From defying market conventions to introducing cold brews in a country dominated by tea and instant coffee, here’s how Sleepy Owl concocted a charismatic entrepreneurial blend

Coffee wakes you up, but for Arman Sood, Ajai Thandi, and Ashwajeet Singh, it became the reason they dreamt. The co-founders of India’s biggest direct-to-commerce (D2C) coffee brand, Sleepy Owl, did not always dream of building a coffee empire but always had entrepreneurial seeds in them. While pursuing law, the hostel roommates, Sood and Singh decided to sow their entrepreneurial seeds and start an e-commerce venture called E-Shack to sell party accessories. However, within a year, both the venture and their law degrees came to an end, and both of them went onto their own paths. Their journey did not end there; it was just beginning.

In 2015, Ashwajeet quit his first job within three months to couchsurf with Arman, who was working in Mumbai at the time. The deal was that if the duo came up with a business idea, Arman would quit his job. It was around this time that Ajai too made up his mind to leave his lucrative career in New York, and return to India.

As the saying goes: Coffee helps bring people together, likewise while working on multiple business ideas, they realised their mutual love for coffee. When the trio couldn’t find a cup they loved, they started brewing their own. This marked the launch of Sleepy Owl Coffee in 2016.


With Thandi’s awareness of the coffee trends in the US, and Singh’s passion for experimenting with coffee, they identified a gap in the Indian market — the dearth of cold brew. Hence, Sleepy Owl Coffee became the first brand to introduce India to the concept of cold brew coffee, and has been a proud pioneer in this space.

But have you ever wondered how the name Sleepy Owl came about? Ashwajeet says that if it wasn’t for Arman’s strict deadline and initial name suggestion ‘Red Cherry Coffee’ (which he absolutely hated) he wouldn’t have had the epiphany which led to the brand’s oxymoronic name while on a local train travelling from Andheri to Churchgate.

Defying young, dumb and broke
Today, the brand stands strong after seven years, with a diverse product portfolio that includes Cold Brew Packs, Hot Brew Bags, Premium Instant Coffee, Ready-To-Drink Cold Brew Bottles, Cold Coffee Cans, Ground Coffee, and a range of merchandise. Sleepy Owl’s signature chocolatey and nutty flavour comes from single-origin, Grade-A plantation Arabica beans grown at 5300 ft in Chikmagalur, Karnataka — some of the best there is around the world. All of Sleepy Owl’s products are made with real ingredients and do not use any preservatives or artificial flavours. No exceptions. Ever.

At seven years, Sleepy Owl Coffee feels both young and experienced simultaneously. From taking the road less travelled by launching a cold brew, a product with no demand seven years ago, to establishing it as one of the brand’s most sought-after products, the founders of SleepyOwl embarked on a creative entrepreneurial journey, emerging as top entrepreneurs in the country, featured in Forbes ‘30 Under 30’.

Currently, Sleepy Owl is present in 7500+ general and modern trade stores across 15+ cities of India such as Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Indore, Bhopal, Chandigarh, and Jammu, among others. The brand has catered to over 2,50,000 customers through its website alone. Additionally, the brand also ships its products throughout India via its website, www.sleepyowl.co, and through online marketplaces like Amazon India, Flipkart, and BigBasket, etc.

The long road to success
Though Sleepy Owl coffee is currently brewing success and great coffee, they did not start with a big investment or scale. On the contrary, their first product, the Brew Box, was conceived in a two-bedroom apartment in Dwarka, Delhi on a limited budget. It took about six months of experimenting with different beans and processes to get the right concoction. The experimental nature of their products posed a significant challenge.

In a country where tea drinkers and instant coffee dominate, retailers were initially sceptical about stocking this ingenious product. However, the determined founders viewed this challenge as an opportunity for growth, and as Ajai puts it, they “went against market theory, which states that FMCG products should be made for retail only, and went online.". Their gamble on premium products paid off, and within six months, Sleepy Owl was available in stores.

However, there was a catch Despite high demand, the Brew Box could not be shipped outside Delhi due to its weight and limited shelf life of just one month. To cater to a broader audience, the trio introduced their now-signature Cold and Hot Brew Bags. These cult favourites also secured $500,000 in funding from a company supported by DSG Consumer Partners, allowing them to expand to Chandigarh, Jaipur, and Bengaluru.

As their online and in-store presence grew, so did their dreams By March 2020, they had expanded their reach to over 1,000 general and modern retail outlets across Delhi-NCR, and Mumbai, and with investor backup, this homegrown startup became a household name.

However, what came next was a wake-up call for Sleepy Owl. With a huge inventory and lockdown in place, the pandemic left the co-founders sleepless. Yet their self-determination and resilience allowed them to not only take on the challenge but emerge as a phoenix from it.

The future
While Sleepy Owl has rebranded itself and changed strategies over the past seven years, it has always stayed true to its ethos of delivering convenience to your doorstep. In addition to delivering “simply great coffee,” the company now offers great merchandise, including coffee (of course), stylish frothers, Newton’s least favourite-—the no-spill mug, and enamel mugs.

Starting with brewing one product in a two-bedroom apartment by three friends, today the brand boasts multiple product offerings spanning various price points and different formats. While Sleepy Owl has come a long way, it still has a long journey ahead. For the countless sleepless nights that will follow, the company has the perfect solution to stay up because of their latest launch—its strongest coffee offering ever, Xpresso!