Like all good ideas,
this one, too, was born in a bar. In late 2009, Bishop Cotton’s Bengaluru-based
alumni Varun Agarwal and Rohan Malhotra were mercilessly ribbed by the former’s
cousin for being not hip enough to have a school branded T-shirt. A few drinks
and some brainstorming lead the 22-year-olds to the idea of getting the
T-shirts made for themselves. Sales to other Bishop Cotton alumni followed. And
then, through word of mouth, others started approaching them to do the same for
their schools.
And Alma Mater was born. Agarwal and Malhotra
invested Rs.1 lakh each and started a website to manage the front-end and
take orders. Today, they have a turnover of Rs.2 crore and 800 schools and colleges as
clients across India, including the likes of Bishop Cotton Bengaluru, several
IITs and IIMs. Products include T-shirts, hoodies, caps, mugs and bumper
stickers.
“We have two business models now. One, where
we take official permission from a school or college for its merchandise and
second, where anyone can approach us to have stuff made for his class, batch,
group or anything he has affinity with,” says Agarwal. Now, the duo is
expecting to get funds from Indian Angels Network, he adds. This will be used
to scale and grow the business further.
No comments:
Post a Comment