"Investors rejected us, saying Bihari food won't make promising biz": Today, this Bihari entrepreneur runs "Gaon", clocks ₹6 Cr revenue

From a small place called Champaran in Bihar, Alok was dreaming of becoming an entrepreneur. However, his father wanted him to become an engineer. In an exclusive interview with Startup Pedia, Alok Ranjan shared his journey of founding a multi-brand internet food company, "Gaon," and even sealing an investment deal on Shark Tank India.

In 2009, Alok went to Delhi to pursue a B.Tech and fulfil his father’s dream. But while studying the course, he realised it was not a career he wanted. So, he dropped out of it and got enrolled in a BBA course.

From getting selected in the top 75 at the Economic Times Power of Ideas to doing odd jobs, Alok made sure he would use his time well, even while pursuing his studies. He completed an MBA from the Delhi School of Business and an Executive Program from the National University of Singapore. 

Start of an entrepreneurial journey

In 2012, he founded BookingArena.com by accepting a fund of around Rs. 9 Lakhs from his mother. He expanded the team from 4 to 20 in 18 months, and achieved a merchant base of 100+ with 3,000 daily visitors and an overall GMV of 2 million INR. However, as a new entrepreneur, he could not compete with the market leader BookMyShow, and after a year and a half, he had to shut down his startup.

 Noticing a gap in the Indian food industry 

“I am from Bihar, but I could not always go to my hometown because of a financial crunch,” the Bihar-born startup founder opened up to Startup Pedia. “I missed my place, the people, and most of all, the food. Also, I felt there are so many people living in Delhi who faced the same problem.”

The young entrepreneur was working in multiple companies, and he observed that in corporate events, while ordering food, it was largely western cuisine or north Indian, if the Indian variety was ordered at all.

He noticed Indians had a soft corner for desi food, though most restaurants were not serving any authentic Indian rural food. This is how he got the idea to start a food startup that served authentic Indian desi food.

“How much we have adopted western culture in our ways and lifestyle, our tastebuds have a fetish for desi ghar ka khana!” the B.Tech dropout said, smiling.

 Introducing Gaon

In 2017, Bihar’s Alok Ranjan launched a one-of-a-kind multi-brand internet food company, "Gaon”, with his brothers Rajesh Chandra, Aryan Raj, Deepak Kumar, and a friend, Yashoo Verma. It was launched as a 10-15 seater village-themed diner in Saket, Delhi NCR. Another friend, Shashank Shree joined the founding team later on.

“Authentic regional food is either expensive, inaccessible, or lacks hygiene,” the Delhi-based entrepreneur told Startup Pedia. “Western fast food overshadows authentic Indian flavours. Regional Indian cuisine is underrepresented in the F&B landscape. The few brands offering Indian foods, the North Indian restaurants dominate. So, we thought of introducing Bihari, Awadhi, and Rajasthani delicacies.”

Gaon was founded to celebrate the rustic charm of Indian villages with a diverse menu spanning Bihari, Awadhi, Rajasthani, and Punjabi cuisines, offering an immersive dining experience.

It gradually attained popularity and in 2018, it expanded to multiple outlets, partnered with OYO, and also opened a flagship store in Malviya Nagar.

“Gaon serves as a one-stop destination for authentic Indian cuisine beyond just North Indian food,” the foodtech startup founder shared with Startup Pedia.

Gaon - multi-brand cloud kitchen

In 2020, Gaon pivoted to a multi-brand cloud kitchen model, crossing ₹2 Crore in revenue.

“We maintain high food safety standards while preserving the rich, rustic flavours of India’s villages,” claimed the Delhi entrepreneur.

In 2021, Champaran Meat Co. was introduced with a full-fledged state-of-the-art kitchen in Gurgaon.

“Our signature dishes, like Champaran Handi Mutton and biriyani, are prepared using age-old techniques such as handi cooking to maintain authenticity and taste,” Gaon-founder Alok Ranjan told Startup Pedia.

In 2022, Gaon expanded further in Noida with strong revenue growth. 

Gaon shuts down

Currently, also serving as Associate Director at Pine Labs, the Gaon founder faced a major challenge when their signature outlet in Saket was sealed by the government. 

Starting with a small café in Saket, Gaon expanded to three locations before facing a significant setback when their flagship store was sealed due to regulatory issues, leading to financial strains and a debt of over ₹1 Crore.

The subsequent COVID-19 pandemic only worsened things, pushing Alok into depression.

However, he could not give up as his brothers and full family urged him to persevere. 

“We were planning for two new outlets, and at the time, our main outlet got closed,” recalled Alok. “It was a tough deal for us as opening a restaurant involves a good deal of time and money. And at that time, if your already existing one gets shut down, it sort of burdens you.”

He explained that a lot of money is invested in creating the aesthetics of any themed restaurant, which is non-recoverable if it closes. 

“We restarted it and took it to a point of Rs. 2 crore revenue till March 2020 when COVID-19 happened,” Alok shared in the interview. “At the time, we had two big outlets at Malviya Nagar and Lajpat Nagar which were running smoothing. However, with the break of the pandemic, it was difficult to maintain the business, and we had to shut them down.”

