1. Your journey has spanned multiple industries, from being an U-19 cricketer to building an IT firm and launching a fitness platform. What motivated the transition into the food and beverage space with Yummy Bee?
Absolutely, my journey has definitely been rather unconventional, but there’s been a common thread through it all: building things that solve real problems. Whether it was helping streamline public sector workflows through Appoids, or bringing high-quality fitness training to more people through Transform, I’ve always been drawn to creating impact.
Yummy Bee was different, it was deeply personal. During the pandemic, I started experimenting in the kitchen for my daughter. I couldn’t find treats that were both healthy and delicious, so I began making them myself—sugar-free, preservative-free, the works. What started as a father’s mission to feed his child better quietly turned into a business idea I couldn’t shake off.
2. You left a high-paying corporate role at Apollo to pursue a personal passion. Was there a defining moment that convinced you to take that leap into entrepreneurship again, this time with a food startup?
Yes, and I remember it vividly. My daughter had just devoured this homemade dessert I’d made—sugar-free chocolate truffle—and looked up at me and said, “You should open a shop, Daddy.”
It sounds simple, even silly, but something clicked. I had a stable package at Apollo, a high-growth role with strong financial upside. But there was this nagging feeling that I wasn’t done building. I wasn’t done solving. And here was this underserved space—healthy indulgence—where every parent, fitness enthusiast, or diabetic person I spoke to said the same thing: Why is everything either healthy or tasty, never both? That was my tipping point.
3. Health-conscious eating is often seen as either inaccessible or uninspiring in India. How does Yummy Bee aim to change that perception, especially through offerings like sugar-free desserts?
You’re absolutely right—there’s a mental block that healthy means bland or boring. Our mission is to flip that script. At Yummy Bee, we built everything around our VLOGS philosophy: Vegan, Low-calorie, Organic, Gluten-free, Sugar-free—not as labels, but as ingredients of indulgence. Take our blueberry cheesecake, for instance. It’s rich and creamy, but still sugar-free. We want people to walk in expecting a compromise, and leave realizing they don’t have to make one.
4. From a cloud kitchen to a café chain with nine outlets in under two years, what have been some of the most challenging operational or brand-building hurdles along the way?
Plenty. We started as a cloud kitchen—Rebel Foods-style—and pivoted to cafés because we realized that community and brand trust come easier when people experience you in person. One challenge was supply chain consistency, especially when you’re avoiding shortcuts like preservatives. We had to build a network of suppliers who understood our quality expectations.
The other big one was customer education. When your brownie looks like a brownie but has no sugar, people are skeptical. We had to win them over, one bite, one story, one review at a time.
5. You’ve already raised two rounds of funding and have plans to expand further. Where do you see Yummy Bee going next, both in terms of product innovation and scale?
We’re targeting 20 outlets by the end of 2025, with Bengaluru next on the map. But scale for us doesn’t just mean more cafés—it means deeper product innovation and new distribution models.
We’re launching FMCG verticals like almond rocks, millet puffs, and ready-to-eat clean-label snacks. We’re also in talks to explore airport kiosks and hospital cafés, where healthy eating is not just preferred—it’s essential. Eventually, I see Yummy Bee becoming India’s go-to brand for guilt-free indulgence, in both retail and delivery-first formats.
6. With your background in tech and fitness, has that influenced how you approach food entrepreneurship differently than someone from a traditional F&B background?
Absolutely. Coming from tech and fitness taught me to treat food like a product, not just a dish. At Transform, for instance, we focused on user feedback loops, personalization, and accessibility. I carried all of that into Yummy Bee.
We run like a startup: data-driven, iterative, always listening to our customers. We A/B test menus, track repeat orders, and even design store layouts based on dwell time and heat maps; And from fitness, I brought the mindset of consistency over intensity—whether it’s training or brand building, the key is showing up every single day with intent.
