[music playing]
[music concludes]
[theme music playing]
[theme music concludes]
Vineeta, you're so tall.
- Your father must be tall too. - Correct.
Ritesh, your smile is so lively.
I guess it runs in your DNA.
That's correct.
We use the word DNA so commonly,
but do you know what it is?
Let me tell you.
DNA is the blueprint on which our body is built and runs.
For example, if our dad, mom
or grandparents suffered from heart disease,
then there's a risk of it getting passed down to us.
If the DNA has a history,
there's a possibility of contracting the disease.
85% of human diseases are linked to defects in the DNA.
to cardiovascular diseases and cancers.
Sharks, it's not like
no DNA tests are available in the market,
but all they tell you are the chances of having a disease.
According to scientific studies, their accuracy is below 40%.
unique population-agnostic test
that uses machine learning
and helps you identify diseases
that can occur due to gene defects.
and make them proactive in their healthcare journey.
To do that, our ask is Rs. 1 crore in investment
against 2.5% equity in our company.
the sweetest route to good health and well-being.
Team SugarStrings, welcome to Shark Tank.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
That was a time when
in Delhi University.
What year was this, Tony?
- In 2008. - All right.
And Rajasekhara Reddy was working for another company
as an application scientist.
How did the idea of the business occur to you?
So, I worked for that company for 4 years.
I became so confident
that I started a genomics company of my own in 2013.
Around 2020, the business was establishing a decent top line.
We were of the opinion that if we wanted to grow it,
we had to get into genetic diagnostics
And he also joined me in Clevergene about eight years ago
as a co-founder and...
- Is Clevergene your old company? - Correct.
- What happened to it? - It's still there,
but we both have exited
- and other shareholders are taking it forward. - Okay.
Do you no longer have a stake in it?
We do, but we don't get involved in active operations.
[tense music playing]
- Don't you hold any post there? Director? - No. Nothing.
- No post... - Who runs that company?
Investors and co-founders
- and all of them... - There are other co-founders who are running it.
- Yes. - What's your stake in it?
I have about 20%, sir.
- And you? - 6%.
- Who's the co-founder now? - Ria Dutta.
- Ria Dutta? - She's the third co-founder.
So, we were three co-founders.
- Are you related to her? - Ria is my wife.
[all laugh]
How much stake does your wife have?
She's got about 30%.
You both have 50% stake. That makes it your company.
How did they let you leave?
We gave a shareholding to those investors in this company.
Oh, those investors...
So they can participate in both companies in case of an upside.
- Not really. - Did you give your wife shares too?
No.
Tell us the split.
- We three have 20.66% each. - Hmm.
And we have a 10% ESOP hold.
Okay. And how much shareholding did you give to those investors?
28%.
28% without an investment, right?
But then, they are the ones who invested
in the R&D of the whole idea.
In total, they put about Rs. 7 crores in Clevergene
of which Rs. 2.6 crores
was exclusively put for the development of ideas.
I'm a doctor of human genetics.
Okay. What's your qualification?
MSc and PhD from Punjab University, Patiala.
You're the CEO. What is Dhaneesh's role?
Sir, when we got this idea...
So, it's a good idea. There's a lot of scope to expand.
The problem is that fundamentally, we're both scientists
and communicating this requires skill, right.
But you two are communicating better than him.
I've done visual communication.
- Visual communication! - Right.
- You took 20% to make this! - [all laugh]
Unbelievable!
Had you come to us, we'd have done it for 5-10%.
Could you tell us conceptually what genetic mutation is
- and why different markets need a different one? - Sure.
And which diseases can we predict from these genetic mutations?
we call it a mutation, right.
If the mutation is in a functional region,
it will render the protein dysfunctional
and because of that, a disease can occur.
That's the basic fundamental.
The core function of the algorithm we've developed
is to determine
whether a DNA mutation will cause a disease or not.
Heart... Cancer and cancer syndromes that could cause cancer.
- If our algorithm confirms it's a pathogenic mutation... - Yes.
So, if you have it, you are bound to get cancer.
- *** percent? - Yes.
That's the *** percent specificity that we have.
Wow!
Are you saying you can predict beforehand if someone's
- going to get cancer. - Yes.
And nobody else in the market is currently able to do that.
