Ajay Gowda, the managing partner of BYG Ventures, at the new Jollygunj in Bengaluru. Ajay Gowda, the managing partner of BYG Ventures has a very busy 2025 ahead of him. He sat down for an exclusive interview with Sourceat his newest opening the massive Jollygunj in JP Nagar, Bengaluru to discuss his company’s ambitious expansion plans. The third brand in the company’s collection, it was just the start of a growth period which is expected to more than double the number of restaurants and brands by the end of 2025, Gowda hinted. Gowda’s entry into the F&B space began back in 1999 when he launched his first pub called Styx. Now in his 25th year in the business, the plan was to expand not only the number of brands from the current three—Byg Brewski; Bob’s Bar; and most recently, Jollygunj—to four more brands and the number of outlets from the current eight to eighteen, he said. “Alongside the launch of this branch of Jollygunj, we are working on two more outlets—one outlet has already completed the design stage and the other is part of a collection of bars, where Jollygunj is our centrepiece,” Gowda said beginning with plans for their newest brand, which he says is his favourite for first the large Bengaluru market which has a great appetite and ultimately pan India. “Currently we have three brands but we are coming out with four more brands. The first one will launch in about four months and will have a Bengaluru bar theme. Next, we have curated a beautiful bar for the Gen Z—we can call it a product for 21-30 year olds, which we can expect five months from now,” Gowda said about his expansion plans. “We are also developing a brand of ultra premium bars—small intimate spaces—and finally a brand which will be a first for us: a food-led bar,” he said about what was in store for customers from BYG Ventures. The pace of expansion was also going to be frenetic, even though Gowda confessed that launching an outlet, much less a new brand, took a lot out of his team and they had also been strengthening their development team in anticipation for what lies ahead. “By the first week of February we will have two more Jollyganjs as well as one more Bob’s Bar,” he said adding, “We will open one more BYG Brewski as well, and if more real estate is available, we will try and open another one”.His current turnover of around INR 200 crores would also see an increase and the aim was to be near INR 500 crores by FY 25-26, he added. Also on the cards for his company was a venture in which they were planning to enter liquor retail. “The idea is to be truly experiential and explorative. Something that Bengaluru has not seen as yet, where we will be very careful in curating the right products and give customers somewhere they can spend a couple of hours at,” he said, adding that they had already identified real estate for the outlet and were in talks.
Published On Dec 16, 2024 at 10:00 AM IST
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