In December 2024, the founder of Medusa Beverages told the press his craft-beer company was heading for gross revenue of roughly ₹175 crore in FY25, up from about ₹132 crore the year before. The company’s own numbers in Inc42’s financial database, drawn from regulatory filings, show FY25 net operating revenue of ₹58.0 crore. Both figures are real. The roughly ₹117 crore gap between them is not an error — it is where the entire economics of the Indian beer business lives.
That contradiction is Medusa in one line: a fast-growing brand that says it sells more than ₹150 crore worth of beer, sits on a net loss of ₹4.2 crore in FY25, and is already talking about capturing a third of New Zealand’s retail beer market by 2029. This is the story of how a Delhi-registered brand founded in 2017 built a real position in one of the most heavily taxed, state-by-state regulated consumer categories in India — and why the distance between its headline and its filings matters more than either number alone.
Quick facts
| Company | Medusa Beverages Private Limited (CIN U37200DL2017PTC316254) |
| Founded | Incorporated 18 April 2017, registered office in East Delhi; operations from January 2018 (Tofler; company/YourStory) |
| Founder / directors | Avneet Singh (Founder & CEO); fellow directors Amardeep Singh and Balinder Singh (Tofler/Zauba Corp) |
| Businesses | Craft and premium beer — Original Medusa (strong, 5.9% ABV), Medusa Air (mild, 4.5% ABV, 2023), House of the Dragon “Fire Edition” (licensed with Warner Bros. Discovery) |
| Latest FY revenue | Net operating revenue ₹58.0 crore in FY25, up 16.5% from ₹49.8 crore in FY24 (Inc42, citing filings); company-stated gross revenue of about ₹175–180 crore for FY25 |
| Latest FY profit/loss | Net loss of ₹4.2 crore in FY25 (Inc42, citing filings) |
| Listed | Private; unlisted; no IPO announced |
| Market value / last valuation | Not disclosed; ₹56 crore Series A closed January 2025; paid-up capital ₹6.5 crore (Tofler) |
| CEO / key backers | CEO Avneet Singh; backers Amal N Parikh, Ashwin Kedia, Ramesh Damani, Nikhil Garg, Crest Opportunities |
What Medusa does
Medusa Beverages makes and sells beer under its own brand, competing in the craft and premium segments of India’s mass beer market. It sells to adult drinkers through state-licensed liquor retail and through hotels, restaurants and bars, in the states where it holds registrations. As of its FY25 reporting, the portfolio spanned three main products:
- Original Medusa: a strong beer at 5.9% ABV, the brand’s volume workhorse (company; newsonprojects, 2025).
- Medusa Air: a mild beer at 4.5% ABV, launched in 2023 to widen the base beyond strong-beer drinkers (Inc42; YourStory).
- House of the Dragon “Fire Edition”: a premium beer released under a licence with Warner Bros. Discovery, tied to the HBO franchise (Outlook Business; Inc42).
The company describes itself as running an asset-light model: it markets and distributes its own brands while relying substantially on leased and contract brewing capacity rather than owning all of its production. As of 2025 it cited annual brewing capacity of about 2 lakh hectolitres, with plans to double it and to build an owned facility within roughly two years (newsonprojects; Inc42).
The origin
Medusa Beverages Private Limited was incorporated on 18 April 2017 and began commercial operations in January 2018, according to corporate records and company accounts. The founder, Avneet Singh, built it young; YourStory profiled him as a 27-year-old who had grown Medusa into a beer brand doing more than ₹150 crore in gross sales. The founding insight was a reading of two things at once: India adds roughly 20 million people to legal drinking age every year, by the company’s own framing, and yet the beer shelf in North India was dominated by a handful of legacy strong-beer labels with little brand story behind them.
Medusa’s bet was that a home-grown brand with sharper packaging, a memorable name and a spread of styles could take share in that gap — starting in Delhi, the market Singh knew, rather than trying to go national on day one. The early plan leaned on an asset-light structure: rent brewing capacity, focus capital on branding and distribution, and let the trade network do the heavy lifting of getting cans onto shelves. That choice shaped everything that followed, both the speed of the roll-out and the thinness of the margins.