Their accuracy is low.
- You said their accuracy is 40%. - Right.
- Even lower. - Do we have any proof or papers?
- Anything? - We'll provide you the literature.
There is Exact Sciences
which does about $2.5 billion in revenue.
And another poster child or a very famous company was 23andMe
but their problem was that
their product accuracy was not really appreciating.
AI? Why is the name SugarStrings.ai?
DNA is a string of sugars, ribose.
So, Sugar Strings.
And why AI?
AI because we're using
machine learning algorithms to do this.
Until now, people...
They had someone known as genetic analysts or genome analysts
who sit and manually filter these variants
and then, they prepare the report,
which also is not scalable.
So, we are bringing in ML algorithms to do all that prioritisation.
How many people's diseases
have you successfully predicted so far?
We have worked on 3,500 known disease samples
to validate and get the specificity and sensitivity itself.
12% of people had cancer.
- they had a probability of having cancer. - 12%.
Enough time has not passed yet.
I'm assuming those 12% people...
- 12% of 32 is roughly 4. - 4 people.
Nothing has been diagnosed for the 4 people so far
who you predicted might get cancer
- as only six months have passed. - Correct.
How much does one test cost?
Rs. 58,000.
And it's a once-in-a-lifetime test.
Oh my God!
Taking our test is very simple.
Visit our website
and add the test to the cart.
Fill in your details and make the payment.
As soon as your test is booked,
this Buccal Swab Collection Kit will arrive at your doorstep.
In this kit, there are two things.
There's a simple instruction manual
which tells you how to take a sample
and what are the things to be avoided.
Then, there's the Buccal Swab Collection Kit.
Okay.
It contains a swab and a DNA-preserving solution.
You've to collect the swab according to the instructions
and then tightly seal it in this.
- Like a COVID test. - Correct.
It's a Rs. 58,000 test!
You could've sent a technician home.
This will predict a disease like cancer.
Must he register online and take a test by himself?
So, in Bengaluru, we're sending somebody.
If they're ordering from other parts of the country,
we courier the kit to them.
Imagine. The person spends a bomb and then has to follow instructions!
Even if you do a test for COVID, they send someone home.
Once we reach that scale, we can do that.
When you've collected the sample,
Sharks, as you can see in the primary findings,
in this particular case,
there are no hereditary cancers.
The heart disease shows Brugada syndrome.
If you scroll down to the bottom of the report,
you can see which defect is causing the Brugada syndrome
in which particular gene.
Brugada syndrome can contribute to up to 20% of such cases.
- Yes. In fact, there are doctors who've taken this test. - Really!
They also got their risks identified.
So, we're very confident in saying this is a clinically relevant test.
You charge Rs. 58,000 for a test.
What does your cost come to?
30% is our direct cost.
This includes the DNA sequencing, the kit charge,
transportation and others.
We have a gross margin of about 70% at the moment,
at the MRP.
Because you said MRP,
- do you sell at a discount? - Yes.
We're not getting into a discount business,
but we're also building a network of wellness centres and doctors...
- Giving them channel margins. - Who would also refer.
So, they get a margin.
- How much is that? - 15%.
How did you sell these 32 kits?
This is mainly through our direct connections.
You sold them to known people.
Plus also extended people who came through the website.
Will you focus more on expanding globally or in India?
Currently, we will start in India.
We'll start in India, mature here
and then, we'll figure out how to go...
How many people do you think will spend Rs. 58,000
on a diagnostic test?
We have one...
By the third year,
we're confident we'll be able
to get at least 25,000 people to take the test.
- That's our first... - Annually?
Annually.
25,000 people each buying at a cost of Rs. 58,000.
Seems tough.
How many people in our country are detected with cancer every year?
- Do you have a number? - 1.6 million people.
and you're able to apply your algorithm.
How many out of 1.6 million people will you predict to have cancer?
Let me make a guesstimate here.
Yes, give me a guesstimate.
Generally, what is said
is that in cancer,
the genetic component can be anywhere between 20 to 30%.
So, if a person is going to have cancer in 2035,
- you can predict that today. - Correct.
Of course.
If we can predict that by 2035,
- 3 lakh people will have cancer every year... - Yes.
It should be a big research paper as far as I can understand.
