Hector Beverages (Paper Boat)

Hector Beverages is the company behind Paper Boat, set up by Neeraj Kakkar, James Nuttall, Suhas Misra and Neeraj Biyani. In the company's telling, the idea came from a flask of homemade aam panna that one of the four used to bring to shared lunches.

Inc42 reports that Kakkar and Biyani are former Coca-Cola executives and that the company's first product was an energy drink, Tzinga. It later moved to fruit-based drinks in traditional Indian flavours such as aam panna and jaljeera.

The drinks are made at a plant in Manesar, Haryana, opened in 2011, and a second plant in Mysuru, Karnataka. Over time the company added Paper Boat chikki, Swing juices, dry fruit trail mixes, Zero Sugar sparkling water and a Nata de Coco drink range.

Inc42 reports that Paper Boat sells in metros as well as in Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns. It also reports that Kakkar has said the company wants to remain an independent business.