Two decades, seven industries, and one habit I picked up at eleven years old that never went away.
I was eleven the first time I stepped into a wholesale grocery warehouse and understood, in some small way, what it meant to run a business. That warehouse belonged to my family — Shivam Agencies — and it supplied some of Delhi’s most demanding institutional clients: the President’s Estate, a majority of the city’s leading hospitals, and a long list of embassies. I wasn’t old enough to appreciate what that kind of trust meant at the time. I just knew that orders had to go out on time, relationships had to be maintained, and there was no room for shortcuts.
Almost everything I’ve built since traces its roots to those early years. Here’s the fuller picture, at a glance, before I walk through how it came together.
| 20+ Years in Business | 7 Ventures Founded | 7 Hotels, Shanti Group | 2 Countries — India & USA |
01 Learning the Fundamentals
Shivam Agencies gave me my first education in business — but it was an education in the fundamentals: procurement, logistics, institutional sales, and the kind of customer management where your reputation is your only real asset. By the time I was ready to build something of my own, I understood that distribution businesses live and die on reliability.
That understanding shaped my next step. In 2013, I founded Aman Stores, a consumer goods distribution business. We took on the distribution of Nutralite (Zydus Wellness) and Kellogg’s India products across Delhi — and more than a decade later, Aman Stores is still operating, still serving that same retail ecosystem I set out to build relationships within.
Not every venture needs to be disruptive. Some just need to be dependable.
02 Expanding Into Food and Restaurants
By 2015, I was ready to expand beyond pure distribution. I founded Shri Krishna Agencies, which took on the North India distribution of Poorna Chicken and Paper Boat beverages, while also giving me my first real taste of restaurant operations.
We developed several restaurant ventures during this period, including a flagship location at Delhi International Airport — a high-visibility, high-pressure environment that taught me a great deal about operating under scrutiny. Shri Krishna Agencies remained active until 2018. It didn’t continue indefinitely, but it showed me how much I enjoyed the operational complexity of hospitality-adjacent businesses — something that would matter enormously a few years later.
What that chapter taught me
- Consistency matters more in public-facing operations than almost anywhere else in business.
- Distribution relationships and hospitality operations reward the same instinct: reliability under pressure.
- Not every venture is meant to run forever — knowing when a chapter is complete is its own kind of discipline.
03 A Detour Into Infrastructure
Between 2018 and 2021, I partnered on a different kind of venture altogether: Shreem Enterprises, through which we executed government infrastructure contracts across Dehradun and Mussoorie — road construction, street development, and other public works.
It was a departure from consumer-facing business, and an important one. Infrastructure work operates on entirely different timelines and incentives than retail or hospitality; it taught me how to navigate government processes, manage long-gestation projects, and deliver on public commitments where the stakes and scrutiny are of a different nature entirely.
04 Betting on Technology
In 2019, I founded Ploogl Technologies Private Limited. It didn’t start out as the AI-focused company it is today — Ploogl began in rental solutions, a much narrower proposition. But as I spent more time in the space, it became clear that the real opportunity wasn’t in the rental model itself, but in the technology underlying it.
Over time, Ploogl evolved into a company focused on artificial intelligence, enterprise technology solutions, product development, and digital innovation, while also making early-stage investments in emerging technologies.
The businesses that last aren’t the ones that stubbornly stick to their original plan — they’re the ones willing to follow the evidence, even when it means rebuilding the thesis.
05 Entering Hospitality
If Shri Krishna Agencies gave me my first exposure to hospitality-adjacent operations, 2022 is when I committed to the sector fully. I acquired Hotel Shanti Plaza, and that acquisition became the foundation of what is now the Shanti Group of Hotels. Since then, we’ve expanded through the ownership, development, construction, and operation of seven hotels.
Hospitality is unforgiving in a way few other industries are — the guest experience is judged in real time, every single day, by every single person who walks through the door. It’s one of the purest tests of operational discipline that exists in business, and a large part of why I’ve committed so much of my time and capital to growing the Shanti Group deliberately, rather than rushing to scale for its own sake.
