New Delhi, July 21, 2026: Ankur Jain, the founder of Bira 91, has formally stepped down from the board and all executive positions at B9 Beverages, the parent company of India’s most recognised homegrown craft beer brand, after reaching a settlement with the company’s lenders. In a personal letter dated July 21, 2026, Jain confirmed that all claims and litigation between both sides have been withdrawn, personal guarantees he had given over the years for corporate loans have been released, and both parties have agreed to a clean and full close of this chapter.
The settlement brings to an end a months-long financial and governance crisis at B9 Beverages, during which the company was unable to pay suppliers or procure raw materials, leading to extended supply disruptions, with Bira 91 products absent from shelves during key sales periods, weakening distributor confidence and accelerating the loss of market presence. Over the past year, the workforce shrank from around 700 employees to about 260 as layoffs and resignations followed the company’s financial decline.
In his letter, Jain acknowledged the financial failure directly: “In the last year and a half, we couldn’t find capital, at any cost, under any terms. And that meant we broke a promise to our people that I had kept successfully for more than ten years. I am sorry to every employee who didn’t get what they were owed, when they were owed it. That is on me, and I will carry it.”
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The road to this point had been long and painful. In October 2025, more than 250 employees petitioned the board and key investors including Kirin Holdings and Peak XV Partners, seeking Jain’s removal, citing corporate governance lapses, lack of transparency, and prolonged delays in employee salaries and statutory dues. Investors were preparing to infuse around ₹400 crore at a reduced valuation, with an option to add another ₹100 crore, to clear liabilities and restart the business but only under professional management.
Jain wrote that the settlement involved nearly 30 different stakeholders with genuinely competing interests, calling the fact that all parties reached agreement “close to a miracle.” He described his exit as the right outcome: “Bira 91 needs fresh capital, a clear balance sheet, and a management team that can build the next phase without the weight of everything that came before.”
The story of Bira 91 began in 2015 when Jain incorporated the company at the age of 28 with no job, no external funding and ₹500 a day borrowed from his mother for auto fare. His mother owned 40 per cent of the company at incorporation. From that beginning, Bira 91 grew into one of India’s most visible consumer brands, pioneering the premium craft beer category and building the “Imagined in India” narrative at a time when the idea of a homegrown beer brand competing with international labels seemed improbable. Key shareholders including Japan’s Kirin Holdings and Peak XV Partners had made it clear that fresh funding would only come under professional management.
In his letter, Jain said he would cheer loudly from the sidelines for the team that built Bira 91 and for a brand that he hopes “has decades still ahead of it.” He signed off with the line that started it all: “Refreshingly modern beers. Imagined in India. Still true, with or without me at the helm.”
For India’s beer industry, Bira 91’s next phase under new management and with fresh capital will be watched closely. The brand built significant consumer equity over a decade, and whether new leadership can leverage that equity while stabilising operations and restoring distributor and employee trust will be the defining question heading into 2027.
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