Startup Mantra: Why an engineer chose millet over a cushy job

Ajay Kangralkar shifted from construction to launching SkyRoots in 2019, creating affordable, healthy millet-based snacks and expanding distribution across India and beyond.

Ajay Kangralkar had just finished his Bachelor of Engineering in construction when the World Trade Centre crisis hit the USA in 2001. As the construction industry was badly hit due to the recession, he took up a job with Cadburys in sales and marketing. In 2003, he joined a construction company in Mumbai but was restless to work by himself rather than under someone. So, he quit to become a construction contractor and a project management consultant (PMC).

Having noticed the lack of healthy options in the ready-to-eat category, Ajay was clear that he will not make any fried stuff but only baked snacks which will also be tasty. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

Interest for agri rekindled

But, life took a different turn in 2016, when his father-in-law, a Krushi Bhushan awardee, passed away. His father-in-law had exposed him to agriculture. “When he passed away, I started thinking more deeply about agriculture,” he said. “I did some research on crops and millets piqued my interest.” He found out that most of the healthy snack products are priced high and are out of reach for the masses and retailers reserve shelf space for big brands only.

Price sensitivity plus shelf access are the two biggest hurdles. Additionally, more than 80% of snacks in the market are fried and consumers seeking healthier options struggle to find alternatives. “So I thought, why not create widely acceptable, affordable, millet-based snacks that are baked, and use India’s traditional gluten-free millets like jowar, bajra and ragi?”

Launch of SkyRoots

So in 2019, he launched his startup company, SkyRoots. “We did market studies, spoke to retailers and consumers, and found out that the ready-to-eat category was a fast-selling one. I hired a food technologist and R&D person and began creating ready-to-eat food,” he said.

Having noticed the lack of healthy options in the ready-to-eat category, Ajay was clear that he will not make any fried stuff but only baked snacks which will also be tasty. But, it was not easy to enter a market that had long been dominated by traditional cereals like rice and wheat. But, that did not deter him, and along with his co-founders, his wife Anagha Kangralkar, and Jayashri Chaudhari, he started bringing value-added millet foods from the farm to the table.

First product launched

Ajay had realised early on that getting into manufacturing would not be that simple. So he decided to outsource to contract manufacturers. The contract manufacturer he finally chose was an agriculturist from Nagar who was well versed with production and quality control.

SkyRoots’ first product to hit retail stores in Pune and Mumbai was millet flakes. After the flakes came a jowari-and-ragi idli mix. A millet bar was ready to be added to the product basket when Covid-19 showed up and locked everything down.

“That period was really bad. We had just entered the market and distributors were shutting down,” said Ajay. “The silver lining was, the pandemic and lockdowns made people more conscious of eating healthy. So, we started working on adding new products.”

Starts distribution channel

However, Ajay soon found out that distributors had their own ways of operating. They would push the established products that were in high demand and keep lesser-known ones as standby. Hence, he decided to build his own distribution channel. He started with Pune, then Mumbai, setting up warehouses and distribution channels.

Ajay said, “Post-Covid we saw a clear shift to healthier eating across all age groups. Corporates and institutions started adopting healthier options in canteens and their vending machines. And millets are naturally gluten-free and have clear nutritional advantages.” In addition, government programmes like the International Year of Millets (2023) increased visibility and institutional support for millets. The result was, SkyRoots kept adding corporate houses and institutions to its sales basket.

Raising investments

When he started, Ajay invested ₹45 lakh of his savings. Over time, as the business has grown in numbers, products, and reach, the need for more investments is also on the rise. “Until now, we have invested ₹7 crore in the business. This is debt money raised from family and friends.”

However, he is firmly against sleeping partners. “If we do raise money against equity, then it will be from a source that will contribute to our work - bring value-added money,” he said. “We may raise ₹15 crore to scale operations and marketing over the next 18-24 months.” This will be used for expansions, brand building, digital marketing, creating new product blends (millet + oats/legumes), etc.

Though SkyRoots has not broken even yet, Ajay is optimistic. “We are growing steadily but surely. In two years’ time, we will be there,” he said with confidence.

Market Pressures

With a product basket of 40 items now, SkyRoots’ products now adorn the shelves of retail stores along with big brands. “We are in 7,000 stores and 30 cities in India and eight more countries, including USA, GCC, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand,” he said. “By positioning SkyRoots as a millet specialist (authenticity + traceability) and focusing on institutional channels (corporates, hospitals, canteens) where healthy demand is stronger, we can give big brands stiff competition.”

Looking ahead

Ajay further informed that SkyRoots will see further new product development as “we are looking at blends (millet with oats/barley/legumes), diabetic-friendly lines, school-feeding-friendly packs and sports nutrition lines. He said that by reducing cost, he wants to widen distribution to more tier 2 and tier 3 cities and deepen institutional placements. “We are also actively seeking public-private partnerships and will participate in government procurement/institutional tenders to expand stable demand,” he added.