Madhumakhiwala: From Gorakhpur’s Apiaries to Global Classrooms, Honey Startup Becomes a Symbol of New Uttar Pradesh’s Growth

-Aditya Amitabh Trivedii, (State Head)

Lucknow, 12 September : A humble dream that began with 50 bee boxes in Gorakhpur has today turned into one of India’s most admired honey startups. Madhumakhiwala, founded by young entrepreneur Nimit Singh, has grown from a rural venture in 2016 into a nationally celebrated and internationally recognized brand known for its pure raw honey, sustainable practices, and social impact.

In July 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised Nimit Singh during Mann Ki Baat, bringing the story of Madhumakhiwala into every Indian household. Since then, the startup has expanded its seasonal apiaries to 10 states, offering provenance-based honey like Jamun from Katarniaghat forest and Lychee from Muzaffarpur, Bihar.

Madhumakhiwala now supplies to major domestic buyers and has also caught the eye of international markets, securing orders from Dubai and bulk interest from Kenyan buyers at World Food India 2024. Its journey has also reached global classrooms — in May 2025, a detailed case study titled ‘Madhumakhiwala: FMCG Marketing and Go-To-Market Strategy’ was published by Ivey Publishing and listed at Harvard Business Publishing, placing the Gorakhpur-born startup in the curriculum of top management schools worldwide.

What makes Madhumakhiwala unique is its deep community engagement. The brand has trained nearly 800 families in beekeeping and beeswax crafts, transforming villages like Chainpurwa in Barabanki by providing dignified livelihoods. Women in these villages today prepare beeswax diyas and honey-based gift packs that have become festival favourites, especially during Diwali. Villagers have crafted and sold over 12 lakh beeswax lamps across Lucknow and neighbouring districts — proving that honey and bee-derived products are not only nutritional but also culturally significant for eco-friendly gifting during India’s biggest festivals.

The mastermind, Nimit Singh, elaborating upon his journey reflected that youth and entrepreneurs from states like Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Madhya Pradesh are visiting Barabanki to learn beekeeping techniques and replicate Madhumakhiwala’s model in their regions. This inter-state inspiration emphasises how a startup from eastern Uttar Pradesh is fueling India’s ‘Sweet Revolution’ beyond borders.

Every jar of Madhumakhiwala honey is unheated, unadulterated, and chemical-free — reflecting the brand’s commitment to purity and pollinator conservation. By ensuring bees are kept healthy and unharmed during harvesting, the company champions sustainability as a business model. At the same time, eco-friendly products like beeswax lamps are reducing dependence on paraffin-based candles, helping families celebrate festivals more responsibly.

Founder Nimit Singh openly credits his journey to government support. He began scaling operations with the help of the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister’s Self-Employment Scheme, and later received assistance under the PM Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PM-FME) Scheme.

His story reflects a larger transformation in Uttar Pradesh under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s eight-year rule. The state, once seen as a difficult place to do business, has today emerged as a Top Achiever in India’s Ease of Doing Business rankings, with a thriving startup ecosystem hosting over 14,000 registered startups. Improvements in law and order have given entrepreneurs confidence, while schemes and single-window systems like Nivesh Mitra have made compliance faster and smoother. For ventures like Madhumakhiwala, this meant they could focus on quality, exports, and innovation without fear or red tape.

Madhumakhiwala is more than a business — it is a building block in India’s vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047. By creating sustainable livelihoods, promoting eco-friendly gifting traditions, and inspiring entrepreneurs from across states, the brand embodies how Uttar Pradesh is contributing to the national development roadmap. Each hive installed, each family trained, and each export order fulfilled represents the new face of Viksit Uttar Pradesh @2047 — a state that is combining tradition, technology, and transformation to power India’s growth.

“Madhumakhiwala represents the spirit of a new Uttar Pradesh,” says founder Nimit Singh. “We started small, with just bees and a dream, and today we are exporting honey, training families, and being studied by global institutions. The support of government schemes and the safer business environment in UP over the last eight years gave us the confidence to grow. Our mission is simple — to keep honey pure, to keep livelihoods growing, and to show the world that great enterprises can come from rural India.”