{
  "id": 19906422,
  "title": "Bengaluru woman turns Rs 5,000 cupcakes into Rs 1 crore bakery",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/14/bengaluru-woman-turns-rs-5-000-cupcakes-into-rs-1-crore-bakery",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-11-14T02:29:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Times of India",
    "slug": "times-of-india",
    "url": "https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/people/bengaluru-woman-who-started-selling-cupcakes-at-18-launched-a-bakery-with-just-rs-5000-survived-a-six-week-covid-shutdown-and-built-a-corporate-gifting-business-that-later-reported-over-rs-1-crore-in-fy24-revenue/articleshow/135796053.cms"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Bengaluru-based entrepreneur Megna Jain turned a modest investment of Rs 5,000 into a thriving bakery and corporate gifting business. Starting from Christ University in 2018, Megna sold homemade cupcakes during college breaks, attracting attention from her classmates and colleagues. Despite initial resistance and challenges, including a professor disapproving of her idea and disruptions from her building's caretaker, Megna persevered and eventually founded Dream A Dozen, an all-women kitchen specializing in cakes, cookies, and customised corporate gifting.\n\nDuring the Covid-19 pandemic, Megna shifted her business model to focus on corporate gifting, identifying an opportunity amid the crisis. This pivot proved successful, as Dream A Dozen delivered around 1,500 gift boxes during Diwali 2020, helping the company recover losses and achieve nearly double the sales of the previous year. Today, the Bengaluru-based venture boasts over 500 clients, offering customised gifting solutions featuring cookies, gourmet teas, crackers, cakes, and other baked treats. Despite starting with an initial investment of Rs 5,000, Dream A Dozen has reported revenue exceeding Rs 1 crore, with annual figures for FY24 surpassing this milestone.",
  "summary": "Megna Jain began her entrepreneurial adventure at the tender age of 18, introducing her cupcake business during college in Bengaluru. With a startup investment of Rs 5,000, she navigated early struggles and eventually created Dream A Dozen. The pandemic inspired a creative shift towards corporate gifting, propelling her sales and expanding her client base to over 500.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}