Byg Ventures proposes INR 100 crore investment into two new restaurant brands in Bengaluru, ET HospitalityWorld

Although deviated and tried his luck in film making for a few years, Ajay Gowda, founder and promoter of brands such as Byg Brewski Brewing Company and Bob’s Bar, has been a consistent investor in Bengaluru’s F&B business since 2000 when he launched his first restaurant venture Styx on busy MG Road in the city. Gowda who currently runs seven restaurants in the city under two differentiated resto-bar brands – Byg Brewski and Bob’s Bar – is now working on two new concepts which he hopes to introduce into the city’s F&B scene in the next six months.

“At three places, the work is in progress and will be ready for operations approximately five to six months from now. Both the brands put together we are working on seven to eight projects,” he said. Gowda said that the company is looking at an investment of around INR 100 crore on these new projects which will be met through the cash flows from the current business and through debt from the banks.

He said that the cash flow of the company has been 15 to 20 percent over and above the target post-Covid and they also have strong and credible relationships with a couple of banking partners built over the last 25 years to support the proposed growth.

“We understand Bengaluru at the back of our hand,” Gowda said when asked about the confidence behind the new ventures. He said that the two new brands are designed to cater to the evolving needs of the consumers in the city.

Explaining further about the new brands, Gowda said that one would be a neighbourhood bar concept, a kind of “rest of India’s Bob’s Bar”. Named as ‘Jollygunj’, Gowda said that the new brand will celebrate the spirit of the City of Joy.

The second one, for which the branding is a work in progress, will be around the concept of a “levellers’ bar”. “We want everyone to come together irrespective of the social status or economic strata of the society in this concept,” he said.

Beyond these two new resto-bar concepts, Gowda said that they are also in the process of launching a smart casual-cum-quick food restaurant brand which would cater to the daily essential food category in the city to more health and nutrition conscious customers.

Talking about the trends and consumer behaviour in the city, he said that people are increasingly looking for places which have some vibe, character and spirit to interact with the community around them. When it comes to food, people are moving away from indulgent food to more nutritious and having health benefits. The new brands, he said, are designed to address these trends.

For someone who sees his business ventures as avenues for expressing his creativity, Gowda says that he has no plans to go “reckless” for the sake of valuation, but more interested to do the business at his own pace. “Hospitality is an art. One has to do it with a lot of responsibility. Consumers these days are unforgiving,” he says.