The struggle years
Beer is one of the hardest consumer categories to build in India, and Medusa’s early years show why. Two structural obstacles defined the grind.
The first was regulation. Alcohol is a state subject in India, so every new state means a fresh set of licences, label registrations, excise rates, minimum prices and — in several states — a government-controlled wholesale or retail monopoly that a young brand cannot bypass. Growth for Medusa was therefore not a single national push but a slow state-by-state crawl. By FY25 it had reached only seven states — Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh — after roughly seven years of operation (Inc42; newsonprojects).
The second was capital and margins. Because Medusa did not own large-scale breweries, it was exposed to third-party production costs and to the punishing tax structure of the category, where state excise and duties can swallow a large share of the retail price. The result shows up starkly in the accounts: even as the brand scaled, it stayed loss-making, reporting a net loss of ₹4.2 crore in FY25 on net operating revenue of ₹58.0 crore (Inc42, citing filings). For most of this period Medusa ran on a modest capital base — about ₹13 crore in total funding before its Series A — which meant expansion had to be financed largely out of a business that was itself not yet profitable. The strategic response was to broaden the range with the mild Medusa Air in 2023 and to concentrate on winning a genuine share in a home market before spreading thin.
The turning point
The single event that changed Medusa’s standing was its Series A round of ₹56 crore, announced in January 2025. Before it, the company had raised only about ₹13 crore in total and was scaling on a shoestring; after it, it had institutional-grade backing and a war chest for multi-state expansion, new capacity and its first export push.
The numbers on either side of that round tell the story. Company-stated gross revenue had already climbed from about ₹132 crore in FY24 toward a projected ₹175–180 crore in FY25, and the brand claimed a 7% overall share of the Delhi beer market, rising to 17% in mild beer and 20–22% in strong-beer cans (newsonprojects, company-stated). What the Series A added was credibility and reach: the round drew in marquee names, including veteran BSE investor Ramesh Damani, and gave Medusa the balance sheet to move from a Delhi-anchored regional brand toward a stated ambition of 4–5% pan-India market share by FY30 and ₹1,200 crore in revenue by 2029. Series A did not make Medusa profitable — the FY25 net loss confirms that — but it moved the company out of survival mode and into a funded growth plan.
The money behind it
Medusa’s funding history is short and recent, concentrated almost entirely in the January 2025 Series A. The documented shape:
- Pre-Series A / early funding: about ₹13 crore (roughly $1.5 million) in total funding before the Series A, from a group that included several investors who later backed the larger round (Inc42; YourStory).
- Series A, January 2025: ₹56 crore (about $5.8 million at $1 ≈ ₹96.0; Inc42 pegs total funding at more than $6.5 million), co-led by Amal N Parikh, managing director of Ohm Stock Broker, and Ashwin Kedia, cofounder of Alchemy Capital Management (Inc42; Outlook Business).
- Named participants in the Series A: Ramesh Damani (well-known BSE investor), Nikhil Garg, Crest Opportunities, and high-net-worth individuals from Singapore, the UK and the UAE (Inc42; Indian Startup News).
- Next planned raise: the company has signalled a further round of roughly $15 million (about ₹120 crore) to fund capacity and expansion (Outlook Business; newsonprojects, company-stated).
What each backer changed is more about signal than sums. Amal Parikh and Ashwin Kedia brought capital-markets standing as co-leads; Ramesh Damani’s participation gave a young alcohol brand a stamp of investor credibility that is hard to buy with marketing. Medusa’s registered paid-up capital stood at ₹6.5 crore (Tofler), and the company has not disclosed a post-money valuation for the Series A, so any valuation figure should be treated as unstated rather than estimated here.
How it makes money
Medusa earns by selling branded beer into state-regulated distribution, but the way money flows through that model is unusual, and it is the key to reading its two very different revenue numbers.
- Money in: sales of cans and bottles through licensed liquor retail across seven states, plus on-premise sales through hotels, restaurants and bars — more than 7,000 retail outlets and over 400 HoReCa establishments, concentrated in Delhi and Punjab (Inc42; newsonprojects).