That same year, I was honored with the Entrepreneur of the Year Award, presented by Global Hues — a recognition I remain genuinely grateful for, not because of the award itself, but because of what it represented: two decades of decisions, most of them unglamorous, finally being seen as part of a coherent whole.
06 Going Global
In 2025, I took the most significant step yet in expanding beyond India: I founded Sylvanox Incorporation, based in the United States. Sylvanox is an international investment company focused on early-stage investments across technology, artificial intelligence, fintech, hospitality, and real estate.
Through Sylvanox, we’ve made investments across globally recognized technology companies, high-growth startups, hospitality ventures, and emerging businesses — reflecting the same long-term, value-creation mindset that has guided every business I’ve built. Founding Sylvanox wasn’t about diversifying for its own sake; it was a natural extension of everything I’d learned: that the best investments, like the best businesses, are the ones you’re willing to stay involved with over years, not quarters.
07 Giving Back
Beyond my own ventures, I serve as a Trustee of Maharaja Agrasen Hospitals, contributing to the governance and strategic direction of one of India’s respected healthcare institutions. Healthcare is one of those sectors where good governance has consequences that extend well beyond a balance sheet, and it’s a privilege to contribute to an institution that serves so many people.
08 The Full Chronology
For anyone who prefers the record straight, here’s the business chronology in full — every venture, its dates, and my role in it.
| Period | Organization | Overview |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 – Present | Shivam Agencies Early Business Experience | Family wholesale grocery business; clients included the President’s Estate, leading Delhi hospitals, and embassies. |
| 2013 – Present | Aman Stores Founder | FMCG distribution — Nutralite (Zydus Wellness) and Kellogg’s India across Delhi. |
| 2015 – 2018 | Shri Krishna Agencies Founder | North India distribution of Poorna Chicken and Paper Boat; restaurant ventures including a flagship at Delhi International Airport. |
| 2018 – 2021 | Shreem Enterprises Co-Founder | Government infrastructure contracts — road construction and public works across Dehradun and Mussoorie. |
| 2019 – Present | Ploogl Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Founder & Chairman | Began in rental solutions; evolved into AI, enterprise technology, product development, and early-stage tech investment. |
| 2022 – Present | Shanti Group of Hotels Founder & Chairman | Hospitality group built from the acquisition of Hotel Shanti Plaza; now seven owned, developed, and operated hotels. |
| 2025 – Present | Sylvanox Incorporation (USA) Founder & Chairman | International investment company — technology, AI, fintech, hospitality, and real estate across the US and India. |
09 Where I Focus Today
Focus Areas — capabilities
Business Building & ScalingStrategic & Early-Stage InvestmentOperations & GovernanceProduct & Digital Innovation
Sector Interests — industries
HospitalityTechnology & Artificial IntelligenceConsumer Distribution / FMCGInfrastructure & Public WorksFintech & Real Estate
10 Education & Recognition
Education B.Tech, Computer Science & Engineering — Amity University Senior Secondary Education (Class XII) — Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Recognition Entrepreneur of the Year, 2022 — presented by Global Hues Trustee, Maharaja Agrasen Hospitals
11 What I’ve Learned Along the Way
If there’s a single thread connecting a wholesale grocery warehouse, an FMCG distribution business, a restaurant at an international airport, government road contracts, an AI company, a group of seven hotels, and an international investment vehicle, it’s this:
- Build things meant to last — not things designed for a headline.
- Stay close to operations — you can’t know when something needs to change if you’re not near the details.
- Be willing to rebuild the thesis — Ploogl wasn’t originally an AI company, and Shanti wasn’t originally seven hotels.
- Think in years, not quarters — every venture on this list took time to prove itself.
I hold a Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science & Engineering from Amity University, and while I didn’t set out to become a hospitality operator or an infrastructure contractor when I was studying, that technical foundation has shaped how I think about every business I’ve since built.
Twenty years in, I’m still doing what I did at eleven: showing up, paying attention to the details, and building relationships meant to outlast any single deal. The industries have changed. The instinct hasn’t.
If you’re building something and think there’s a fit with what I do — hospitality, technology, distribution, or early-stage investment — I’d genuinely like to hear from you.
Varun Mittal
Entrepreneur & Investor · New Delhi, India