Brands
Brewing romance Third Wave stirs up Valentine sips
Limited edition drinks from Rs 305 blend rose notes and red velvet till 22 February.
MUMBAI: Love, it seems, now comes with foam on top and a rose petal garnish. As Valentine’s Day approaches, Third Wave Coffee has rolled out a limited-edition beverage line-up designed to turn everyday caffeine fixes into camera-ready, heart-fluttering moments.
At the centre of the seasonal menu is a quartet of indulgent drinks that lean heavily into romance and visual drama. The La Vie en Rose Frappe blends delicate floral rose notes with creamy richness, crowned with whipped cream and dehydrated rose petals for an unmistakably Valentine finish. Its warmer counterpart, the La Vie en Rose Latte, offers a softer, silkier sip with gentle rose undertones and mellow sweetness.
For those who prefer their love stories a little richer, the Red Velvet Milkshake delivers a thick, dessert-style indulgence layered with classic red velvet flavours and topped with whipped cream and velvet crumbs. The Red Velvet Mocha Frappe rounds off the collection, marrying bold coffee and cocoa in a blended treat finished with a whipped topping and red velvet crumble.
Priced from Rs 305 onwards, the collection is positioned as an accessible indulgence, ideal for coffee dates, solo treats or the sort of lingering conversations that stretch beyond the last sip.
The move reflects Third Wave Coffee’s structured, insight-led approach to menu innovation. Seasonal launches are not merely festive flourishes but strategic plays, aligning flavour experimentation with cultural moments and visual storytelling to drive repeat visits and refresh the in-store experience.
Available across outlets until 22 February, the Valentine’s collection invites patrons to slow down and savour the season. In a market where coffee shops compete as much on ambience as on espresso, Third Wave appears keen to ensure that this February, love is not just in the air, but in the cup.
Brands
Rakesh Menon joins Paytm as avp – lending
Fintech product leader takes on new role after building digital lending, payments and credit products across fintech ecosystem
MUMBAI: Rakesh Menon has joined Paytm as assistant vice president – lending, taking on a new role focused on strengthening the company’s lending and credit products.
Prior to this, Menon worked at Profectus Capital Pvt Ltd as chief manager – payments based financing and digital lending.
At Profectus, he designed and launched digital credit products for merchants with variable cash flows, including overdraft-linked and revenue-share lending models. He led end-to-end LOS–LMS API integrations with payment partners and aggregators, enabling real-time underwriting, disbursal and repayment workflows.
He also worked on funnel optimisation initiatives using journey analytics, improving onboarding, KYC and disbursal conversion by 35 per cent. He developed ecosystem partnerships for transaction-data-based credit assessment and automated settlement systems, and collaborated with credit and data science teams to strengthen risk models and early delinquency detection.
Menon standardised partner onboarding and API frameworks, reducing go-live timelines by 40 per cent and improving digital scalability.
Before Profectus Capital, he worked at PayU as senior manager – presales lead – enterprise business from August 2022 to August 2023. He set up a national presales function for fintech and digital commerce clients, aligning solutions such as EMI, BNPL, BBPS and offer engines to merchant requirements.
He also helped improve conversion rates by around 15 per cent through merchant persona mapping, demo frameworks and structured sales playbooks, working closely with product and go-to-market teams.
From April 2019 to July 2022, Menon served as business unit head – SMB – direct acquisitions at Worldline, where he built the SMB online payments vertical from scratch. The business scaled to Rs 2,500 crore in annual transaction volume, growing at 45 per cent year-on-year.
During this period, he introduced paperless onboarding processes including eKYC and eSign, developed partner dashboards and CRM automation systems, and integrated platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce and Tally to expand merchant adoption.
Across roles, Menon has worked across digital lending, payments and merchant financing, with experience in product development, ecosystem partnerships, API integrations and fintech-led growth strategies.
At Paytm, he will focus on scaling lending products and strengthening digital credit infrastructure within the company’s financial services ecosystem.
His appointment comes as fintech firms continue to expand their lending and embedded finance offerings in a competitive market.
