There’s the brand, and then there’s the corporate entity behind it. In the case of Bira 91, nearly everyone knows the brand, but the company’s troubles over the past year stem from its lesser-known legal identity: B9 Beverages Private Limited.

Here’s some context: in the alco-bev industry, the corporate entity is arguably more important than the brand. Because everything — from manufacturing to sales — is governed by licences and the licence that belongs to the corporate entity.

As a beer brand with an ultra-cool urban image, Bira 91 had cracked the game, and its budding beer empire relied on licences held by B9 Beverages Private Limited.

The growth for the brand and the business was built on $449 Mn in equity funding in this corporate entity from marquee investors, including Peak XV Partners, Sofina, Kirin Holdings, among others.

What has gone relatively under the radar is the fact that the company’s shares are very active in the secondary market — often known as the grey market where shares of unlisted companies are traded. While such trades are often notional, founder and CEO Ankur Jain told Inc42 that, in Bira 91’s case, these were actual share transactions.

As a result, the company found itself in a unique place: it was about to reach a point where it had more than 200 shareholders on its cap table. Under the Companies Act, 2013, B9 Beverages Private Limited was obligated to convert to B9 Beverages Limited, as explained here by UnlistedZone, one such platform that deals with unlisted securities. The latter is a public limited company in structure, but not a publicly listed one.

It’s this change that triggered a butterfly effect of sorts.

Suddenly, the Bira 91 brand was forced out of the market as its corporate entity scrambled to re-acquire licences in every state where it manufactures and every state where it sells. These are all separate licences and once again, Bira 91’s Jain and the top management was starting from scratch.

The fallout was brutal: a mass recall rarely seen in the Indian D2C space, product write-offs worth INR 80 Cr, business disruption across multiple markets, and unpaid dues that left many employees jobless as manufacturing units were shut down.

In an in-depth conversation with Inc42, Jain laid bare the reasons behind this disruption that threatened to swallow Bira 91.

“I think there is a lot of work to be done for us to repair the business and get to profitability. But we have survived probably the most debilitating part of our journey thus far after Covid. We turned 10 in February this year, so it’s a fresh start for us,” Jain said.

But Jain is confident that Bira 91 is ready for the next phase with its “largest fundraise”. The CEO claimed the company is close to finalising a $100 Mn round by Q2 FY26 and a separate INR 100 Cr ($11.7 Mn) rights issue, which will help the company revive itself.

Jain claims to have a turnaround plan in place — from continuing the leaner manufacturing and distribution strategy it adopted last year to adjust after the business disruption, to reviving sales across India and rebuilding trust in the brand.

Can Bira 91 reclaim its buzz amid intense competition from legacy giants like United Breweries and AB InBev, as well as rising challengers such as Simba, White Owl, BeeYoung, Kati Patang, and more?

How Bira 91 Brewed A Storm

In 2015, Jain set out to carve a niche after trying his hand at another related startup — importing beers with distinct flavours from the US and Europe to India. There was demand for a change from the Kingfishers and the Budweisers that proliferated the market at the time.

And it was around this time that flamboyant entrepreneur and billionaire Vijay Mallya, the former chairman of the United Breweries (UB), was reported to have fled India after defaulting on loans. The beer industry was in crisis mode.

So when Jain floated Bira 91 in 2015, claiming to be the first........

© Inc42