Balaji Subudhi

Empowering Farmers, Disrupting Industries

Balaji Subudhi

Founder

Speaking Tea Pvt. Ltd.

During the 2021 lockdown, Balaji Subudhi spent 45 transformative days in a remote hill station, surrounded by tea gardens and farmers. This experience reshaped his perspective on business and social impact. Witnessing the challenges faced by these farmers, he felt a strong call to create sustainable opportunities for them. This led to the founding of Speaking Tea, a nonprofit that supports over 600 farmers across Assam, Nagaland, and Himachal Pradesh, offering them access to broader markets while ensuring fair trade. Balaji’s entrepreneurial journey doesn’t stop there. He also founded The Daily Brew, a subscription service delivering quality tea and coffee directly to consumers, disrupting traditional models. His expertise extends beyond philanthropy into the tech world. As Director of Sales for Dairy and CEP verticals at Mojro, Balaji drives strategic growth and innovation. His earlier roles as Senior Data Scientist at Infosys and Happiest Minds Technologies helped him hone his technical prowess in analytics and business intelligence. Balaji’s entrepreneurial spirit is exemplified in his seed investment role with Plykraft Interiors, fostering innovation and helping startups thrive. As a co-founder and mentor, he’s been instrumental in scaling businesses and guiding entrepreneurs. His earlier venture, ABLab Solutions, focused on microcontroller and microprocessor designs, showcasing his ability to innovate across industries.From tea gardens to boardrooms, Balaji Subudhi’s journey is a unique blend of purpose, passion, and professional excellence, with a vision to impact over one lakh lives. Speaking with TradeFlock, he discusses his journey and work that aims to impact over one lakh people.

What led you from ABLab to Mojro, and why did you return to entrepreneurship during the pandemic?

My journey started with ABLab Solutions in robotics and AI, but we were ahead of time for the market, leading me to go for my next master’s in data science, which led me to join Happiest Minds and Infosys as a data scientist. At Mojro, I helped build the data science practice and now lead its India Sales. The pandemic reignited my entrepreneurial drive. After a steep salary cut at Mojro, I founded Speaking Tea, a non-profit supporting over 600 tea farmers. The venture expanded globally, further fueling my passion for impactful business, leading to investments in projects like The Chai Walah.

Why did you opt to work for startups after your first venture failed?

After my first venture failed, I chose to work for startups like Mojro to gain experience and find a balance between purpose and recognition. The motivation wasn’t just financial but about creating impact through technology, especially improving farmers’ lives.Even with 17 years of experience in data science, my passion for tea and coffee remained strong. As a certified tea, coffee, wine and whisky sommelier, I’m fascinated by the science behind these beverages and how they shape health and culture, driving my entrepreneurial pursuits today.

What project or moment significantly shaped your entrepreneurial journey?

A transformative moment in my journey occurred during the second lockdown in 2020. After a conversation with V.G. Siddhartha, CCD co-founder, I ventured to tea gardens in Kerala and Assam, spending 45 days in a hill station due to the lockdown. This time allowed me to truly understand the struggles of tea farmers and their culture. It inspired me to pivot Speaking Tea into a non-profit. In our first year, we sponsored the education of 60 students from farming families, and one even made it into medical school, reinforcing my belief in the power of giving back.

"As a certified tea, coffee, wine and whisky sommelier, I’m fascinated by the science behind these beverages and how they shape health and culture, driving my entrepreneurial pursuits today"

What inspired The Daily Brew, and what challenges are you facing in scaling it?

The idea for The Daily Brew emerged from a gap in our society where people love to have good tea but either the available tea is from a machine, or not up to the quality. In the case where it is hand made and of good quality it becomes expensive. To address this, we launched India’s first tea and coffee subscription service. Based in Jayanagar, Bangalore, we deliver 1,000 daily orders, totaling 700 liters of freshly brewed beverages. The main challenge is scaling while maintaining quality. We’ve developed specialized thermoses and logistics solutions for hot delivery. As we expand, we’re addressing industry gaps with science-driven, cost-effective retail designs to ensure sustainable growth.

How does your data science background benefit the tea industry?

At Speaking Tea, my data science expertise has enabled us to partner with the Tea Board of India to analyze over 30 lakh tea samples. With this data, we’ve created a model that replicates tea flavors with 99.7% accuracy, ensuring consistency for businesses like luxury hotels while cutting sommelier fees. Additionally, we’re empowering small farmers by bridging the gap between them and B2B buyers, bypassing middlemen and increasing profits, making the industry more accessible and equitable.

What’s next for you and your ventures?

We’re scaling The Daily Brew across Bangalore and beyond, redefining logistics for quality consistency. In the tea industry, we’re empowering small farmers by removing middlemen and enhancing market access. My goal is to build sustainable, impactful ecosystems.