VS Mani & Co.
Chennai, IN · 20 employees on LinkedIn · 11 known investors
VS Mani & Co. is a food brand offering traditional South Indian snacks and delicacies inspired by family recipes from Madras (Chennai). It sells wholesome packaged food products to consumers.
Also known as VS Mani & Co. · VS Mani and Co
Founders & leadership
Investors · 11
Also in the syndicate · 9
Company profile
researched Aug 2026VS Mani & Co. is an Indian packaged food and beverage company that sells South Indian filter coffee and traditional regional snacks. Its catalogue includes liquid "Easy Filter Coffee" decoction in single-serve sachets, filter coffee powders (including a 20% chicory blend), instant coffee, and snack items such as potato hot chips in salt and chilli variants, banana chips, Madras mixture, khara boondi, murukku, peanut chikki and idli molaga podi (gunpowder), alongside accessories such as brass dawara tumblers and bulk gifting options.
The company was founded in 2020 by GD Prasad, together with Yashas Alur and Rahul Bajaj, all three former advertising executives. It is headquartered in Bengaluru, with the founder originating from Chennai. Product positioning centres on ready-to-use coffee decoction aimed at time-constrained consumers aged roughly 27 to 40, while coffee powders target consumers aged 40 and above. In June 2024, music composer Anirudh Ravichander joined as co-founder and brand ambassador with an undisclosed equity stake.
Founding story
The brand traces its origin to founder GD Prasad's childhood in a household in Madras (Chennai), where he lived with his parents and his grandparents, referred to as VS Thatha and Rajam Paati. The company's account describes a home in which food and snacks were a central expression of hospitality and family life, and presents the brand as an attempt to recreate that domestic warmth through packaged delicacies.
Business model
Consumer packaged goods: the company manufactures and sells branded South Indian coffee and snack products, initially direct-to-consumer through its own online store and subsequently through online marketplaces and quick-commerce platforms as well as offline retail distribution.
Revenue comes from sales of packaged coffee products, snacks and related accessories at per-pack retail prices (for example, a 35-sachet single-serve filter coffee pack at Rs. 599 and multi-packs of snacks between roughly Rs. 170 and Rs. 380), sold via its own e-commerce site, marketplaces and retail stores, with a bulk gifting channel.
Traction
The company described its business as already profitable and online-first at the time of the 2022 angel round, with customers acquired profitably and healthy repeat rates. By June 2024 it reported $1.5 million raised in total, roughly 1,000 retail stores in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, and 60% of sales from online channels. The company's website cites over 350,000 customers.
Latest developments
In June 2024 the company added music composer Anirudh Ravichander as co-founder and brand ambassador with an undisclosed equity stake, disclosed cumulative funding of $1.5 million including a pre-Series A round led by Kettleborough VC with LetsVenture, Hyderabad Angels and Supermorpheus, and outlined plans to strengthen its presence in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu before broader national expansion.
▸Full profile — market position, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
Positions itself as a specialty South Indian packaged foods and beverages player aiming to become a pan-India, "national South Indian brand," with the stated ambition of being "the Haldiram's of South Indian coffee and snacks." Investors cited the absence of established national players in the specialty South Indian foods segment.
Combines a family-heritage brand narrative rooted in a Madras household with ready-to-consume formats such as liquid filter coffee decoction in single-serve sachets, addressing consumers who do not brew traditional filter coffee.
Go-to-market
Digital-first: as of June 2024 about 60% of sales came from online channels including Amazon, Zepto and Blinkit, with the remainder from brick-and-mortar retail. In April 2022 nearly 90% of sales came from platform channels. The company has been expanding into offline retail (around 1,000 stores in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka) and planned kiosks and a larger retail sales team, and uses celebrity association — co-founder and brand ambassador Anirudh Ravichander — for social media and concert-based promotion.
Retail consumers of South Indian coffee and snacks in India and, per stated plans, the Indian diaspora abroad. Ready-made decoction products are aimed at consumers aged approximately 27 to 40 who lack time to brew, while coffee powders target consumers aged 40 and above.
Geography
Headquartered in Bengaluru, with founder roots and brand story tied to Chennai. Retail distribution concentrated in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, with stated plans to expand to other parts of India and to overseas markets with a South Indian diaspora.
History
Founded in 2020 during the pandemic by GD Prasad, Yashas Alur and Rahul Bajaj. In April 2022 the company announced a $370,000 angel round to move its online-first business into additional channels and add South Indian snacks to the range. A pre-Series A round led by Kettleborough VC followed, bringing cumulative disclosed funding to $1.5 million as of June 2024. Also in June 2024, composer Anirudh Ravichander joined as co-founder and brand ambassador, and the company reported reaching about 1,000 retail stores in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 3
launches, deals, and filingsAnirudh Ravichander joined the company as co-founder and brand ambassador with an undisclosed equity stake, promoting the brand via advertising campaigns, social media and music concerts, with a focus on younger consumers in South India.
The digital-first brand expanded offline into roughly 1,000 retail stores across Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, with plans for kiosks and a larger retail sales team.
Announced an angel funding round of $370,000 from investors including Haresh Chawla (True North), Anupam Mittal (People Group), Ashish Hemrajani (BookMyShow), Sidharth Rao (DentsuMB), Rajan Navani (JetSynthesys), actor-producer Rana Daggubati and Sattva Group's family office. Proceeds were earmarked for taking the online-first business into additional channels and extending the product line into South Indian snacks.
$370K source ↗
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- VS Mani & Co.vsmani.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does VS Mani & Co. do?
- Indian FMCG brand selling South Indian filter coffee, decoction and packaged regional snacks online and through retail.
- Who founded VS Mani & Co.?
- VS Mani & Co. was founded by Rahul Bajaj.
- Who are VS Mani & Co.'s investors?
- VS Mani & Co.'s investors include Hyderabad Angels, Supermorpheus.
- Where is VS Mani & Co. headquartered?
- VS Mani & Co. is headquartered in Chennai, IN.