coffee, a specialty coffee and food brand backed by Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath, has laid off 120 employees.

In a restructuring exercise, according to the business news website Moneycontrol. The Bengaluru-based company cited a “strategic review” and the need to consolidate teams for efficiency as reasons for dismissing employees across various departments, including tech, finance, marketing, business development, and app development.

The firm said the affected employees are being offered two months’ salary in case they wish to leave immediately or the option to work until mid-February 2024.

The decision to trim around 10 percent of the total workforce of the company, also backed by Gaurav Munjal and Roman Saini of Unacademy, was made months after the startup raised $35 million (approximately Rs 270 crore) in its latest funding round.

Employees alleged that there was no written communication informing them about the staff reduction, and it was done in-person.

“The head of HR and the founder have come to each of us, speaking for 10–15 minutes and informing people that their roles are no longer needed in the restructured organisation,” an employee was quoted by Moneycontrol.

According to the employees, there might be another round of layoffs today (December 15).

The company, meanwhile, said, “As an organisation, we are in a strong position post the recent fund raise. We will continue to scale and build TWC as India’s most loved coffee brand.”