Background
About Ayush Bathwal
Ayush Bathwal is a co-founder and board member of Third Wave Coffee.
Journey
Bathwal developed an interest in specialty coffee while studying and working in the United States, including a period at Qualcomm in San Diego. He later returned to India and co-founded the social-networking venture SocialCity before starting the coffee business with school friend Sushant Goel and Anirudh Sharma.
Third Wave Coffee began in Bengaluru in the mid-2010s with roasted coffee and cafés intended to make specialty coffee more approachable. The chain expanded rapidly across Indian cities. In 2024 professional executive Rajat Luthra became CEO, while the three founders moved to board roles. Bathwal should therefore not be described as the present chief executive.
Working approach
His founding insight came from observing how cafés combined product knowledge, farmer stories and community. Bringing that format to India required adaptation in menu, pricing and store operations rather than simple imitation.
Assessment
Bathwal helped establish a prominent home-grown specialty coffee chain. Board oversight now has to balance expansion with store-level economics and a consistent product experience.