Founder Interview: Deepa Mani

Author

Chai Capital
April 20, 2026 • Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes

Editor's Note
Welcome to our first Monday Spotlight! While our Thursday newsletters focus on news within the Indian tech ecosystem, these monthly editions are dedicated to the founders based abroad who are building and expanding towards India. To launch our founder series, we sat down with Deepa Mani to share the unfiltered reality of scaling across the Australia-India corridor.

  • POC (Proud of Colour) Beauty: Skincare and cosmetics brand that blends cultural understanding with modern formulation

  • Australia ↔ India connection: India as “Roots” and Australia as “Stability”

In this edition, we sit down with Deepa Mani to explore her journey from classical dancer to founder of POC Beauty, and how that identity shapes the way she builds. From translating culture into product formulation to navigating the realities of India’s beauty market, Deepa shares a grounded perspective on what it takes to build across Australia and India.

The Founder & the Idea

The Identity Bridge

Deepa Mani describes India as her roots and Australia as her stability — two places that shape both her identity and the way she builds. While her classical dance training and cultural practices keep her closely tied to India, Australia is where she has built her life and ventures. What stood out in our conversation was the way she draws from both: grounding herself in heritage while translating those roots into businesses that feel relevant, nuanced and deeply intentional.

"that keeps my life a lot more grounded in the identity I belong to as well as being able to bring back those roots in a more nuanced way to the two different ventures that I'm carrying out at the moment."

From Corporate Strategy to Creative

After nearly three decades in corporate technology and strategy roles, Deepa launched her first venture, Chandralaya, in 2018. What began as an arts education venture has since grown beyond a traditional dance school into a multi-dimensional creative and community platform. Collaboration sits at the heart of the business, with engagement extending well beyond the South Asian community.

Deepa Mani breathing and living the art form. Image: Supplied

Filling the Representation Gap

In 2023, she launched her second venture, POC (Proud of Colour) Beauty, born from a gap she saw firsthand: high-melanin skin was still being underserved by beauty products that lacked both thoughtful formulation and cultural understanding. Together, Chandralaya School of Dance and POC Beauty reflect the same core values: culture, science and representation. 

The Reality of India

Living the Art Form

Deepa describes Chandralaya as closely connected with India by “breathing and living the art form”. Her continuous training helps maintain that connection, with cultural practices forming part of her daily life. POC Beauty’s formulations also draw on cultural knowledge, helping address gaps she has long observed in the beauty industry. 

For POC Beauty, she’s learned a lot from the “absolutely booming retail industry in India”. Each visit expands her entrepreneurial network with plans to expand POC Beauty into India in the near future.

The Power of Physical Presence

Breaking into India’s beauty market, she says, requires patience, presence and persistence.

“it takes time and it takes a lot of back and forth and networking… It's a lot about relationship building and expanding your circle"

Being based in Australia makes frequent trips to India possible, Deepa recognises cultivating manufacturing, supplying and distribution relationships will be essential for expansion. She is currently working through adapting the products to ensure they’re optimised for India’s tropical weather. 

POC Beauty product range, Best Inclusive Makeup Brand 2026 winner. Image: Supplied

Navigating the Indian Consumer

Her experience with buyers and distributors is that they are increasingly rigorous, asking detailed questions about regulatory compliance and meeting the demands of sophisticated consumers who study labels for clean, effective products. What has positively surprised her about India is "their openness to understanding the outside market. I think they're more worldly, more engaged to understand what we have to offer."

In the beauty space, the founders Deepa admires are Danessa Myricks of Danessa Myricks Beauty, Michelle Ranavat from Ranavat, and Dr. Renita Rajan from Chosen. Deepa highlights that each of these founders have carved out a clear viewpoint, whether it’s through formulation, storytelling, or community. 

“They’ve built brands that feel both intentional and differentiated. That balance of strong identity, product integrity, and cultural relevance is something I deeply resonate with as I continue to build POC Beauty.”

Founder Advice

The Long Game

  • Build with Intention and Resilience: “You have to be in this for the long haul. You cannot expect this to happen overnight.”

  • The Importance of Patience: “Especially with product, it is another level of complication."

Network as Your Job

  • Expand Your Networking Circle: “Make networking your job. Don't just treat it like a social activity. Build a circle, build the relationships, have the conversations.”

Ownership is Everything

  • Own Your Business Narrative Confidently: “This will get sharper as you have those conversations many times."

  • Don't Downplay Your Achievements: "If you don't own it, nobody will."

Deepa’s journey shows that building across Australia and India is not simply about market expansion. It is about translating identity, relationships and cultural context into brands that can genuinely resonate in both worlds. That momentum is already being recognised, with POC Beauty recently named Best Inclusive Makeup Brand 2026. Its use of Australian botanicals such as kakadu plum and culturally rooted ingredients like turmeric is a tangible expression of that cross-cultural philosophy.

See you on Thursday for our weekly brew on Indian startup and tech news!

Chai and Capital