- Correct... - I still don't...
It's not necessary to put everything in a research paper.
The moment you disclose how you developed this,
- someone else can develop it too. - Correct.
It is an algorithm.
Is there a certification body of global repute
who we can approach with our tests,
literature, research and results
and ask them to validate this.
Unfortunately, none currently exist.
What 23andMe claims is their claim.
What Exact Sciences claims is their claim.
What we claim is our claim.
That is the state at the moment.
At what stage do most people realise they have cancer?
In India, it is...
75% of them identify either in stage 3 or stage 4.
You could reduce your margin and widen your reach.
- Did you think of that? - It is a possibility.
We decided the price of Rs. 58,000...
We kept it as a glass ceiling
and we're optimising things at the moment
as we talk to customers and so on.
Guys, people still don't buy insurance in India.
It's tough to get insurance, right?
Spending Rs. 58,000 on a test looks a bit tough.
You seem genuine,
but I don't understand whether this will be genuine.
There's no certification. I don't know if this is accurate.
I even get scared.
Three strangers establish a company.
They come to me, do a test
and run their algo on it,
but I don't know if the algo works correctly.
If it highlights a problem, my life will be ruined.
I'll go mad thinking about it.
For all you know, their algo wasn't up to the mark
and so it gave mixed and inaccurate results.
Frankly speaking, I wouldn't undergo a test for Rs. 58,000
unless my doctor insisted and took a few tests himself.
There's still time before this gets authenticated.
Since that trust did not build, unfortunately, I'm out.
I believe Rs. 58,000 is not going to be a barrier for you.
Something like predicting cancer and heart attacks in India,
- which is the heart attack capital of the world... - Correct.
It is...
You're solving something big and Rs. 58,000 is nothing for it.
My challenge is this.
- Your bigger point is credibility. - Yes.
And you're not solving that.
You're standing here
and selling this product for Rs. 58,000 in India
and wasting time.
Say America or some of these markets,
where people take these tests on a very large scale
if you were to deploy it there,
- then $700 is negligible. - Correct.
And you could conduct these tests on thousands of people,
use that validity along with showing other data points,
and prove its efficacy.
India should be your secondary
or future later market
because there's no competition here
and you can't be benchmarked,
and what you're saying
will always be perceived
as something that is too good to be true.
Yes? For that reason, I'm out.
Well, I feel that your market focus,
which is a small market in itself in terms of wallet share,
and along with it, you're focusing on India,
is quite in the early stages.
I believe it's great you're focusing on India
but try to get your proprietary data.
- Sure. - I'll give you all the help you need.
But because that's not decided, for that reason, I'm out.
- Okay. - Thank you.
I had one question from the start which I could not get past.
I think it is your claim
that you can predict with *** percent accuracy
versus 40% which is that of other players in the market.
If you could actually do that,
as per my understanding, it's definitely a research paper
which is of course globally acclaimed
given that you can predict diseases with such high accuracy.
I had a strong doubt about that.
Also, you didn't present conclusive data
for me to be able to trust your claim.
That was the biggest barrier for me.
And for that reason, I am out.
I unfortunately feel
you're building the company in sort of an echo chamber.
Okay.
You're an impressive team.
Your opinions are very strong
and your research and experience are backed
but I feel that internally, you're not challenging each other.
And because you're not challenging each other,
you're not able to see beyond the science
- and turn this idea into a business. - Okay.
This is a huge leap
be it pricing,
- or to establish the reason to believe... - Correct.
I feel the product and idea are promising
and there is a need for it,
- but it isn't a business yet. - Okay.
For that reason, I'm out.
- Thank you. - Good luck.
- Many best wishes. - All the best.
[solemn music playing]
'The accuracy we claimed is genuine'
'and we have data to back it.'
I guess we should have brought that data along
or we should have presented that in some other way.
'The other thing is, these are scientific facts.'
We probably could have figured out a way
to explain it in a simpler manner.
[up-tempo music playing]
[music concludes]
Welcome to ACKO Change Makers where we really welcome change
and that is beautifully depicted on the wall behind me,
our Change Makers wall.
Through modern advancements and smart techniques,
we're empowering change
and today's Change Maker is Team SugarStrings.
