Ishwaraj Singh Bhatia of Simba on Building a Culture-First Premium Beer Brand in India

StartupTalky presents Recap'25, a series of exclusive interviews where we connect with founders and industry leaders to reflect on their journey in 2025 and discuss their vision for the future.

In this edition of Recap’25, StartupTalky speaks with Ishwaraj Singh Bhatia, Co-founder of Simba, a homegrown brand that has played a defining role in shaping India’s premium craft beer landscape. Founded in 2016 with the belief that beer should be treated as a craft and cultural product, Simba set out to challenge legacy lagers by combining global brewing standards with strong brand storytelling and deep cultural relevance.

Ishwaraj shares how Simba scaled from a niche craft label into a nationally recognised premium beer brand in 2025, the role of community-led experiences like Simba Uproar in building long-term brand equity, and the operational discipline required to grow in a highly regulated category. He also discusses evolving Indian consumer preferences, premiumisation trends, and Simba’s roadmap as both a beer brand and a cultural platform heading into 2026.

StartupTalky: To begin with, what was the original idea behind starting Simba, and what gap in India’s beer market were you trying to solve in 2016? 

Ishwaraj Singh Bhatia: Simba was founded in 2016 with a clear belief that beer in India deserved to be treated as a craft and cultural product, not a mass commodity. At the time, the market was dominated by legacy lagers with limited focus on flavour depth, brewing quality, or brand storytelling. The gap Simba set out to solve was twofold: first, to create high-quality, globally benchmarked craft-style beers made in India for Indian consumers, and second, to build a brand that resonated culturally with a younger, more discerning audience seeking individuality, authenticity, and modern taste profiles. 

StartupTalky: Beyond taste, what unique brand and cultural choices define Simba’s USP in India’s premium beer market? 

Ishwaraj Singh Bhatia: Simba’s USP lies in its culture-first approach. From the outset, Simba Beer has positioned beer as a lifestyle and cultural expression rather than just a beverage. This is reflected in the brand’s deep immersion into music, street culture, art, design, and experiential IPs—most notably Simba Uproar, which brings together youth culture, live music, action sports, and creative communities. 

Beyond large-scale experiences, Simba also invests in world-building at multiple touchpoints—from Simba Garage, an experimental platform for limited-edition brews and boundary-pushing flavours, to content properties like First Time with Simba, which celebrates curiosity, courage, and new experiences that resonate strongly with millennials and Gen Z. 

Instead of relying on ATL-heavy playbooks, Simba focuses on community-led storytelling, artist collaborations, and experiential formats that compound brand equity over time. This seamless blend of craft quality and cultural relevance is what truly sets Simba apart in India’s premium beer landscape.

StartupTalky: 2025 was a strong year for Simba in terms of scale and recognition. How did the brand perform over the last year in terms of scale, demand, and consumer response, and what surprised you the most during this phase of growth? 

Ishwaraj Singh Bhatia: FY 2024–25 marked a significant inflection point for Simba. The brand recorded approximately 27.6% year-on-year volume growth, scaling from ~2.9 million cases to ~3.7 million cases. Importantly, value growth outpaced volume growth, reflecting strong premiumisation and sustained pricing power. 

Consumer response was particularly encouraging in terms of repeat consumption and on-premise traction, reinforcing that Simba is no longer a niche craft label but a scaled premium beer brand. A standout milestone during the year was global validation at the World Beer Awards 2025, which reinforced Simba’s brewing credentials on an international stage and validated the brand’s long-term focus on quality-led growth. 

StartupTalky: Your portfolio includes distinct brews like Simba Wit and Simba Stout. How do you decide which flavours or styles make sense for Indian consumers while maintaining global brewing standards? 

Ishwaraj Singh Bhatia: Simba’s product philosophy balances global brewing standards with local taste intelligence. Each variant is developed through rigorous R&D, attention to ingredients, and brewing precision, while remaining sensitive to evolving Indian palates. The portfolio is intentionally focused rather than overly expansive; anchored by the Strong variant for scale, and complemented by Wit, Lager, Stout, and experimental brews for flavour-forward consumers. Variants are activated selectively based on regional preferences and consumption occasions, ensuring quality, consistency, and relevance at scale. 

StartupTalky: Marketing and community-led initiatives have played a big role in Simba’s journey. What has been your approach to engaging millennials and Gen Z in a highly competitive alcohal market? 

Ishwaraj Singh Bhatia: Simba’s engagement strategy has been rooted in authentic participation in youth culture, not borrowed relevance. Instead of speaking to millennials and Gen Z, the brand builds with them—through music, street culture, art collaborations, and high-energy experiential formats. Simba Uproar is a prime example, bringing together hip-hop, FMX, skate culture, and creative collaborations into a single cultural platform. This approach has allowed Simba to create earned media, community loyalty, and cultural credibility, which are far more enduring than short-term visibility.

StartupTalky: As Simba continues to expand across on-trade and off-trade channels, what operational or distribution learnings have been most critical to sustaining growth without compromising quality? 

Ishwaraj Singh Bhatia: A key learning has been disciplined expansion. Simba has focused on strengthening depth in existing markets before scaling into new ones, ensuring operational efficiency and quality control. The brand prioritises distribution optimisation, brewing consistency, and market-responsive portfolio activation, rather than chasing aggressive volume at the cost of brand perception. This balance between scale and selectivity has helped Simba evolve from a niche craft label into a meaningful premium beer player while retaining its core ethos. 

StartupTalky: Looking ahead to 2026, how do you see Simba evolving, both as a beer brand and as a cultural platform, within India’s premium alcohol landscape? 

Ishwaraj Singh Bhatia: Looking ahead, Simba’s roadmap includes scaling its premium portfolio, expanding into high-potential states such as Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha, and deepening its community-led cultural IPs. As a brand, Simba aims to further redefine what premium beer means in India; by combining product excellence with immersive cultural experiences. As a platform, the focus will remain on building long-term cultural relevance, not just short-term consumption. 

StartupTalky: As a founder-operator who has scaled a homegrown brand in a highly regulated category, what practical advice would you give to young entrepreneurs trying to build culturally relevant consumer brands in India today? 

Ishwaraj Singh Bhatia: Building in a regulated category demands patience, precision, and conviction. The most important lesson is to stay anchored to product quality and brand truth, even when scaling pressures increase. Cultural relevance cannot be forced; it must be earned through consistency and genuine engagement. Entrepreneurs should invest early in strong fundamentals- R&D, operations, and distribution; while using culture as a long-term brand lever rather than a marketing shortcut.

Explore more Recap'25 interviews here.