Alumni Jigar Mehta and Paras Fatnani co-founded the brand Honey Twigs, which featured on Shark Tank India’s third season.
Honey Twigs packs honey in single servings and offers five infused honey variants and two natural honey variants. The brand is focused on making honey mess free and portable with high quality ingredients. The business secured an investment deal of ₹75 lakhs (approximately £72,000) for a 3% equity from Shark Tank India investors Anupam Mittal, Peyush Bansal and Ritesh Agarwal.
Jigar Mehta and Paras Fatnani graduated from the Marketing Communications MA in 2009. Jigar Mehta is also an alumni advisor for the University of Westminster India Alumni Association.
Jigar said: “The idea of Honey Twigs came to me during my dissertation. I was encouraged by Jonathan Pike, the Head of our department. I started the company and the brand Honey Twigs in 2015 with my classmate from the University of Westminster, Paras Fatnani. We aim to make Honey Twigs a global brand and are currently in nine countries already.
Being on Shark Tank India was a surreal moment for us, having watched the American version for almost 13 seasons. We did not only get interest in our product from all five Sharks there but managed to get a deal for exactly what we asked for from three of them. This is a huge validation and a proud moment not only for us but for everyone who knows us and has been a part of our journey. I would sincerely like to thank my teachers during my Master’s, especially Jon Pike, for teaching us to push ahead and the University for encouraging us to realise this dream. This is just the beginning!”
The University of Westminster is committed to making enterprise inclusive and accessible to the whole Westminster community. Recognising that international students bring unique perspectives and aspirations, the University’s entrepreneurial hub, Westminster Enterprise Network (WeNetwork), ensures all student and graduate entrepreneurs have access to a wide range of programmes and opportunities.
Supporting students' entrepreneurial endeavours contributes toward the Decent Work and Economic Growth (8) development goal of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which were adopted by the University of Westminster to help make the University a more sustainable, responsible and inclusive place to live, work and study. Through their business, the Westminster alumni are contributing to the development goal of Good Health and Well-being (3).
Professor Dibyesh Anand, Interim Deputy Vice Chancellor for Employability and Global Engagement, said: "When we see our alumni convert their educational experience at Westminster into something that is not only entrepreneurial but contributes to health and wellbeing of the society in a sustainable manner, we feel immensely proud. We wish Jigar and Paras the best for more success and invite them to keep sharing their learning and entrepreneurial experience with our current students and alumni from across the world."
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