- The gross-versus-net gap: the “gross revenue” the founder quotes — about ₹175–180 crore for FY25 — includes the state excise duties and taxes layered onto beer, which are then passed through to state governments. The net operating revenue in the filings (₹58.0 crore in FY25) strips much of that out. In a category this heavily taxed, the two figures can differ by a factor of roughly three, which is why the ₹117 crore gap in the hook is a feature of the tax structure, not a discrepancy in the story.
- Costs out: because Medusa leans on leased and contract brewing rather than fully owned plants, its cost base carries third-party production margins on top of raw materials, packaging, freight and the state-mandated distribution chain.
- Where the margin sits: the premium end. Premium products made up about 15% of FY25 volumes (newsonprojects), and it is the mix shift toward premium and licensed editions — not raw volume of value beer — that Medusa is banking on to turn losses into profit.
The numbers
Two revenue series exist for Medusa, and honest reading requires keeping them apart. The filed net operating revenue (from Inc42’s database, citing regulatory filings) is the conservative, comparable figure; the company-stated gross revenue is larger because it includes duties. All figures in ₹ crore.
| Fiscal year | Company-stated gross revenue | Net operating revenue (filings, via Inc42) | Net profit / (loss) |
| FY23 | ≈ 50.4 (company, via newsonprojects) | not separately reported here | not disclosed |
| FY24 | ≈ 132 (company) | 49.8 (Inc42) | not disclosed |
| FY25 | ≈ 175–180 (company projection) | 58.0 (Inc42) | (4.2) (Inc42) |
The takeaways from the table:
- Net revenue grew 16.5% year-on-year in FY25, from ₹49.8 crore to ₹58.0 crore (Inc42) — solid, but far below the growth implied by the gross figures.
- The company remained loss-making, with a ₹4.2 crore net loss in FY25 (Inc42). Medusa has claimed it turned EBITDA-positive during the year (newsonprojects, company-stated), which is a narrower measure than net profit and does not contradict a net loss after interest, depreciation and tax.
- The gross series shows faster headline growth, but it is inflated by pass-through excise and should not be compared to a normal company’s top line.
Where the money comes from
Medusa’s revenue is heavily concentrated in its home market, which is both its strength and its exposure. By the company’s own FY25 breakdown of gross sales:
- Delhi: about 55% of revenue — the anchor market where the brand claims a 7% overall share (newsonprojects, company-stated).
- Uttar Pradesh: about 15% — the second-largest market and the core of its NCR/UP footprint (newsonprojects).
- Punjab: about 12% (newsonprojects).
- Chhattisgarh: about 10%, with the remainder spread across Uttarakhand, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh (newsonprojects).
The surprise sits in the product split. Despite being sold as a “craft” brand, Medusa’s claimed strength is in mainstream strong-beer cans, where it says it holds 20–22% of the Delhi segment, and in mild beer at 17% — the mass-market end, not a niche craft corner. Premium was only about 15% of volumes in FY25 (newsonprojects). In other words, the brand narrative is craft, but the volume engine is value-and-mainstream beer in a single dominant city — which is exactly the concentration the company is now spending its Series A to reduce, through entries into Karnataka (a stated ₹10 crore investment), Haryana, Assam, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, and an August 2026 launch in New Zealand.
The risks
Medusa faces concrete, mechanism-level risks, several of which its own numbers already expose:
- Regulatory and single-state concentration. Alcohol is a state subject, so each new market means separate licensing, excise and — in some states — government-monopoly distribution. With about 55% of revenue from Delhi (company-stated), a single adverse excise change, licensing dispute or policy shift in one city could hit a majority of the business at once. Expansion is the fix, but it is slow and capital-hungry by design.
- Persistent losses on an asset-light base. The company was still loss-making in FY25 (net loss ₹4.2 crore on ₹58.0 crore net revenue, Inc42). Leaning on leased and contract brewing keeps upfront capital low but caps margins and leaves quality and capacity partly in third-party hands until an owned plant is built.
