Rs 5,000 investment, Rs 1.4 crore annual revenue. How Mumbai homemaker turned her passion- making Maharashtrian snacks – into a flourishing brand with 70% female employees

The best way to be rich or have a successful business? Do what you have a knack/talent for. That’s what Geeta Patil did. In 2016, when her husband lost his job, the Mumbai-based homemaker turned her lifelong passion – making food – into a business that generated crores. According to Bigas Solutions, Geeta began her business of selling homemade snacks with just Rs 5,000. She offered traditional Maharashtrian fare – such as modak, puran poli, and chivda. By 2023, her home catering shop has blossomed into a snack brand worth Rs 4 crore.

As per Curly Tales, Geeta was inspired by her mother, Kamlabai Nivugale, who ran a tiffin service when she was a kid. She was her Aai's helper, helping her stir the pot and pack tiffins.

From 2016 to 2020, the business operated out of Geeta’s home kitchen without a formal brand identity. Although growth was initially slow, she remained optimistic about its prospects.


During the early years, she supplied breakfast items and evening snacks to employees of the BMC in Prabhat Colony. Seeing an opportunity to scale the venture, her son, Vinit, and his friend, Darshil Savla, both college dropouts with IT backgrounds, joined the business in 2020. The duo built a website to facilitate online orders, helping the homegrown venture reach customers beyond its immediate neighbourhood.

According to The Better India, Vinit worked tirelessly to increase revenue from Rs 12 lakh to Rs 1.4 crore. The best-selling snacks are the modaks, puranpoli and chakli; however, other treats such as puranpoli and chakli are also high in demand.

“We have taken up a 1,200 sqft space in Santacruz, where we operate from. We also have 25 other women who work with us at the workshop. Ably led by Aai and Dhanashree Kaki, who joined the business in 2018, ‘Patil Kaki’ is now doing very well. What’s truly satisfying is that we have been able to employ so many women to work with us. About 70 per cent of our workforce consists of women who are working for the very first time,” he told The Better India.

Patil Kaki brand received national recognition when, in 2023, Shark Tank India judges Anuam Mittal and Peyush Bansal invested Rs 40 lakh for 4% equity.

According to Tracxn reports, Patil Kaki’s current valuation is about Rs 11 crore.