SMU post-graduate alumnus Kausshal Dugarr, founder of Teabox, sells a wide variety of Indian and Nepali teas in 113 countries. Founded in 2012, Teabox has raised around $13 million in equity funding, mostly from Accel Partners, and counts Ratan Tata among its investors. Exports account for more than 80% of its business. But Teabox wants to change that by introducing Indians to different kinds of black, white and green teas, while at the same time giving them enough chai options to choose from. Single-estate and single-region teas from India are hardly a new phenomenon, but they were mostly exported.
He explained that tea is very much like wine: each estate has its own speciality. A customer in New York or London should know where their tea is coming from and its legacy, said Mr Dugarr who grew up in Darjeeling in a family that supplied machinery to tea gardens.
Economic Times Online (Feb 3)
Economic Times Online (Feb 3)