- Well-funded competition. Medusa competes against entrenched, deep-pocketed rivals — legacy strong-beer labels owned by global brewers, plus newer premium challengers such as Bira 91 and Simba. Winning shelf space and on-premise taps against players with far larger marketing and distribution budgets is a continuous cost.
- Very steep public targets. The company has stated it aims for one-third of New Zealand’s retail beer market and 1,000 stores there by 2029, alongside ₹1,200 crore in revenue and 4–5% pan-India share. These are ambitious, company-stated goals against a mature foreign market and strong domestic incumbents; treat them as intent, not forecast, until export volumes and multi-state revenue actually appear in filings.
The takeaway
The transferable lesson from Medusa is about reading a business through its own accounting rather than its press release. A founder can honestly say the brand sells ₹175 crore of beer while filings show ₹58 crore, because in a duty-heavy category the two measure different things — and an investor, a competitor or a curious reader who cannot tell which number is which will misjudge the company entirely. Medusa’s real achievement is narrower and more durable than the headline: it built a genuine, measurable share in one hard, taxed, regulated market before it had the capital to fight nationally. Whether it becomes a lasting brand or a well-marketed regional player will be decided not by its 2029 targets but by whether that ₹4.2 crore loss turns into a profit as the mix shifts toward premium and the footprint widens beyond Delhi.
Frequently asked questions
Who founded Medusa Beverages and when?
Medusa Beverages Private Limited was incorporated on 18 April 2017 by Avneet Singh, who serves as Founder and CEO. Commercial operations began in January 2018. Corporate records list Amardeep Singh and Balinder Singh as fellow directors (Tofler; Zauba Corp).
How much money has Medusa Beverages raised?
Medusa raised a ₹56 crore Series A in January 2025, co-led by Amal N Parikh and Ashwin Kedia, with participation from Ramesh Damani, Nikhil Garg, Crest Opportunities and overseas HNIs. Before that it had raised about ₹13 crore in total; Inc42 pegs cumulative funding at more than $6.5 million (Inc42; Outlook Business).
Why do Medusa’s revenue figures differ so much?
The company quotes gross revenue of about ₹175–180 crore for FY25, which includes state excise and duties passed through to governments. Its net operating revenue in regulatory filings was ₹58.0 crore in FY25 (Inc42). The gap reflects the heavy taxation of beer, not a reporting error.
Is Medusa Beverages profitable?
No. It reported a net loss of ₹4.2 crore in FY25 on net operating revenue of ₹58.0 crore, up 16.5% from ₹49.8 crore in FY24 (Inc42, citing filings). The company has claimed it turned EBITDA-positive during the year, a narrower measure that does not contradict a net loss.
Where is Medusa beer sold?
As of FY25, Medusa was available in seven states — Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh — across more than 7,000 retail outlets and 400-plus HoReCa establishments, with Delhi contributing about 55% of revenue. It began a New Zealand export launch in August 2026 (Inc42; newsonprojects; Open).
Sources
Figures are as of September 2026. Currency converted at $1 ≈ ₹96.0 as of 18 September 2026 (Trading Economics).
- Inc42 — “Medusa Beverages Bags INR 56 Cr To Scale Up Its Operations” and Medusa Beverages company/financials page (January 2025; 2026).
- Outlook Business — “Craft Beer Startup Medusa Raises Rs 56 Crore in Series A Funding” (January 2025).
- Indian Startup News — “Delhi-based craft and premium beer brand Medusa Beverages raises Rs 56 crore” (January 2025).
- Open (openthemagazine.com) — “Medusa Goes Kiwi: Can a ₹58-Crore Indian Beer Brand Conquer New Zealand?” (2026).
- News On Projects — “Medusa Beverages Sets Sights on ₹1,200 Crore Revenue by 2029 with Expansion Drive” (2025).
- YourStory — SMBStory profile of Medusa Beverages and founder Avneet Singh; YourStory company profile (2024–2025).
- Tofler — Medusa Beverages Private Limited company page, CIN U37200DL2017PTC316254 (2026).
- Zauba Corp — Medusa Beverages Private Limited directors and CIN record (2026).
- Trading Economics — USD/INR reference rate, 18 September 2026.
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