Name of the Beneficiary

Prince Mandal

Name of the Enterprise Floated

Emojis cafe

Present Turnover

₹ 5 Lakh

Employment Generated

30

Inital Investments

• ₹ 2 Lakh

Awards Received

• State Handloom & Handicraft Award, 2022

Prince Mandal, a student at Government Degree College, Maldevta, Dehradun, was inspired by a short video of a Japanese vending machine dispensing cupcakes in bottles. Motivated by this concept, Prince decided to launch a business of making local vending machines. After conducting market research, he identified excellent potential but the business required significant capital investment. Coming from a lower middle-class family, it was financially difficult for Prince and his father, who owns a small brick-and-mortar store, to start this business.

In the meantime, the DUY team conducted a two-day boot camp at his college. Prince participated in the camp and presented the concept of the vending machine business. This idea impressed the DUY mentors and he was selected for a 12-day Entrepreneurship development programme.

While the vending machine concept was ruled out after various considerations, the idea of cupcakes packed in cane was held on to and gradually built bigger. The idea had a huge market opportunity. After discussion and brainstorming, Emojis Cafe was established, specializing in cupcakes packaged in cane. To address financial issues, DUY team provided bank linkages. After a rigorous 12-month scrutiny process, Prince successfully created a cupcake packaged in cane that increased the product’s shelf life to 21 days, for which he was awarded a seed fund of Rs. 75,000.

Emojis cafe aims to use biodegradable packaging and minimize wastage through a just-in-time inventory model. The business sources raw ingredients from local farms in Dehradun. It also plans to integrate a zero-waste kitchen model with solar drying and processing to further align with green practices.