Brothers Ayan and Ani Sanyal used this pitch deck to raise $1 million for their South Asian-inspired business, Kolkata Chai Co.

The first eight slides in the pitch deck showcase the brothers' connection to chai through their Indian American heritage, frequent visits to the country where chai originated, and how the beverage has impacted consumers everywhere, not just South Asians.

"Even I didn't realize just how big the South Asian influence was," Ani Sanyal said. "We're in an era of founders being embraced for the diversity in their perspectives, so for us, we really wanted to show how proud we are of our culture."

He also refers to Kolkata Chai and other Asian brands as "Asian-inspired" and not "Asian," because the products aren't just for people who identify as a part of that community.

"They're for everyone," he said. "We want to become the household name for chai and don't want to limit our audience to only South Asians."

Next, the duo outlined how their brand is different from competitors and how they're filling a gap in the industry.

The brothers started Kolkata Chai because they believed existing brands didn't create an authentic version of the drink. By having a physical location in New York City where people can see chai being made, just like in India, their business is curating a special experience for customers while delivering high-quality chai, Ani said.

He added that he and his brother started their pitch deck by explaining the cultural significance of chai to educate investors who may be unfamiliar.

"It's a risk that we took," he said. "We've built our brand on storytelling, and we didn't want to deviate from what was natural to us."

Ani emphasized that it's important to show how much your current customers enjoy the product, so that potential investors can see that your business is filling a unique gap in the market. He and his brother opted for a lot of visual imagery throughout the pitch deck, including photos of customers enjoying chai in front of the store and accolades from online reviews.

"We wanted to focus on visuals, because we're early on in the business," Ani said. "We realize our numbers aren't going to wow anybody, so the photos help show how effective our product is."

Next, the brothers focused on their growth plan. Ani explained that the numbers in a pitch deck should be as accurate as possible. They listed the revenue they hope to book each year until 2025, and how they plan to do it.

"We went viral for being a brick-and-mortar store, so that's what people associate with us," he said. "This growth plan is to show that we're heading more into e-commerce."

Ani and his brother are especially proud of how they've been able to execute marketing campaigns with major brands.

Kolkata Chai recently partnered with Uber to curate a video about delivering chai to people's homes and teamed up with Instagram to host a 500-person event celebrating Diwali, the festival of lights. They've also hosted several events at their café with different New York City-based businesses like the South Asian-inspired skin-care brand Aavrani, the Black-owned ice-cream shop Mikey Likes It, and the digital, South Asian-focused publication Brown Girl Magazine.

Ani explained that displaying these partnerships helps investors see the impact your brand is already making and previews what you can do in the future with more reach.

"This is a moment for me where I'm thinking, 'Wow, we've done what we said we were going to do,'" he said. "Now it's about presenting what the next version of Kolkata Chai will look like."