In 2012, Nitin Saluja and Raghav Verma founded Chaayos to turn India’s beloved chai into a modern café experience. At a time when coffee chains were booming, tea lounges were rare. Chaayos changed that by offering 80,000+ chai customisations with bun maska, parathas, and snacks in compact, high-footfall outlets.

Over a decade later, Chaayos has grown into a $94.3 Mn-funded brand with nearly 200 cafés across India. Its secret? Focusing on customer experience rather than expensive ads. In 2024, Chaayos stopped all performance marketing, cutting ad spend to zero. Instead, it doubled down on store design, comfort, service, and personalised automation.

From ceramic cups that customers want to take home, to AI-powered menu personalisation and IoT-driven “Chai Monks” brewing consistent cups, every detail is designed to win loyalty. Social media and word-of-mouth became the real growth engines.

Today, Chaayos is not just selling tea, it’s selling the feeling of relaxation with chai. With its “Chai + Snacks = Relax” philosophy, it has built a community-driven, tech-powered brand that continues to expand nationwide.