Categories: Startup Stories

NawaabSheikh : Aiming to be the Indian alternative to Pizzas and Burgers with Aromatic Biryanis!

Biryani is a fastfood relished by food lovers worldwide. With so many countries having their own flavors of Biryanis, what’s better than having all of them at a single place ? NawaabSheikh was conceived with the idea to relish those differences of flavors between regions and get the authentic aromatic flavour some biryanis.

Team NawaabSheikh

Kopal Maheshwari, co-founder Nawaab Sheikh

NawaabSheikh is founded by Kopal Maheshwari and Vinit Srivastava. Kopal has been a serial entrepreneur and has successfully scaled up her preschool brand – Little Einsteins in a multi city model in India.

Vinit is a graduate from IIM Calcutta, hotel management from IHM Lucknow and Oberoi Alumnus. He has been actively involved in fostering startup eco system through Angel Investing and Mentoring at The Chennai Angels.

The food startup was launched in December 2013. For the first month, NawaabSheikh had each customer ordering 10 biraynis over a period of one month. On Zomato, within 2 months they appear number 2 on popularity as biryani places in Chennai.

 On Faster Delivery & Funding

The focus on providing high quality authentic biryanis is the fundamental block. They aggressively monitor repeat orders and this is one metric that helps ensure customer satisfaction and get feedback from customer to improve.The team has  full control of their database that can monitor the exact movement of delivery boys which helps save time and deliver faster then any other food joints.

“Yes the Venture is self funded. We have received expression of interest from some investors as well. In fact, within two months we got a joint venture proposal from Malaysia!”, Says Kopal Maheshwari on funding status of NawabSheikh.

Future & Stumbling blocks

[pullquote align=”right”]We see mostly unorganized competition and no one focusing only on Biryanis. We will keep our menu short, simple and focus only on biryanis – we want to keep our focus on things that we do best.[/pullquote]”Government regulations is not very startup friendly in the food space. Real estate is another reason why most food startups bleed. And lastly the turnover of quality resources for delivery and Kitchen”, says Kopal on typical challenges in a food startup.

The goal of NawaabSheikh is to create presence across Chennai in next 6 months and then go to Bangalore and Hyderabad in another 6 months. One year hence, across India and go international.

TTP’s Take On NawaabSheikh

The demand for authentic and aromatic biryanis is always there, and the startup has done a fantastic job so far in delivering the promise. As the orders and the startup spreads pan-India, it would be critical to handle the brand well. We@TTP wish NawaabSheikh team all the best!

Kartik Jha

Die-hard Barca fan and a never-getting-old Football fad. A gourmand of mature taste with immature cultures. Dirty hands with android apps and transcending the mind with alt. hiphops, dubsteps, soulfuls and raps.

Recent Posts

Union Budget 2026 Wishlist: “Convert policy into accessible, scalable support for startups & research-led innovation”

Moreover, Budget 2026 expectations for MSMEs are around easier access to working capital, smoother execution…

19 hours ago

Union Budget 2026 Wishlist: What India’s healthtech sector wants from the next phase of healthcare reform

As India’s healthcare ecosystem becomes increasingly digital-first, expectations from the Union Budget 2026 are rising…

20 hours ago

From CISO to risk architect: How security leadership is changing in 2026

For much of the last decade, the CISO role was defined by defense: reduce incidents,…

2 days ago

Union Budget 2026: What India’s Fintech sector wants from the next wave of reforms

As India’s fintech ecosystem matures from rapid experimentation to large-scale adoption, expectations from Union Budget…

2 days ago

Union Budget Expectations: Gaming industry after the ban of real money gaming

The ban on Real-Money Gaming (RMG) in India in 2025 marked a watershed moment for…

2 days ago

From play to powerhouse: How India’s gaming economy is scaling at record speed

India’s gaming story is no longer about casual downloads, it’s about scale, sophistication, and global…

4 days ago