- Welcome. - Thank you.
We're aware of diseases.
- but not at what age they ought to be performed. - Okay.
- What critical illnesses are connected with our DNA? - Right.
Could you tell us what changes we need to make and at what age?
- We know breast cancer is prevalent among females. - Hmm.
- That is the major cause of death in females. - Hmm.
In females...
First and foremost,
starting puberty,
every girl must know
- how to perform a self-breast exam. - Correct.
The next thing is baseline risk.
- Suppose, someone in your family had breast cancer. - Hmm.
So, that person needs to establish their baseline
to understand if they could suffer from it too.
There are specific tests available for it
that they could undergo.
Thank you for bringing about this change in the industry.
Just as they're bringing about a change,
ACKO too, with its revolutionary offerings,
is changing the landscape of insurance.
Now, only pay for a car at the showroom while buying one.
Don't fall prey to pressure and pay for car insurance.
I bet you didn't know
that buying car insurance from the showroom is not mandatory.
Buy car insurance from ACKO
and save up to Rs. 36,000.
To honour your efforts,
ACKO and Shark Tank wish to give you a memento.
This is for you.
Thank you for doing what you do.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
[camera shutter clicking]
'Shark Tank India co-presented by ACKO Insurance,'
'PokerBaazi and Swiggy Instamart.'
'Co-powered by Adani and Jaquar Bath & Light.'
'Partners Rayzon Solar, ICICI Direct and Lenskart.'
[theme music playing]
[theme music concludes]
Sharks, did you know
that over 65,000 people in India become investors daily?
Can't believe it? You will.
I'll tell you a fact.
In India, more than 65,000 babies are born every day
A newborn's skin is highly sensitive.
From birth to pre-school, this three-year duration
will see a huge need for baby essentials
such as diapers, swaddles, blankets and clothing.
The options available in the market,
apart from being of substandard quality,
aren't able to offer the complete range.
Some brands are only making diapers,
while some are making only baby clothes
and some are making blankets.
We at Moms Home are solving that problem.
We're from Jaipur
and we bring to you Moms Home,
and so are our products.
It's as pure as mom's love.
We make over 50 baby products.
Our products are available on our website,
and chose Moms Home as the first choice for their babies.
Sharks, our vision is as follows.
For any parent, the first start-up of their life is their baby
and we want to make that process easier
and make the safest and softest baby products available to them.
We have to come to you with our ask
of Rs. 75 lakhs for 1% equity.
My start-up was born last year.
[laughter]
Congratulations.
Vaibhav! Bhupendra!
- Welcome to Shark Tank Season 4. - Thank you, sir.
Could you tell us about your journey?
Why did you start this business and how did you get here?
I did my MBA from IIM Indore.
which was handled by Bhupendra.
That was the time e-commerce boomed in India.
We gained knowledge about sustainable fibres.
It was quite interesting,
Sir, I did my graduation in textiles from Jodhpur
I worked from a quality manager to a business head.
After that, we came together and started this business.
In which year?
The ideation began in 2016.
We spent two years doing ideation.
Why did it take you two years, sir?
You have an experience of ten years.
We initially did bulk supply like in schools,
but we couldn't go on e-commerce and to retail stores.
- You started B2B. - Yes.
We kicked it off in e-commerce.
In 2021, we converted our partnership firm
into a private limited company.
Sir, our main categories
We sell swaddles the most.
It's number one in India across marketplaces.
Could we see your products?
Bring them here.
[light-hearted music playing]
Very nice.
Thank you.
My kids have grown up or this would have been handy.
This is expensive!
- [Vineeta] Yes. - [laughs]
The quality is top-notch.
Every time someone becomes a mother,
I give her a muslin cloth
or such swaddles
because getting such high-quality
organic cotton products is generally difficult.
You claim this is organic cotton.
So, is this 100% organic cotton?
- Because that's very expensive. - Yes!
- Do you have a certificate for it? - Yes, we have a certificate.
Who issues it?
- Global Organic... - Global Organic Textile Standard.
We had reached Rs. 10 crores.
- Or gradually? - Gradually.
- It took us three years. - Okay. So, today...
What's the business from B2B and B2C?
- B2B is only 10%. - 10%.
- In the same company? - Yes.
The same legal entity?
