Revant Himatsingka, the person behind FoodPharmer, practically misplaced all the pieces after quitting a ₹2 crore job to battle deceptive meals advertising in India—till an surprising lifeline got here from Zerodha co-founder Nithin Kamath.
In December 2023, Himatsingka had left behind a high-paying U.S. job to return to India and tackle Large Meals, calling out misleading practices along with his signature blunt type. However the daring transfer introduced penalties: eight authorized notices, zero earnings, and mounting burnout.
“I used to be buried. No earnings, no clue what to do subsequent,” Himatsingka shared on X. It was at a public occasion that Kamath—impressed by FoodPharmer’s work—made a proposal that shocked the influencer. “Don’t fear, should you want any monetary assist, let me know, I’ll assist out,” Kamath informed him.
When Himatsingka requested what Kamath needed in return, the reply was much more startling: “None. I don’t need something. I simply need to assist you.”
The second went viral. “It wasn’t charity,” Himatsingka posted later. “It was perception. Perception that doing the fitting factor is price backing.”
Although Himatsingka declined the monetary assist, the affect was lasting. “You didn’t simply provide me assist. You impressed me,” he wrote.
Since returning to India, Himatsingka has turned down all meals model offers to protect credibility—even those who may have erased his monetary struggles. “The cash these corporations supplied may have modified my life,” he stated. “However I need to stay 100% unbiased.”
For 14 months, he earned nothing, going through authorized prices and exhaustion. “I’m not struggling financially,” he clarified. “However I’m struggling to scale our affect. And I’m very burnt out.”
Kamath’s gesture turned a turning level, symbolizing what actual assist seems like in a metrics-obsessed world. In standing agency, each males reminded India’s startup and creator ecosystems that perception, not cash, is the true foreign money of change.