The Delhi-based foodtech startup founder was continuing to work at companies while building Gaon. He had been working on and off while on his entrepreneurial journey to support himself.

Rebirth of the brand ‘Gaon’

He worked as the Business Head at HungerBox and ShaadiSaga, Ex-City Head for Delhi/NCR & North at HungerBox, Head of Strategic Alliances & New Business with NDTV, and Manager of Key Accounts & Strategic Alliances at Paytm and Little App.

“You think caste is dead?” asked Alok. “Try raising funds without an IIT or IIM tag. The investor ecosystem might wear a progressive mask, but underneath? It’s hollow,” he opened up to Startup Pedia.

The foodtech founder shared from the scars of experience.

“There’s a silent caste system no one talks about —The IITians, BITSians, IIM grads — are the Brahmins of startup India. Pedigree is the new currency. Image is the new god,” claimed the Gaon founder.

According to the startup founder, someone who comes from a small-town middle-class background, with no Ivy League degree, no legacy network, and no ‘founder English’ accent, the journey was never about just building a product—it was about fighting perception.

“I was doing a job simultaneously while building Gaon,” the startup founder disclosed to Startup Pedia. “So, when it got closed in the pandemic, I paid back as much debt as I could immediately. And the remaining I could clear through my salary.”

Though the pandemic closed Gaon, still, customers would occasionally call Alok and laud the authentic food that was served in its outlets. They even suggested starting Gaon in a cloud kitchen model as the food prepared by the brand was authentic and delicious.

“I was motivated every time I received such calls,” the food entrepreneur recalled. “Our workers were also unemployed. I felt bad. We wanted to start the business again.”

Gaon was relaunched towards the end of 2020.

“It was a rebirth of our brand,” Alok Ranjan told Startup Pedia. “But this time we wanted to start it as a cloud kitchen company for multi-brand concepts.”

The food tech entrepreneur launched Champaran Meat Co. along with Gaon this time, which was earlier its subbrand. It specialises in slow-cooked handi meats, bringing Bihar’s legendary Champaran Mutton to meat lovers.

Pitching at Shark Tank India 

“We approached several investors at the time but were rejected as not many found that Bihari food could make a promising business,” he said. “At that time, Shark Tank India had just arrived and attained a lot of craze! So, we thought there would be no bigger platform than it.”

However, Gaon did not receive much attention when the founder tried to pitch on Shark Tank India for the first time. After attempting for the first few seasons, he made his first entry on the platform in season 4. At that time, Gaon had restarted along with Champaran Meat Co.

 Sealing deals from Anupam Mittal & Vineeta Singh

“We had also launched two other brands at the time - Tirhut and Dumara Biryani, but those were not live,” the Shark Tank India pitcher shared with Startup Pedia. “The idea was that as I was appearing on Shark Tank, I would announce these two new brands on National television.

In 2025, Gaon was not only featured on Shark Tank India season 4, but the founder successfully secured investments from Anupam Mittal and Vineeta Singh.  

“Our next target is to make our snack Litti as the next samosa!” the Delhi entrepreneur exclaimed to Startup Pedia.

Litti is a high-protein, fibre-rich, slow-digesting snack, much healthier than fried options. Gaon has brought the bite-sized snack in some delicious flavours such as Chicken Litti, Cheese Litti, Litti Chaat, Sweet Litti, Bun Chokha & more.

 Goals ahead

The founder revealed exclusively to Startup Pedia that they are aiming to start 203 outlets in the next five years. 

“We are targeting Rs. 70 crore revenue in the next two years and Rs. 250 crore revenue in the next five years,” the food startup founder first told Startup Pedia. “For this, we have received Rs. 1 crore investment from Shark Tank India, and now planning for a Rs 10 crore round from other investors.”

From making Litti the next samosa of the country and the Champaran biriyani the most loved one, Gaon founder Alok Ranjan opened up about scaling the food business to over 20 crore in revenue with five outlets in NCR and over 400,000 orders. 

Brand USP, investments & turnover

“We are the first company to use technology in Indian food so that consumers around the country can savour delicious authentic food,” the startup founder claimed.

A 40-worker food company, Gaon wants to be the brand that brings unheard-of, untouched rural foods to all parts of India. 

Initially, Alok invested around Rs. 15 Lakhs from family money. Till now, he has invested about Rs. 2 crore.

“Our business got closed and was restarted; we had to take several loans on the way to sustain it,” the startup founder admitted.

Annual turnover was Rs. 6 crore for the last financial year.

Work model

It wants to either function as a cloud kitchen model or kiosks. Gaon also opts to provide corporate catering in a B2B way. It also wants to operate by selling food products and making them available to a wide market base.

Alok Ranjan shared the tough competition to survive in the kitchen space with Swiggy and Zomato.

“So, we are moving towards a micro-running kiosk model,” he shared. “From a big kitchen, Gaon will have a store experience through a kiosk in a prime location. We want Gaon to have a similar feature, just like it started.”

 Also read: Bengaluru startup helping urban households manage wet waste by merging deep tech with eco-conscious design (startuppedia.in)