Daily Indian Funding Roundup & Key News - 24 August 2026: Third Wave Coffee Raises INR 408 Crore, TCS Acquires Porsche's MHP, and More

Five funding rounds closed on 24 August 2026, spanning coffee retail, skincare and physical AI. WestBridge Capital, RPSG Capital, Sauce and Endiya Partners were among the day's lead investors. The headline raise is Third Wave Coffee's INR 408 crore round from existing backer WestBridge Capital.

Away from funding, TCS agreed to acquire Porsche's consulting subsidiary MHP for about $373 million, Godrej Industries signed an MoU to invest INR 20,000 crore in Haryana, and Urban Company sued Kent RO over allegedly disparaging ads.

Daily Indian Startup Funding Roundup - 24 August 2026

Third Wave Coffee Raises INR 408 Crore Funding

Third Wave Coffee raised INR 408 crore in a funding round led by existing investor WestBridge Capital, with participation from Creaegis and other angel investors. The round comprised a mix of primary and secondary capital and values the company at around INR 2,000 crore. The funds will expand the chain's presence in existing markets, deepen its footprint in high-potential cities, and scale its Third Rush Desserts business.

Founded in 2016 by Sushant Goel, Anirudh Sharma and Ayush Bathwal, Third Wave Coffee is a Bengaluru-based coffee and QSR chain that operates more than 240 cafes across India and is targeting 320 outlets by the end of the financial year. The company has entered nine new cities over the past year, including Ahmedabad, Mangalore and Kolkata, and plans further expansion into eastern India.

Asaya Raises INR 88 Crore Series A Funding

Asaya raised INR 88 crore in a Series A round from existing investors RPSG Capital, OTP Ventures, Huddle Ventures, Hyperscale Ventures and 72 Ventures. The round included primary and secondary capital and values the company at INR 400 crore, three times its previous valuation. The funds will strengthen R&D, expand its product portfolio, and support entry into offline retail.

Founded in 2021 by Neeraj Biyani, Eeti Sharma and Mandeep Singh Bhatia, Asaya is a Bengaluru-based D2C skincare brand built around MelaMe, its proprietary molecule for treating hyperpigmentation in Indian skin. The brand's revenue has grown 16 times since its previous funding round, and it is now operating at an annualised revenue run rate of INR 100 crore.

Be Clinical Raises INR 21 Crore Seed Funding

Be Clinical raised INR 21 crore in a seed round led by Sauce, with participation from V3 Ventures and a group of angel investors including Mokobara founders Sangeet Agrawal and Navin Parwal. The funds will strengthen R&D, expand the clinical skincare range, scale manufacturing, and support entry into new markets.

Founded by Hemangi Dhir and launched in May 2025, Be Clinical is an evidence-led skincare brand focused on clinically tested formulations for ageing skin, developed specifically for Indian skin. The brand has delivered 1.2 lakh orders since launch and has grown five times in sales over the past nine months while remaining profitable.

WATER Raises $2.5 Million Seed Funding

WATER raised $2.5 million in a seed round led by Endiya Partners, with participation from India's national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand, Darwinbox co-founder Rohit Chennamaneni and Swiggy co-founder Nandan Reddy, among other angels. The funds will go towards technical validation and data collection as the company builds out its core technology.

Founded in 2024 by Teja Vinukollu and Haneesh Mourya Desu, WATER is a Hyderabad-based physical AI startup building adaptive surfaces, including the FLOW chair and CAMA bed, powered by its VORTEX foundational model. The products combine sensing, decision-making and physical actuation to respond to the human body in real time, with potential applications in automotive and aviation.

LightFury Games Adds Rohit Sharma As Investor

LightFury Games added former India captain Rohit Sharma as an investor, with the size of his investment undisclosed. Sharma will also feature as a licensed player in the studio's upcoming mobile cricket game, eCricket, making him the eighth marquee cricketer to back the company after MS Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah and others.

Founded in 2024 by Karan Shroff, Anurag Banerjee and Tina Balachandran, LightFury is a Bengaluru-based AAA game-tech studio that raised $11 million in a pre-Series A round in April and $8.5 million in seed funding in 2024. The studio is preparing a phased closed beta of eCricket in September, with more than 3 lakh sign-ups and a roster of over 700 licensed cricketers.

Key Business News for 24 August 2026

TCS Acquires Porsche's MHP For $373 Million

Tata Consultancy Services agreed to acquire MHP, Porsche's IT and management consulting subsidiary, for about 320 million euros, roughly $373 million. Porsche separately signed a five-year strategic deal worth 1.25 billion euros with TCS and MHP, and the acquisition is expected to close within three to four months.

MHP is a Germany-based automotive and industrial consulting firm with about 4,500 employees and turnover of around 742 million euros in CY2025. The deal is TCS's third acquisition in under a year, following its purchases of Coastal Cloud and ListEngage MidCo, and will expand TCS's capabilities in AI-driven engineering and software-defined mobility for automotive clients.

Godrej Industries To Invest INR 20,000 Crore In Haryana

Godrej Industries Group signed an MoU with the Haryana government to invest about INR 20,000 crore in the state, with the potential to create around 40,000 jobs. The group has already invested roughly INR 12,000 crore in Haryana and employs about 9,000 people there.

Godrej Properties will drive a large share of the investment, planning to deploy INR 16,000 crore by FY28 and taking its total Haryana investment to around INR 27,000 crore. Godrej Ventures will separately invest INR 3,500 crore in Grade A+ office infrastructure in Gurugram, and the group expects the plans to generate more than 30,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Urban Company Sues Kent RO Over Disparaging Ads

Urban Company filed a defamation and disparagement suit against Kent RO Systems in the Delhi High Court on 11 August, alleging that Kent's ad campaign made false claims about the two-year filter and service life of its Native water purifiers. Kent had allegedly called the claims a marketing gimmick and described the purifiers as unsafe.

During a 12 August hearing, Kent told the court it would remove the advertisements and avoid similar claims that disparaged Urban Company. This is not the first legal dispute between the two companies, as Kent had earlier filed a patent infringement suit against Urban Company's Native purifiers, which Urban Company is contesting.