Raghavendra Rao and Divya Rao co-founded Bengaluru's Rameshwaram Cafe in 2021. Its current market valuation is at Rs. 18,800 crores. Hence, let's look at this inspiring entrepreneurial story!
Rameshwaram Cafe is one of the most famous 'must-visit' places in Bengaluru regarding South Indian food. The premium cafe has gained huge popularity on social media for its food, ambience, and hospitality. The high-quality ingredients and authentic recipes have played a significant role in keeping Rameshwaram Cafe's exceptional growth. The popular cafe was launched back in 2021 by the power couple Raghavendra Rao and Divya Raghavendra Rao.
Within a period of just three years, Rameshwaram Cafe has opened outlets in Bengaluru's four major regions, Indiranagar, JP Nagar, Brookfield, and Rajajinagar and one in Hyderabad's Madhapur. One of the biggest reasons why Rameshwaram Cafe is so famous and continues to get bigger is due to its consistency. Once, in an interview with JAR's YouTube channel, Divya Raghavendra Rao shared that the reason behind their success is the strict regulations they follow in the quality of their food.
Further, in the same interview, Divya Raghavendra Rao revealed that they don't use baking soda and that they only use pure ghee in their food items. Also, using artificial flavouring is a 'strict no' for them. Courtesy of their 700 employees, Rameshwaram Cafe, manages to serve people from 6:30 AM to 11:30 AM and 4 PM to 1 AM. Because of all these factors, Divya and Raghavendra Rao have managed to build a successful dosa empire in Bengaluru that continues to grow tremendously.
According to several reports, Rameshwaram Cafe has an estimated monthly turnover of Rs. 4.5 crore. The cafe processes around 7,500 bills daily with an impressive gross margin of 70 percent. As per a report on the Business Rule website, Raghavendra Rao and Divya Rao's dosa chain, Rameshwaram Cafe, has a market valuation of Rs. 18,800 crore. While the franchise cost of the premium Sout Indian cafe ranges between Rs. 10 and Rs. 15 lakhs, the franchise fee is between Rs. 2 and Rs. 3 lakhs. The annual turnover of this three-year-old brand is already between the mammoth mark of Rs. 50-54 crores.
Rameshwaram Cafe looks quite impressive, but not everyone knows that its co-founders, Raghavendra Rao and Divya Rao, worked tremendously hard to make it reach where it is today. Before discussing their filmy success story, let's highlight their educational background. While Raghavendra Rao is a mechanical engineer who has over 20-plus years of experience in the food industry.
Talking about Divya Raghavendra Rao's background, she is a Chartered Accountant (CA) who completed postgraduation from IIM Ahmedabad. With an experience of 12-plus years in finance, she is also a member of the ICAI. The couple's exact marriage date isn't available in the public portal. However, it is well known that the couple welcomed their first child, a baby boy, in 2023.
In an interview with Curly Tales, Raghavendra Rao shared that he wanted to become an actor as a youngster, and in order to achieve his dream, he did a series of odd jobs. The entrepreneur shared that he decided to quit his engineering degree but hadn't told anyone about it for five to six years. Nobody knew where he was and what he was doing in those years, as Raghavendra wasn't in anybody's touch. During his journey to become an actor, he slept at railway stations and even lived in a slum.
However, after trying to become an actor for many years, Raghavendra Rao decided to go home and complete his engineering degree all over again. He further shared that he completed his engineering degree in 10 years. While pursuing engineering, he also worked part-time at Le Meridian Hotel, and it was how he entered the hotel industry which eventually brought him success and fame.
On the other side, Divya shared that she left her family and CA certificate to start a food business with Raghav, which was a mistake in her parents' opinion. However, she trusted her instinct and Raghav's determination and quit her job when she was making crores as a chartered accountant. As of now, Raghavendra Rao and Divya Raghavendra Rao are minting huge amounts of money from Rameshwaram Cafe. We hope they continue to scale it to further heights with their vision and determination.
What are your thoughts on Raghavendra Rao and Divya Raghavendra Rao's inspirational entrepreneurial story? Let us know.
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