Gaurav Khemka

Founder

Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India10 yrs 5 mos experience

Most Likely To SwitchHighly Stable

Key Highlights

Founder of India's first clean beverage brand.
Expert in building brand and distribution strategies.
Passionate advocate for health and hydration.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a Beverage Industry Entrepreneur with a focus on health-oriented products.

Contact

Skills

Core Skills

MarketingBusiness Strategy

Other Skills

NegotiationTeam ManagementPublic SpeakingTeamworkMarket ResearchMicrosoft OfficeResearchSocial MediaCustomer ServiceManagementPowerPointMicrosoft PowerPoint

About

Hi, I’m Gaurav - Founder of Polka Pop, India’s first homegrown flavoured sparkling water with zero sugar, zero calories, and zero sweeteners. We’re the cleanest flavoured carbonated drink in the country, and we’re building the future of India’s beverage shelf. I started Polka Pop because I couldn’t find a single carbonated beverage in India that was truly clean, something I could sip multiple times a day without thinking twice. So we created one. A drink I can have 4–5 times a day with ZERO guilt. Since then, it’s been a fun, fizzy ride building a brand (and distribution) that stands for health, joy, and flavour without compromise. Every bottle we sell is a small win in India’s clean beverage revolution. If you’re building something exciting, passionate about health and hydration, or just looking to ditch sugary drinks for something smarter, let’s connect.

Experience

10 yrs 5 mos

Total Experience

3 yrs 5 mos

Average Tenure

8 yrs 8 mos

Current Experience

Duhkaar food & beverages pvt. ltd.

Founder & CEO

Aug 2020 – Present · 5 yrs 8 mos · Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Building India's Beverage Shelf 2.0.
Launched Polka Pop - India's 1st Homegrown Flavoured Sparkling Water brand with 0 Sugar, 0 Sweeteners and 0 Calories.
Available Pan India on Swiggy Instamart, Blinkit, Zepto & Big Basket!

MarketingBusiness StrategyNegotiationTeam Management

Clean energy venture group

Intern

Jan 2020 – May 2020 · 4 mos · Greater Boston

Babson college

Chief of Operations, Graduate Student Council

Apr 2019 – Apr 2020 · 1 yr

Executive Team Member of the Graduate Student Council. Manage activities and Student Council representatives of Student Clubs, Student & Career Cell Liaisons, Budgeting & Finance for student-led activities, Technology implementation for students, Alumni Engagement & Sustainability practices in the Graduate School.

On that note

Co-Founder & Producer

Nov 2017 – Present · 8 yrs 5 mos · Greater Chennai Area

Community of Independent Musicians in Chennai Built via Offline Events

Kora kagaz

Managing Trustee

Aug 2017 – Present · 8 yrs 8 mos · Greater Chennai Area

Co-founded in 2010, Kora Kagaz is a high-school social project aimed at recycling waste paper to create notebooks for the underprivileged. Morphed into an NGO after school. Delivered >17,000 notebooks to underprivileged children in two states. Identifying leaders for expansion to new cities and expanding of operating model to include third parties, including corporations’ CSR initiatives.

Chennai comedy

Financial Advisor

Feb 2017 – Aug 2018 · 1 yr 6 mos · Greater Chennai Area

A local Stand-up Comedy company that curates stand-up comedy shows and open mics at the city level to help promote the art form. One of the first of its kind in Chennai, Chennai Comedy has paved the way for the city to become a sought after stand up comedy destination.
https://www.facebook.com/chennaicomedy

Multistory learning pvt ltd

Project Execution and Strategy, Storyteller

Feb 2017 – Apr 2018 · 1 yr 2 mos · Greater Chennai Area

Maintained relationship with key customers ensuring a 100% retention rate
Interacted with more than 10,000 students and trained ~200 teachers across 5 cities
Led content curation of 10,000 assets for highly rated Chong Chong app with ~100,000 downloads on IOS store
Researched and identified gaps in reading program through a case study carried out in a leading private school in
Chennai, India impacting 30% structural changes to program
Promoted to a “Business Development” role; effected ~$30,000 in sales

Rivigo

Business Analyst

Mar 2016 – Feb 2017 · 11 mos · Gurugram, Haryana, India

Client facing role - Managed operations for over 15 clients spread across the South, West and North zones
Created an internal inventory tracking mechanism that helped improve vehicle utilization by ~50% in 4 months

Accenture strategy

Intern

Jun 2015 – Sep 2015 · 3 mos · Greater Kolkata Area

Leveraged key sourcing levers to deliver ~30% spend reduction in key indirect cost categories during a
profitability improvement exercise for one of the largest EPC firms in India

Ogilvy & mather advertising

College Intern

Dec 2014 – Jan 2015 · 1 mo · Greater Chennai Area

Completed a one month internship in the Client Servicing Team. Conducted various market research to help facilitate formulation of appropriate advertising strategies for clients.

Goldman sachs

Summer Analyst

Apr 2014 – Jun 2014 · 2 mos · Greater Bengaluru Area

Completed an 8 week internship in the Settlements and Reconciliation Team of Treasury Operations. Conducted in-depth analysis of the suspense fund account with recommendations to improve accuracy of funds transfer