Headline

Co-founder & CBO, Craev Foods | Scaling Bakery Manufacturing for India’s F&B Ecosystem | Ex-VP Sales, SmartQ (Compass Group) | IIMB | NITK

About

F&B Founder | B2B Business Builder | Scaling Food Brands Hi, I’m Chinmaya Muralidhar - Founder of Craev, where we’re building the future of B2B bakery solutions. With a journey shaped by engineering, an MBA, and a decade across sales and strategy, I operate at the intersection of building, scaling, and leading high-growth B2B F&B businesses. Core Competencies • Founder Mindset: Zero-to-one builder with an obsession for solving real problems and creating products customers love. • Business Builder: Skilled at taking ideas to execution - from concept to revenue - with a focus on speed, scalability, and operational excellence. • Growth Leadership: Strong command of B2B and enterprise growth levers, market expansion, customer acquisition, and revenue maximization. • Team Leadership: Building high-performance teams grounded in trust, clarity, and culture empowering people to own outcomes. Education & Experience With an MBA from IIM Bangalore and a BTech from NITK Surathkal, I bring a strong foundation blended with nearly a decade of hands-on experience. Earlier, as Vice President at SmartQ, I led revenue growth, built high performing sales team and helped scale the company 12X in 4 years. Today, I’m building a next-generation bakery manufacturing organisation with a sharp eye on product innovation!

Location

Bengaluru

Work experience

Co-Founder & CBO at Craev, Jul 2025 - Present · 1 yr 3 mos, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, India’s F&B industry runs on great food, but behind every great FMCG brand, QSR chain, hotel, or institutional kitchen is a manufacturing partner that almost nobody talks about. That’s the gap Craev Foods is built to fill. We are India’s scalable B2B bakery backend — powering some of the country’s most recognised F&B brands from a 30,000 sq ft facility in Bengaluru. What we’ve built: • 100+ SKUs across breads, cakes, savouries & pastries • 20+ clients across QSR, HoReCa & institutional segments • 150+ strong team • ₹24 Cr ARR and growing As CBO, I lead business development, key accounts, pricing strategy, growth and P&L — with a singular focus on making Craev the most trusted name in B2B bakery manufacturing in India.

Vice President of Sales at SmartQ, Apr 2023 - Aug 2025 · 2 yrs 5 mos, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, 1. Built a High-Performing Sales Team: Established and led a cohesive, high-achieving sales team of 15 members, focusing on strategic hiring, skill development, and creating a results-driven culture. This team consistently exceeded expectations and contributed significantly to the company’s growth trajectory. 2. Achieved 200% Target Completion for Two Consecutive Years: Successfully drove sales initiatives that led to 200% target achievement over two consecutive years, showcasing a deep commitment to meeting and surpassing ambitious revenue goals through targeted strategies and strong team collaboration. 3. Led the Largest Sales Team in the Organization: Took charge of the organization’s largest sales team, setting high standards for performance and fostering a collaborative environment that enabled us to consistently meet and exceed company-wide objectives. 4. Negotiated High-Profit Accounts: Skillfully negotiated and closed accounts with nearly 70% profitability, leveraging strong relationship management and negotiation skills to secure deals that substantially contributed to the company’s bottom line. 5. Regional Leadership Across Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra: Directed sales operations across three key regions—Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra—implementing tailored regional strategies that addressed market nuances and optimized performance across diverse territories. 6. Significant Revenue Growth Across Regions: Drove substantial revenue growth in key markets, achieving a 2.5x increase in Tamil Nadu, a 2.2x increase in Karnataka, and a 1.25x increase in Maharashtra. These outcomes underscore a targeted approach to market expansion and customer acquisition. 7. Built and Managed a Team of 8 Associate Vice Presidents (AVPs): Established and oversaw a team of 8 AVPs, focusing on mentorship, strategic guidance, and empowering them to drive growth across verticals

AVP - Strategy & Growth at SmartQ, Feb 2021 - Apr 2023 · 2 yrs 3 mos, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, Double-Digit Revenue Growth: Engineered and executed growth strategies that led to consistent double-digit revenue growth, positioning the company as a market leader in the food aggregation industry. Market Expansion: Expanded the company's market presence by entering new regions and markets. Sales Strategy Development: Crafted sales strategies that align with the company's overall business objectives. Sales Efficiency: Implemented processes and tools to improve sales efficiency, including optimizing sales operations and reducing customer acquisition costs. Sales Team Leadership: Built and led a high-performing enterprise sales team, providing coaching, mentorship, and a results-driven culture that consistently met or exceeded sales quotas Sales Process: Improved sales processes, including lead generation, qualification, and closing, resulting in increased efficiency and higher conversion rates.

Co-Founder at Qwickpay, Feb 2020 - Feb 2021 · 1 yr 1 mo, Bangalore Urban, Karnataka, India, Co-founded Qwickpay, a Closed-Loop payments platform digitising Universities; Incubated at NSRCEL and piloted at IIM Bangalore. Delivered consistent usage for 2+ years at IIMB, driving 95%+ digital adoption across students in a previously cash-dominated environment. Handled over ₹4 Cr+ in annual GMV (with high repeat usage and platform retention across closed ecosystems. Absorbed by SmartQ, aligning with their enterprise food-tech roadmap; transitioned post-acquisition to support integration and growth.

Summer Associate at Infosys Consulting, Apr 2019 - Jun 2019 · 3 mos, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, 1. Sales Enhancement Strategies: Throughout my internship, I actively contributed to a consulting project focused on enhancing B2C sales. 2. Data-Driven Insights: I gained hands-on experience in utilizing data analytics to identify customer trends, preferences, and pain points. 3. Client Collaboration: I had the privilege of collaborating closely with our client, working together to understand their unique challenges and align our consulting solutions with their business objectives.

Enterprise Sales Manager at SmartQ, May 2016 - Feb 2018 · 1 yr 10 mos, Bangalore, 1. Driving Client Acquisitions and Revenue Growth : Held the responsibility for spearheading client acquisitions within the startup and corporate sectors, consistently exceeding revenue targets. 2. Strategic Partnership Building: Partnered with IPCs and Facility management companies to scale to large enterprises 3 .Cultivating Long-Term Customer Relationships: Building strong, enduring relationships with both new and existing customers was a core aspect of my role. This commitment to customer satisfaction played a pivotal role in our sustained success. 4. Team Leadership and Performance Metrics: I successfully assembled and led an on-field sales team, implementing performance metrics and incentivization strategies that drove results and motivated the team to excel.

Education

Master of Business Administration, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore

Bachelor of Technology - BTech, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, National Institute of Technology Karnataka