Everything has been switched.
A complete transition has been made.
How much business are you doing right now?
In FY 2022, our sales were Rs. 7 crores.
In FY 2023, our sales were Rs. 9.5 crores.
In FY 2024, our sales were Rs. 12.5 crores.
And until now in October, we've done Rs. 10.5 crores.
And projected sales?
Sir, we have developed full capacity at the back end.
We raised a round last year.
How much did you raise?
The round was for Rs. 5 crores.
At what valuation?
Rs. 23.5 crores pre-money.
Approximately Rs. 1.8 crores.
How much is the cash in the bank?
Rs. 30 lakhs.
Yes, sir.
You have only Rs. 30 lakhs cash left!
The cash flow has come in.
Our current cash flow...
- No, there was no burn. - It's Rs. 1.25 crores...
The burn was Rs. 60 lakhs.
- This year, you're at break-even. - Yes.
- Where'd the money go? - Today...
Our sales that were Rs. 80-85 lakhs
- have gone up to Rs. 1.8 crores. - Okay.
So, that comes in the working capital.
Isn't your working capital Rs. 1.8 crores?
Yes. 1.8...
- To get there... - How much money did you invest in working capital?
About Rs. 1.25 crores.
What about the rest of the money?
- You now have Rs. 30 lakhs in the bank. - Yes.
- This gap of... - Rs. 4.7 crores.
Let's suppose you burnt Rs. 50-60 lakhs last year.
There's a gap of Rs. 4 crores.
The investor gave us Rs. 4 crores.
Rs. 1 crore is subjective for us to take.
We haven't taken it yet.
Fine. What about the remaining Rs. 3 crores then?
Our inventory...
- That's just Rs. 1 crore. - Rs. 1.25 working capital.
That leaves you with 2.25...
Where's the remaining Rs. 1.75 crores?
Where is Rs. 1.5 crores?
Hang on. Give us all the heads.
What are your receivables?
Give us the figures for your receivables.
Our receivables are about Rs. 1 crore.
- So, receivables are Rs. 1 crore. - Yes.
- You said the inventory was Rs. 1.8 crores. - Yes.
Your burn is Rs. 60 lakhs.
So, Rs. 2.1-2.2 crores.
Let's take a buffer of Rs. 40-50 lakhs.
You're still short of Rs. 1 crore.
[unsettling music playing]
- Something's fishy. - No.
We spent Rs. 1 crore on the rebranding exercise.
- How much? - No, that...
- How much? - How much was it?
- Hang on. - Rs. 30 lakhs.
- A rebranding exercise isn't capitalised. - Uh-huh.
- The rebranding exercise is OpEx. - Okay.
Either it comes under the loss of Rs. 60 lakhs
or this year's break even.
- Which means... - We had a burn of Rs. 50 lakhs this year also
in the first six months
after which we hit break even.
The total burn is 60 plus 50 lakhs. That's Rs. 1.1 crores.
- Didn't you say you were at break even? - Yes.
We hit break even at Rs. 1.5 crores.
The break-even was in this month and not this year.
Initially, you said you hit break even this year.
That is a wrong figure.
[tense music playing]
You should've said this earlier.
- You know... - Exactly.
The smallest of things can break your trust in a founder.
This was the impression you gave.
"We were profitable for two years."
What will be the profit from your Rs. 20-crore projected sales?
Given our current monthly run rate...
We did Rs. 1.8 crore sales in October.
- So... - Net?
E-commerce and our website.
- What's the share? - The share of marketplaces is 60%.
Our website contributes to 25%.
And we do the rest through bulk and B2B.
The sales through our website have picked up.
If you take an average, in one year,
in one year,
spends around Rs. 50,000 on baby essentials.
In one year, around 2.5 crore babies are born.
In five years, that's 12.5 crores.
It's a huge market.
Which big companies compete with you?
SuperBottoms, right?
There's SuperBottoms, Luvlap,
FirstCry and Hopscotch.
But all the existing players
are focused on kids fashion.
They focus on fashion in 5 years and beyond children.
They lose out...
Is your competitive advantage that
you are focusing only on the 0 to 5 range?
Our competitive advantage is
that we founders have relevant experience in textiles.
So, is your sourcing cost
for the same quality better than others?
