By Amit Vijay Mohile, Contributing Editor, Travelbizmonitor.com, hospitalitybizindia.com
In India’s vibrant cities, a shift in beer consumption is underway, fueled by an adventurous urban Generation Z and a surge of investment in the craft beer and microbrewery sector. With over INR 350 crore in recent VC and PE funding, microbreweries and artisanal brands are scaling fast. Despite regulatory hurdles, investors are betting big on India’s growing thirst for small-batch, flavorful, homegrown beers.
The Money Trail: VCs Catch the Craft Wave
What began as a niche pursuit is now a full-blown industry trend. India is currently home to over 300 microbreweries, with Karnataka, Maharashtra, Haryana, and Telangana leading the way. The sector, which saw early traction pre-pandemic, has bounced back with renewed vigor—fuelled by a rising urban middle class, travel-exposed millennials, and changing preferences towards quality and variety over quantity.
Venture capital firms, family offices, and consumer-focused funds like Fireside Ventures, Anicut Capital, and Alteria Capital are increasingly targeting startups in this space. Anicut, for example, plans to invest up to ₹30–40 crore in premium beverage brands, including craft beer, by FY26.
“Beer is now part of the lifestyle fabric,” a leading consumergoods investor at Axis Growth Partners. “Young drinkers want more than alcohol—they want story, community, and flavor innovation.”
New-Age Brews for a New-Age Consumer
This has opened the taps for a slew of new entrants catering to local tastes with bold branding and regional ingredients. Goa-based SuseGado serves mango and kokum-infused ales. Kadak, launched in Pune, offers hazy IPAs and bold stouts named after Indian idioms. Simba, which began in Chhattisgarh, has built a pan-India fan base with its wheat and jungle-themed beer variants.
VCs are sharp to note that many of Indias bustling cities like Gurugram, Hyderabad, Pune, Bengaluru are giving birth to a quiet revolution of fizzing to life both craft and specialty experimenting with local ingredients like mango, pepper, and chai, while also producing classic styles like pilsners and wheat beers.
From Bengaluru and Pune to Mumbai and Gurgaon, a new generation of breweries is redefining how Indians experience beer—introducing small-batch brews, artisanal taprooms, and regionally inspired flavors. The rise of this “hoppy counterculture” is no longer just a lifestyle trend; it’s rapidly becoming one of the fastest-growing segments in India’s wider alcoholic beverage market.
“Consumers today are far more aware of what they’re drinking. They’re asking about hops, ABV, and where the grains are sourced from,” says Apoorv Sharma, co-founder of Gurgaon-based craft brewery BrewBloc. “It’s a cultural shift—and we’re only at the beginning.”
Some popular Indian microbreweries include Toit, Bira91, and Bombay Duck are driving a transformation change by an increasingly experimental, urban Gen Z population and a wave of capital pouring into the country’s burgeoning craft beer and microbrewery ecosystem.
While licensing hurdles and state-by-state excise policies continue to limit scale, newer models—like cloud taprooms, brewpub franchises, and outsourced brewing infrastructure—are helping newer entrants go to market faster.
The Investor Playbook: From Microbrew to Macro Bets
Bengaluru-based The Brew Project, for instance, now sells its SKUs across over 200 retail stores and bars through a third-party brewing tie-up, and is closing a INR 15 crore seed round from a syndicate led by Lets Venture.
What’s more, over 64% of urban Gen Z beer consumers are opting for premium or flavored beers over traditional lagers, according to a 2024 NielsenIQ study. That statistic alone is reshaping the economics of beer in India, where volume consumption had long been the industry’s primary KPI.
Not Just a Pint — A Platform
Bira 91, the segment’s biggest breakout brand, closed a USD 25 million Series D in late 2024 led by Belgium-based Sofina and Sixth Sense Ventures, bringing its total raised to over USD 200 million.
Mumbai-based White Owl raised INR 70 crore (USD 8.4 million) from IIFL AMC to scale its distribution and expand into Tier-1 retail stores.
Simba, which started as a regional player, has raised over INR 90 crore in cumulative rounds backed by Jungle Ventures and several family offices.
Meanwhile, microbrewery chains such as Gateway Brewing, Arbor Brewing Co., and Great State Aleworks are exploring franchise expansion, off-site production tie-ups, and direct-to-consumer (D2C) packaging to enter organized retail. Bengaluru’s The Brew Project—a one-location microbrewery—is now stocked in over 200 bars and gourmet outlets after raising INR 15 crore in a seed round earlier this year.
“We’ve moved from brewers being passion projects to real investment-grade businesses,” says Anirban Gupta of Elevate Capital. “Asset-light models, high margins, and rising loyalty make them attractive even for conservative funds.”
Funds like Anicut Capital, Fireside Ventures, and Alteria Capital are all reportedly scouting India’s premium alcohol and beverage space, with some carving out INR 30–40 crore tranches earmarked for craft labels.
Despite licensing hurdles and varying state excise policies, innovative models such as cloud taprooms and brewpub franchises are allowing new players to enter the market quickly. Bengaluru-based The Brew Project exemplifies this trend, selling its products through over 200 retail locations and securing a INR 15 crore seed round led by LetsVenture.
Notably, a 2024 NielsenIQ study indicates that over 64% of urban Gen Z beer consumers prefer premium or flavored beers over traditional lagers, reshaping the economics of the Indian beer industry.
According to market research firm Technopak, India’s craft beer industry was valued at INR 550 crore (USD 66 million) in 2024 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 20% through 2030, fueled largely by premiumization, experiential consumption, and a surge in brand-first beverage startups.
Foam Over Friction: The Regulatory Speed Bumps
Yet, for all the froth, scaling remains a tough pour. India’s fragmented excise laws mean alcohol policy—and licensing—is state-controlled, often requiring different permissions for brewing, serving, and retailing. In many states, microbreweries still cannot bottle or distribute outside their premises.
“Craft breweries are playing on an uneven field,” says Arjun Bhasin, founder of IndieBrew Collective, which incubates early-stage brewers. “Licensing is opaque, and taxes make local scale prohibitively expensive in some cities.”
Innovative workarounds are emerging. Some brewers are turning to cloud taprooms—collaborating with licensed bars to serve their beers without running their own outlets. Others are investing in outsourced production units to scale up for retail.
What’s Next: A Frothy Future, The Outlook ranges from:High Spirits, Low Saturation
Despite policy snags, state governments like Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Haryana have begun to revise their brewery policies to attract investments and encourage craft entrepreneurship.
India’s craft beer currently accounts for less than 2% of overall beer sales, compared to 15–30% in the U.S. and Europe. But brewers and backers alike believe that’s exactly where the upside lies.
“The potential is enormous because we’re starting from such a low base,” says Apoorv Sharma, co-founder of BrewBloc in Gurgaon. “And with Gen Z driving consumption, the next decade will belong to brands that can scale without compromising on craft.”
In a country where over 50% of the population is under 30, and with rising disposable incomes and evolving taste palates, India’s beer story is aging like, well, a fine barrel-aged stout.
And for a growing tribe of investors, this once-niche segment might just be the most intoxicating bet on India’s new consumer class.
