BusinessWire India
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], September 12: Athena, a high-protein food brand building for everyday Indian consumption, has raised its pre-seed round from Campus Fund. The company is live in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and now in Chennai.
Athena's first product is a clean-label Greek yogurt delivering 22g of protein in a single 200g cup at INR 75, a price point that makes high-protein dairy affordable enough to eat daily rather than occasionally. Comparable protein servings in the premium chilled category retail at INR 125 to INR 150.
The formulation took over a year. Condensing 22g of protein into one cup without ruining the texture is difficult enough that most global players stop short of 17g. Athena reached it using ultrafiltration, milk protein concentrate, and added milk solids, with no protein isolates, no stabilisers, no preservatives, and no added sugar in the flavoured variants. Shelf life of 30 days is achieved through bioprotective cultures.
Customer pull was immediate. Athena did roughly INR 1 lakh in sales on launch day from a single organic post on r/Fitness_India, which went on to 1.1 million views, 4,024 upvotes, and 1,058 comments. There was no media plan, no performance marketing, and no influencer roster behind it. Since launching in June 2025, the company has built a 40 to 45% returning customer rate, with approximately 70% of revenue coming from prepaid subscriptions and more than 500 organic customer posts about the brand. Athena has also emerged as a category leader on FirstClub, extending this traction beyond its own direct-to-consumer channel.
"Athena felt like an obvious product the moment we tried it. Consumers want more protein, but they want it from clean, familiar food they can eat every day. Adarsh and Siddhant have delivered 22g of protein in a great tasting INR 75 cup, and then built the supply chain and operating systems that make that price point actually work at scale. Several of us at Campus Fund were paying customers before Athena arrived as a deal. That is not something a diligence process can manufacture." - Richa Bajpai, Founder and CEO, Campus Fund.
Athena has built a reliable operating model around subscriptions, demand forecasting, and delivery planning, helping the company manage a perishable product with low wastage as it expands into new cities.
Athena Protein was co-founded by Adarsh Humne, who holds a BTech in Computer Science from NIT Raipur and an MBA from Imperial College Business School (Class of 2023). He leads technology, growth, and finance. Siddhant Humne, who studied Luxury Brand Management at FAD Institute and holds a BBA from IFIM Business School, previously built and scaled an infrastructure business. He leads product R&D, cold chain, fulfilment, and on-ground operations. The business was bootstrapped entirely on the founders' personal savings, with no borrowings and no prior external capital.
"We started Athena because protein shouldn't have to mean another powder, shake, or bar in your day. We wanted to make something people look forward to eating, with enough protein to matter and at a price that makes daily consumption possible. The response in Bengaluru and Hyderabad tells us this can be a much larger everyday food brand." - Adarsh Humne, Co-founder, Athena Protein.
The capital will fund expansion into new cities, quick-commerce onboarding including Blinkit and Zepto, stronger manufacturing and cold-chain capacity, team hiring, and new product development. Athena plans to move from two cities to five or six over the coming year, with Chennai live this month and Pune and Mumbai to follow. New products are also in development as Athena expands its ambition to make high-protein food an everyday habit.
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