- Yes! - Correct.
How cheap are you compared to SuperBottoms or Luvlap?
If you take a hospital,
there are 40 products included in it for a mother.
If you buy these products individually from any brand,
between you and SuperBottoms' individual swaddle?
Superbottoms don't sell swaddle.
Some other brand then. Luvlap, for example.
Luvlap has a cotton swaddle.
That retails for Rs. 599.
But you are expensive then, right?
That's a tall claim.
Our prices are less by at least 25%-30%
compared to other brands.
How much is your average order value?
- On Amazon, our average rating is 4.2. - Nice.
If I talk about swaddle,
- just that and not a blanket or towel. - Yes.
On Amazon, the market size for swaddle is
- Amazon won't let it go beyond 10%. - But...
How will you grow it?
We will grow it on D2C
and retail.
In D2C, we used to make Rs. 5 lakhs per month.
Now, we've reached Rs 35 lakhs.
But the more your scale, your economics will get worse.
The D2C market won't be
significantly larger than what it is on Amazon.
No, we can be... One kit
sells for Rs. 5,000.
Let's look at the average.
If you sell 100 kits daily,
then you can do sales of Rs. 5 lakhs, daily.
India is a big market, and we have achieved that scale.
Rs. 1.5 crores of sales will come from there.
When this business grows up,
what will it be?
This would be a Rs. 100 crores brand
in the next 2 years.
And after that, this would be
around a Rs. 300 crores brand in the next 5 years.
Okay, Vaibhav and Bhupendra, it was a pleasure meeting you.
You said that price is your biggest advantage.
I think that price can't be a significant advantage.
It dissolves after a long time.
You need to work hard and focus on the brand.
You are not quite aspirational.
Rs. 100 crores in 3 years. Rs. 200 crores in 5 years.
That is not much. I felt
that the category is small or you are not quite aspirational.
For these two reasons, I am out, unfortunately.
I agree with, Aman. The pricing advantage is not a long time play.
In the next three years,
if you want to make this brand and a consumer business,
then your advantage will have to be product
and branding.
Okay? You have a lot of work to do in that segment.
So, I will give you an offer.
Rs. 75 lakhs for 3%.
Which is the same as your valuation.
Plus 1% royalty
till I recover 1.5 times my investment.
The journey from Rs. 200-Rs. 1,000 crores,
for that, I will have to invest a lot of time and effort.
Vaibhav and Bhupendra,
the scale is good.
But the answers I needed to understand the scale of the business
were not clear.
So, I am unable to understand the business.
For that reason, I will be out.
I think your combined strength,
coupled with the momentum of this industry,
which is why, I want to support your business.
I have an offer for you.
I will give you the capital of Rs. 75 lakhs you asked
for 4% ownership.
And no royalty.
But there are a few aspects in this category
that you can't change even if you put in the effort.
One, this is a fundamentally low repeat category.
With execution excellence,
you can make a low repeat category slightly better.
- But structurally, a few categories are low repeat. - Correct.
Second, this is a price-sensitive category.
You have an advantage today.
But that can also become a disadvantage.
Someone else can come and say they don't want to invest in a brand.
They just want to sell the cheapest product
to increase traction with the customer.
So, for these reasons, today, I am out.
Wish you all the best.
So, you have two offers. You can decide.
[music playing]
We have a counteroffer for Vineeta.
Can we do Rs. 75 lakhs for 1.5% equity?
And no royalty?
Yes, we can go with royalty.
We can't go less...
So, your commercial counter offer
is for Vineeta and me for Rs. 75 lakhs at 1.5%.
They just mentioned Vineeta.
- No, but because... - They don't want to upset you.
- I... I will give you a counter. - Be direct.
Okay! Then think about you and then hear Ritesh out.
Rs. 75 lakhs for 2.5%.
And 1% royalty up to 1x.
Good game!
My suggestion is no royalty.
Rs. 75 lakhs at 3%.
[music playing]
Vineeta, can we somehow...
- I get it that you always mention Vineeta. - Let me tell you.
No! Ritesh doesn't mind, why are you making a fuss?
That is my job! I enjoy doing that.
- Really? - No! I really thank
Ritesh also for such a good offer. But...
I think this is my best offer.
