Byg Ventures’ big dreams: Inside Bob's Bar parent's audacious plans and IPO vision

On a Friday afternoon, at 3 PM, I reach Indiranagar 100ft Road to meet the man behind the popular Bob’s Bar—Ajay Gowda, Partner at Byg Ventures. While other bars in the street were preparing for a busy Friday evening, the ground floor at Bob’s Bar was already jampacked. The on-ground staff were preparing to open the two other floors, gearing up for yet another bustling weekend—the party would start any minute now! 

I walk past the many youngsters in their office attire, seated on metal chairs—some even with their laptops on, in case of emergency work calls—and chilled beer in hand. This suggests two things—Bangaloreans start drinking their beer early on Fridays, and Bob’s Bar has fulfilled its dream of being Bangaloreans’ favourite ‘neighbourhood bar.’

The bar attracts close to 35,000 patrons every month, with the average ticket size per table being Rs 3,800 (for a table of four). The brand has achieved this feat by word of mouth, sans any billboards or social media marketing campaigns. 

However, Bob’s Bar is just one slice of the larger cake.

Parent company Byg Ventures—founded by Gowda, Rolf Marren, Premkumar Sundaramurthy and Praveen Bodduluri—is on a mission to not just woo Indiranagar’s crowd but also win over pub-goers across Bengaluru and beyond.

With brands like Byg Brewski, Bob’s Bar, and more recently, Jollygunj under its umbrella, the company is in an aggressive expansion phase. While Byg Ventures took about 10 years to open eight outlets, the company plans to take one year to open the next 10. Beyond strengthening its presence with the launch of more outlets of the existing brands, the company is set to reveal three new brands in 2025. 

“We are long-term operators. We wait a good seven to eight years for the return on investment. That way, I feel, we hit right in terms of stability of the brands, the outlets, and the company’s,” Gowda tells YS Life in an exclusive interview.  

A neighbourhood bar for everyone

Before registering its parent company in 2017, Gowda and his partners launched the flagship brewpub—Byg Brewski Brewing Company—in 2014 in Sarjapur. 

“At that time, Bengaluru was burgeoning with all this tech, and the skyline looked like the New York skyline… Until ORR (Outer Ring Road) happened, we never saw that kind of buildings in that density… We wanted to beckon people to a space very different and unlike their offices… alfresco, open to sky and nature, and you can feel the breeze… The phrase, Byg Brewski, came from the phrase ‘the big blue sky’,” Gowda explains. 

Eleven years later, Byg Brewski continues to be one of the top brewpubs in the ‘Beer Capital’ of India and, to some extent, it also marked the beginning of the hype behind Bengaluru’s larger-than-life breweries with exceptional architecture.

Today, the brand has outlets across three locations—Sarjapur, Yeshwantpur, and Hennur—with a few more in the pipeline this year. Among all its operational outlets, the Hennur outlet boasts the largest seating capacity with the highest monthly footfall—close to 40,000 guests every month—with an average table cover (for five people) amounting to Rs 6,000.

The group opened the first Bob’s Bar in 2018 in Indiranagar. Soon, it became the second-highest performing outlet within the portfolio, later expanding to four more locations—Koramangala, JP Nagar, Kalyan Nagar, and more recently, with a 498-seater in Ashok Nagar. 

“We are top-line operators. We don’t want this to end up like a ‘special-classion space’... We have kept the menu reasonably priced for people to consider it their everyday go-to bar,” Gowda says. 

True to his words, in the most expensive state for alcohol in the country, drinks are moderately priced at Bob’s—Rs 140 for a pint of draught beer; single malt whisky starting at Rs 185 for 30 ml; and Rs 85 for Bengaluru’s favourite Old Monk. The food—served in half and full plates and inspired by street food and local bar bites—is conveniently priced. 

“Cheap drinks, young crowd, local food, and kombucha. What’s not to love about Bob’s?” Riddhi Mallick, Financial Analyst at JP Morgan, says. 

This inspiration, however, stemmed from Gowda’s personal experience. “Growing up, it was only at somebody’s party… he was kind enough (to offer)… that I tried cocktails… We could not afford (it). The rich kids would go to nice places, and even if I mustered the courage to enter these places, I would only stick to beers,” Gowda explains his thought process behind opening a ‘reasonably priced’ bar.

Byg Ventures’ newest brand, Jollygunj—with its two newly opened bars—reimagines the colonial-era’s charm. According to Gowda, Jollygunj is built for the ‘rest of India’ crowd, people who like entertainment with their drinks at a bar—there’s live music for quiet evenings and enough space for high-energy gatherings as well. 

The food at Jollygunj is inspired by old-world Calcutta—a good mix of Mughlai, Indo-Chinese, street food, and continental—again, priced reasonably. 

“Generally, very expensive high-end spaces, over a period of time, start becoming like a club, and their life is limited. Which is why we decided to be long-term operators and keep it nice and well-priced for our guests and patrons,” Gowda explains. 

Three months into operations, Jollygunj’s first outlet in JP Nagar is the grandest bar in the locality. It already records an average monthly footfall of up to 18,000. “Our target is 25,000 to 28,000 a month,” he adds. 

The brand has another outlet launch scheduled for March 2025. 

Audacious plans 

Byg Ventures is currently focused on expanding its portfolio while strengthening its presence in the sector. Gowda reveals that while Bob’s Bar represents a typical  Bangalore cantonment bar, the company now plans to launch a ‘Bengaluru’ themed bar. 

“Culturally, Bangaloreans are farmers and merchants. They did not have a drinking culture like the Cantonment area. We have created a space that would represent a bar of the ‘70s or early '80s… We will open it in another four to five months,” he says, revealing that this old Bengaluru bar would be located in the northern part of the city.  

The said bar, Gowda mentions, will also have a ‘canteen’—a kitchen that would operate to cater for quick meals from 6 AM until midnight. 

Byg Ventures is also launching a GenZ-focused bar in Bengaluru’s New Bel Road sometime between mid-August and mid-September, as well as a smaller cover and intimate food-led bar focusing on grill and barbecue in Whitefield. 

“We are building a brand ‘collective’ where four brands—the three existing brands and the food-led bar—will come together, one next to the other,” Gowda says. 

Interestingly, Byg Ventures is also in talks to get into the experiential liquor retail space and launch its in-house liquor products. “All this makes sense in terms of business. They’re self-complimentary—helping each other and building an ecosystem in itself,” Gowda says. 

Byg Ventures achieved an annual recurring revenue of Rs 200 crore in FY25, and Gowda mentions that the company is currently profitable. 

“I am not too ambitious to kind of exit it (the business), and make quick money. I need great numbers, and that will give me some profitability. When someone gets 10,000 footfalls, I might make a business for 18,000 to 20,000 footfalls and go there as well, that kind of covers me,” he adds. 

Going forward, the company also plans to geographically expand to neighbouring Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Delhi-NCR, besides venturing into Tier II cities of Karnataka—Mysuru, Hubli, and Belgaum. 

Speaking about potential plans to go public, Gowda says the company is currently focused on sustained expansion to make for a good story, before bringing it to the public market. “We have to tell a nice, compelling story… Being Byg, we can’t go very small!” he quips.