This Bengaluru startup wants to change how India eats Ice-Cream
Walk into any supermarket and pick up a tub of ice cream. Flip it over, and you’ll likely find a long list of unfamiliar ingredients: polysorbates, carrageenan, CMC, mono and diglycerides. These additives extend shelf life and simplify manufacturing, but many health-conscious consumers are growing wary of them.
Enter ELVN-ELVN, a Bengaluru-based startup founded in 2024 by Barath Akkihebbal and Akash Narain Mittal. Their simple rule: If it has an E number, it doesn’t go into the ice cream.
A Philosophy Rooted in Simplicity
The co-founders bring decades of supply chain and distribution experience. Mittal previously ran a distribution business serving major FMCG players like Nestlé, ITC, and Parle. Akkihebbal founded OfficeSmart, a corporate procurement company, and ran ice cream parlour franchises, which sparked his deep interest in the category.
Frustrated with conventional ice creams loaded with industrial additives, they set out to prove that great-tasting ice cream could be made with clean, natural ingredients — no compromises.
Two Distinct Ranges
ELVN-ELVN offers two product lines, both free from artificial additives, colours, or preservatives:
1. MILLET Range (Vegan)
Made with a blend of Indian millets (jowar, ragi, foxtail, pearl), coconut milk, and sweetened naturally with whole dates, allulose, and monk fruit (without erythritol). It’s dairy-free, gluten-free, and suitable for those with lactose intolerance or diabetes.
Flavours include Lush Litchi, Mango Tango, Coffee Scenes, Berry Me Up, Cosmic Coconut, and Blackout Fudge.
2. SELECT Range (Dairy)
Crafted with A2 Desi cow milk and fresh cream. The founders believe A2 milk is easier to digest than conventional A1-dominant dairy.
Flavours include Strawberry, Pink Guava, Choco Velvet, and Royal Alphonso.
Both ranges are available in 125 ml cups (₹140) and 450 ml packs (₹400), with a shelf life of up to nine months — impressive for clean-label products.
From Farm to Freezer: A Karnataka-Centric Supply Chain
ELVN-ELVN controls much of its production in-house at a South Bengaluru facility. They developed a proprietary millet-milk extraction process in collaboration with NIFTEM-T (National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management). The company has a 10-year MOU with the institute for continued innovation.
Key ingredients are sourced locally within Karnataka:
Millets from Bijapur and Mandya
A2 milk and cream from indigenous-breed farms in Kabini
This short supply chain reduces costs and ensures freshness while supporting local farmers.
The Long Road of Experimentation
Creating additive-free ice cream wasn’t easy. The founders ran around 50 failed recipes and multiple large-scale trials (each requiring at least 90 kg of ingredients). Sugar plays a critical role in texture and freezing point, making natural replacements challenging.
They eventually turned to AI, training a version of ChatGPT on their recipes to accelerate development. While AI helped, the founders emphasise that human tasting and iteration remained essential.
Impressive Early Traction
Since commercial production began in January 2026, ELVN-ELVN has sold out three batches, with consistent 50% month-on-month growth. The small team of five (plus logistics support) has focused on quality over speed.
The brand is currently available at five Organic Mandya stores in Bengaluru, select cafés, and on Rapido’s zero-commission platform Ownly. They are also building dark stores for quick delivery on Zomato and Swiggy.
Customer stories highlight the brand’s impact, from a teacher with diabetes enjoying sweets after years to children excitedly asking if the ice cream has sugar.
Bootstrapped and Strategic Growth
ELVN-ELVN has raised a Rs 2 crore soft loan under the PM FME scheme (with a Rs 15 lakh subsidy), and the founders have invested Rs 70–80 lakh of their own capital. They remain bootstrapped with no private VC funding.
To scale distribution, they’ve created a unique micro-franchisee model for supermarket freezers individuals buy freezers on the company’s behalf and earn rental income plus sales commissions. The founders call this the first “crowdfunded freezer model” in Indian ice cream.
Future Plans
ELVN-ELVN aims to expand across Bengaluru and then move into Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, and Pune. Long-term, the founders want to build a broader clean-label food brand across multiple categories, always sticking to their no-E-number rule.
Why This Matters
India’s ice cream market is booming, valued at Rs 243.5 billion in 2025 and projected to reach Rs 639.4 billion by 2034. Within this, the clean-label and health-focused segment is growing rapidly. ELVN-ELVN joins players like Go Zero, NOTO, and The Brooklyn Creamery, but stands out with its strong emphasis on Indian millets, A2 milk, and complete transparency.
In a category long dominated by additives and ultra-processed ingredients, ELVN-ELVN proves that clean, thoughtful formulation can still deliver great taste and texture. Their success shows that consumers are increasingly willing to pay for products they can actually understand and feel good about eating.
As more Indians become conscious of what they put into their bodies, brands like ELVN-ELVN that prioritise simplicity and quality may well define the next chapter of the Indian ice cream industry.