Startup Profile

Chaayos

Legal entity: Sunshine Teahouse Private Limited

The Starbucks of chai

AgriTech & FoodSeries CE-commerce· Gurugram, Haryana· Est. 2012Website ↗
Chaayos is an Indian tea café chain founded in 2012 by IIT alumni Nitin Saluja and Raghav Verma. It operates over 200 customizable chai outlets across Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, positioning itself as a modern alternative to traditional tea stalls. The company achieved EBITDA profitability in FY24 with revenue of Rs 248.5 crore.
Funding raised
₹780.20 Cr
Total disclosed
Latest valuation
₹2075.00 Cr
Most recent round
Latest revenue
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Employees
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Founders

  • Nitin Saluja

    IIT Bombay graduate and co-founder of Chaayos. Worked at Opera Solutions before launching the tea café chain in 2012. Envisioned customizable chai as an alternative to traditional tea vendors.

  • Raghav Verma

    IIT Delhi graduate and co-founder of Chaayos. Left a high-paying consulting job at Opera Solutions to co-found the tea café chain alongside Nitin Saluja in 2012.

Funding rounds

  1. Series C2022-06-07₹373.50 CrLed by Alpha Wave Ventures
  2. Series B (Extended)2020-02-11₹178.35 CrLed by Think Investments
  3. Series B2018-09-06₹99.60 CrLed by SAIF Partners
  4. Rights Issue2017-10-01₹16.60 CrLed by Tiger Global Management
  5. Series A2015-05-19₹41.50 CrLed by Tiger Global Management
  6. Angel2014-12-01₹2.56 CrLed by Powai Lake Ventures
  7. Seed2014-03-01—

The full story

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Timeline

  1. 2024-03-31EBITDA profitability achieved — Chaayos achieves positive EBITDA of Rs 28.35 crore in FY24 while halving losses to Rs 54 crore.
  2. 2022-07-20200 stores milestone — Chaayos opens its 200th café in Bangalore, cementing its position as India's largest organized tea chain.
  3. 2020-02-11Series B funding completed — Chaayos raises $21.5 million ($18.5M equity + $3M debt) from Think Investments and partners, with 80 stores operational.
  4. 2015-05-19Series A funding from Tiger Global — Tiger Global Management invests $5 million in Series A, marking its first investment in a non-technology consumer startup in India.
  5. 2012-11-01First store opened — Chaayos opens its first café in Gurgaon, launching the customizable chai concept in India.

Data sources

  • seed-list↗ · last fetched 2026-05-28
  • Wikidata↗ · last fetched 2026-05-28
  • Inc42 - Series C funding details↗ · last fetched 2026-06-01
  • Entrackr - FY24 financial performance↗ · last fetched 2026-06-01
  • Inc42 - FY23 revenue↗ · last fetched 2026-06-01
  • Inc42 - Tiger Global Series A and follow-on funding↗ · last fetched 2026-06-01
  • BW Disrupt - September 2018 Series B↗ · last fetched 2026-06-01
  • Inc42 - February 2020 Series B extended round↗ · last fetched 2026-06-01
  • World Coffee Portal - 200 store milestone↗ · last fetched 2026-06-01
  • Startup Talky - Founding story↗ · last fetched 2026-06-01
  • Tracxn - Company profile and funding overview↗ · last fetched 2026-06-01
Updated 2026-06-01