Entrepreneur India – July 2019

W

hen Karan
Shah got
back from
his university, he was
asked to intern with the
parent company, Amar
Tea, to understand his
calling. “While others
simply ‘serviced’ the
market, our sales
people genuinely
believed in striking a
personal chord. It was
a tipping point for me,
as I saw the belief in the
brand first-hand,” says
Shah.
Considering the
legacy the brand holds,
running the show for
Society isn’t everyone’s
cup of tea. Talking on
behalf of his brothers,
he shares, “We were
blessed with a ready
platform but we were
left with a big reminder
to keep a constant
subconscious check if

were being worthy of

the shoes to fill. I still

worry that I don’t live

up to the mental image

I have of me 10 years

from now.” His father,

Atul Shah, sees a lot of

himself in his son.

“We are very much

alike and yet very

different. He has the

wisdom to give me the

space that I desire for

me to connect with

today’s customers and

their aspirations. And

I know that he is there

to guide me whenever

I need an expert’s

viewpoint,” says the

younger Shah.

The 34-year old

entrepreneur believes

in marrying the

family’s core values

of trust and quality

with modernism and

ambition in taking the

company forward. The

company is looking at

exploring the food and

beverage space.

“Chutneys and

pickles being our

latest offering under

the brand name,

‘Spice Secrets’,

some other new

conversations around

brand extensions have

commenced as well.

We are also looking

at the dairy segment

keenly. The plan is

to play a key part in

the journey towards

making it a truly global

company and brand

while staying true to

our core values,”

says Shah.

THE TEA CONNOISSEUR

KARAN SHAH, Director, Society Tea

NEXT-GEN MONEY

MANAGER

KRISHNA CHOKHANI,

Director, Chokhani Group

T

he gen-next of Chokhani Group

isn’t the next ‘lala’ on the block

dealing in securities. Krishna

Chokhani would like to be called a tech

enthusiast with key interest in futurist

AI, robotics, blockchain, agri-tech

and smart cities. He is taking ahead a

40-year-old legacy which deals with

the wealth of some of the wealthiest

families in India. The family office is into

financing activities and management

of family treasury via 2 NBFCs that deal

with debt financing, equity financing,

LAS (Loan Against Shares) and RE

funding among others.

What Chokhani brings on the table

is new-age thinking and interest in

start-ups; a bend that led him to start

Zone Startups India Fund, which is a

15-million fund backed by Toronto-

based Ryerson Futures, the technology

accelerator and investment arm of

Ryerson University, and the Chokhani

family office. The fund allocates seed

fund to early stage start-ups within the

ticket size of $50,000-$750,000 for

strategic seed funding.

Chokhani Group has presence in over

10 countries and is Indian partners to

the Indo-Canadian Fund house along

with Zone Startups India Fund.

Chokhani’s

journey started 11

years ago when

a friend of his

father encouraged

him to start

looking towards

technology. He

believes the new

generation will give

a new platform

to technology

to grow faster

not only with

their money but

also with their

networks.

TECH CHECK

“I have seen family

businesses feeling

redundant because of

the lack of knowledge

and expertise as well

as old mindset of the

veteran generation.

The new generation is

willing to take risks as

we like to explore new

arenas. It is good to be

backed by our family

because there is still

some runway that we

can use or burn in order

to multiply traditional

wealth.”

‘MAHA’ SHARES

Today, Society Tea is one

of the top players in the tea

category in Maharashtra,

with around 40 per cent

market share of packaged

tea in the state.