Who Are We?
Alma mater (Latin: alma "nourishing/kind", mater "mother") is an allegorical Latin phrase for a university or college. It is used to refer to a school which an individual has attended. Alma Mater in a literal sense is translated as "nourishing mother," "nursing mother," or "fostering mother," suggesting that a school provides intellectual nourishment to its students. We are a group of enthusiasts who strive to convert people’s imagination into reality. Alma Mater understands the diverse needs of our valued customers and the diverse cultures/ backgrounds they come from, hence we try our level best to meet their varied demands and keep our customers happy.
What We Do?
We turn People’s imagination into reality. We cater to all the customization needs, may it is for a family function, friends reunion, or for any event or college festival, or just for one’s own purpose. We are pioneers for mass customization in India along with the online customization in India. With being associated with Tier 1 colleges like IITs, IIMs, BITS and many more, we aim to be the premier brand for customized merchandise for all college students.
What Is Our Mission?
To become the embodiment that offers a blend of memories, pride, and passion through personalized merchandise to all the Corporates and Colleges in India that unifies them irrespective of gender, age, and geography.
Our Story
Alma Mater began in 2009 when two classmates Varun and Rohn from Bishop Cottons, Bangalore, were having a round of beers in one of Bangalore's oldest pubs, Noon wines. Under the heavy influence of freshly draught Kingfisher beer, they started reminiscing about their good old school days and how they should get hoodies made for their school. Like any two excited 22-year-olds in a bar, they decided to transform this into a business idea. On a piece of tissue paper, they wrote down their business model "Make Merchandise for every school and college in India.
The boys had no business experience whatsoever and had no clue how they would go about executing the statement there wrote on that small piece of tissue paper. But they had the passion and the determination.
So in November of 2009 they launched Alma Mater which was India's first company dealing exclusively in school and college merchandise with a seed capital of just one lakh rupees. The initial days were really tough and they ran the company out of their garage with no employees. Soon enough things began to change and the company started growing significantly. Using innovative marketing techniques, the company slowly started reaching out to students all across the country.
By the end of 2010, they had moved into a spacious office in a leafy neighborhood in Koramangala and already had 5 people working for them. By 2011 the company was growing at 300% and worked with over 600 schools and colleges in 70 Different cities across India. It's been 9 years since the boys started Alma Mater and the company is now India's largest customized Merchandise Company for schools and colleges. They have over 65 people working for them and the company has worked with over 2500 schools and colleges in over 190 Different cities having customized over 2 million Tees and Hoodies.
Varun and Rohn can still often be found in noon wines planning and scheming to take Alma Mater to Greater Heights, sans the tissue paper, of course! How I braved Anu aunty and co-founded a million dollar company.