How a Former Journalist and PR Consultant Built a Rs 5 Crore Turnover Communication Firm

When Amulya Nagaraj, a journalist and gifted photographer, first met public relations consultant Roshan Mohan at an event in Bengaluru, she had no idea they would not only work together to transform a modest PR agency into Pepper Communication Group (PCG), a private limited company with a turnover of Rs 5 crore, but also become life partners.

PCG comprises Studiotronics, a visual communications company, Gig1, an influencer marketing business, and Pepper Interactive Communications, a corporate communication and PR consultancy.

Amulya Nagaraj and Roshan Mohan have built Pepper Communication Group from a modest investment (Photos: Special Arrangement)

"Pepper offers a comprehensive range of communication services, including public relations, social media, visual communication, and digital marketing," says Amulya, who oversees operations at the company.

"We have various verticals, all of which have evolved significantly over the years. In 2013, we were pioneers in integrating social media into PR when such practices were still uncommon."


A couple of years after they met, Amulya joined Pepper in 2013. She contributed her expertise to strengthen the organisation, and her perseverance and passion impressed Roshan. They grew closer as a result and married in May 2014.

As newlyweds, they collaborated to fill gaps in the PR industry, expanding their network across the nation and into competitive foreign markets.

Launched by Roshan with a modest sum of Rs 6,000, their venture now collaborates with major global corporations. “By the end of our second year, we surpassed the Rs 1 crore revenue milestone,” says Founder & MD Roshan Mohan.

“It was a significant accomplishment for us, considering we were self-funded and were present only in Bangalore. Since then, we have steadily grown. Even though our business took a hit during the Covid period, we bounced back rather well after that.”

Amulya used to contribute columns to major Indian publications

The Mumbai branch opened in 2014, followed by the Delhi branch in 2018. In March 2024, Pepper Communication Group became a Private Limited Company. The currently employ around 50 full-time staff and several part-time staff across Bangalore, Delhi, and Mumbai.

It’s fascinating how Amulya and Roshan, coming from different backgrounds, built their life and career together. Before entering the PR industry, Amulya contributed columns to The Indian Express and The Hindu.

She began working at 16, influenced by her writer father. Her first job was as a film critic at Deccan Herald in 2003, followed by work in photojournalism and commercial projects. She also wrote for Reuters, with a journalism career spanning over ten years.

“I was a journalism student and graduated in 2005 from Christ College in Bangalore. I travelled to Australia for my Master of Arts in Broadcast Journalism and graduated from Griffith University in 2007,” says Amulya, 39. “I also studied Anthropology.”

After joining Pepper, Amulya, with her journalistic background, began assisting the organisation with specific inputs, materials, and various other tasks.

Meanwhile, Roshan had a different path before starting Pepper. While he had the opportunity to enroll in NMIT Bangalore's Electronic and Communication Engineering programme, he chose to forego it in favour of completing a B.Com. from Bangalore University in 2005.

During his undergraduate years, he was involved in organising several events, which inspired him to launch an event company in 2003 along with some fellow students. “We organised an autocross event in Bangalore, and it was a huge success. That one event gave us a lot of confidence in handling and organising things,” says 42-year-old Roshan. He went on to organise many events, including for companies such as Intel and Microsoft.

In 2006, he joined Mumbai-based PR ActiMedia, which was specialising in lifestyle and brands. Their absence of a Bangalore branch made his managerial skills invaluable. He built ActiMedia’s Bangalore office from scratch and gradually assembled a team over the years.

He oversaw all facets of the business, including management, client relations, and operations. About a year and a half later, he hired additional staff to grow and stabilise ActiMedia's southern business.

Roshan worked in leading PR agencies before starting his own

Roshan left ActiMedia in 2009 and joined Linopinion Lintas in Bangalore. ““I believed I would gain more experience and exposure, but it wasn’t as I expected,” he shares.

“Apart from a few operational differences, there weren’t many differences. I felt the path I intended to take wasn’t quite right.” He left Lintas in 2010 and started working as a freelance PR consultant.

Initially, he used his friend's business to invoice clients until he could register his own business as a sole proprietorship in 2011.

“I noticed that the market was lacking something. It was disorganised, overpromising, underdelivering, and included some untested ideas. In 2013, Amulya joined in and began to assist Pepper,” shares Roshan.

Roshan decided that his agency would fill this void by collaborating closely with clients, leadership, and the brands they worked with, offering expertise in additional areas.

“We were among the first agencies to provide social media services, while most other businesses just began doing so in 2017-18. This is part of our DNA now,” says Roshan.

The duo believes in CITE: collaboration, innovation, transparency, and ethics. Before 2014-15, Pepper was stereotyped for focusing mainly on sports, food & beverage, and lifestyle sectors. This led them to diversify into other areas later.

Up until 2014, 3D printing in India relied solely on sources from Europe or the US. Altem Technology pioneered 3D printing in India, but Pepper broke this trend by creating a 3D print of Ashtaganesha and displaying it on Bangalore's MG Road. The exhibit received an overwhelming response and garnered attention from the American media.

In the automotive sector, Pepper serves clients such as Continental, while in the healthcare sector, they collaborate with Apollo and Malbio Diagnostics, a Goa-based unicorn company. They have maintained a long-standing relationship with Sigma, a camera lens company, for over nine years. Their strong collaboration and understanding of customer needs have led to the highest client retention rate in their industry.

Members of the PCG family with the founders

They have also worked with IPL franchisee Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). “We participated in track sports like marathons, as well as Hockey India and Hockey Karnataka,” says Roshan. Indian brands like Kadence and HEM fragrance, available in both India and the US, also count on Pepper's expertise.

Around 2018, the couple realised that the industry was rapidly shifting towards visual communication as the public consumption patterns changed from print to visual. Having already adopted social media, they impressed their clients by incorporating visual communication into their PR approach.

When asked about the name Pepper, Roshan explains, “I enjoy spicy peppers. I wanted something very recognisable and easy to recall. Pepper, known for its ability to transform lives, symbolises communication and cultural exchange, especially in India.” - ©TWL