A frustrating shopping trip for a newborn turned into a Rs 25 crore children’s brand. Brothers Atish Shah and Ashil Shah launched Polka Tots in 2018 after discovering how few organized options existed in India’s baby care market.
The timing proves telling. India’s baby care market reached USD 4.4 billion in 2024, climbing 9.3% annually according to IMARC Group. Yet a decade ago, new parents had nowhere to turn. Families relied on hand-me-down cloths for swaddling and steel bottles for feeding. Rising incomes and growing awareness changed expectations, but supply lagged far behind demand.
That gap became personal in 2016. Ashil’s wife was expecting their first child, and Atish, then living in California, struggled to find quality baby products to bring home. “There were not more than 2 or 3 brands in India then,” Atish told Startup Pedia. Unorganized retail dominated, while e-commerce platforms had few established baby brands.
The brothers spent a year researching. Their family’s two-decade-old retail background helped, but they treated the venture as new territory. The breakthrough came with swaddles, a product largely absent from Indian stores. They rejected plain white cloth or repurposed old garments. Instead, they designed purposeful swaddles and launched on Amazon with three SKUs.
Bootstrapped with Rs 20 lakh, Polka Tots initially sourced 90% of products from China. That ratio has flipped. The Ahmedabad-based company now manufactures 80-90% domestically and runs its own production unit.
Product education proved the hardest challenge. Swaddles were unfamiliar, so the founders filmed videos where Atish demonstrated features directly. That hands-on approach worked.
Today Polka Tots offers over 25 non-garment products including an hip-seat designed for C-section mothers. Their garment line, launched four years ago, now features 400+ designs. Ethnic wear leads sales. Last year brought Rs 25 crore in gross sales and Rs 15 crore net.
Next up: girls’ wear and a broader return to traditional Indian design aesthetics.