It doesn't work for you. It's fine, I am out.
I can suggest that you...
Can you structure it
- in another way? - Yes! Rs. 75 lakhs
- at 1.5% valuation. - Our valuation...
Give me a 1% advisory separately.
1% is a lot.
Advisory?
Okay! 0.75%. Works? All right!
I don't negotiate more than this.
What is the final offer? Vineeta, would you like to share?
Please! Can you help us with a better offer?
We will make sure to take it to Rs. 300 crores. Trust me.
Okay!
- Vineeta's final offer. - Rs. 75 lakhs
- at 2.1%. - Not bad.
You can give me 0.6% advisory separately.
Plus 1% royalty.
[laughing]
Listen, the projected 2x valuation jump
from Rs. 24 crores to Rs. 50 crores in a year
- doesn't seem right to me. - That depends on the scale.
What is your final counter?
You are headed in the wrong direction. This is not right for you.
You will get stuck in the valuation game.
No, this is not the valuation game
- Because... - Decide your final offer.
Rs. 75 lakhs for 1.75% equity.
You... I really tried.
- You're over-optimising for a mere 0.3%. - Don't do this for 0.3%.
[music playing]
- Shall we? - Do it for 2%.
Close it at 2%, Vineeta.
Please!
I will show you my final counter.
Rs. 75 lakhs at 2%,
1% royalty till I make 1.25 times.
Okay, Sharks!
- Good quality. Make an amazing plan. - Thank you!
[camera shutter clicks]
- All right! Best of luck. - Best wishes.
- Good job, guys. - All the best.
'You can't go beyond a certain level.'
'But at the same time, you want'
'their expertise.'
It's the same internal conflict,
the same arguments that were in my mind.
My heart was saying one thing, and my mind had a different opinion.
I am thankful. We got the best offer.
- Team Moms Home, welcome to the PokerBaazi Zone. - Yes.
Where you hold the card.
- And you also hold a cheque. - Yes.
- Vineeta gave it to you. - Thanks.
There are a lot of similarities between poker and business.
from your business phase?
Yes, there is a story from our introduction phase.
What happened was,
unfortunately, I met with an accident and my hand was injured.
- Oh! - Kumar used to be in Spain back then.
- Hmm! - I handle operations in India.
Kumar handled e-commerce in Spain.
Kumar came to India immediately
and during that time, our business was at its lowest.
- Hmm! - I couldn't help
with the production.
Kumar returned and grew the business again.
We could finally rebuild the business after some time.
Now, we are here.
What a great co-founder.
- Let me tell you, your cards are good. - Yes, I can see.
This is a... Four of a kind.
- Yes! - It is your third-highest winning card.
And I really hope that you grow in the future.
- I am very excited to see what you do. - Thank you so much.
If you have skills and strategy,
then visit PokerBaazi and make your winning hand.
Download the app now.
[theme music playing]
Hi, Sharks! How are we today?
- All right! - We're all right.
- Thirsty! - Sharks, before we start,
can we please serve you some drinks?
We have Roxanne here.
She's going to shake things up today for us.
[music playing]
Thank you so much, Roxanne.
Before we start,
let me introduce you to a fascinating term.
EANABs.
This drink is served
at every party at Stanford University.
This drink is fancy, tasty and also healthy.
Also, it has no alcohol.
This world
had two types of people until now.
Drinkers and non-drinkers.
But in recent times, globally and in India,
a third group has been identified.
The conscious, self-aware, ethical drinker.
They lead an active lifestyle.
They are fitness and wellness enthusiasts.
They enjoy going out, partying,
but they don't want a hangover the next day.
They want to enjoy a drink
without facing the drawbacks associated with it.
But they don't have many options.
Acidic fresh lime, caffeinated and sweet colas,
diet colas with aspartame,
or sweet mocktails.
Introducing Catwalk non-alcoholic spirits.
Sharks, this is a better-for-you party.
Catwalk offers four unique concoctions.
Within 6 months,
we are available across 1,500 retail stores,
But for Catwalk, our vision is not to replace alcohol.
Our vision is to replace unhealthy options
that are sold as alcohol alternatives in the market.
And to do this, these cats need a friend in the Sharks.
- Oh! - We are from New Delhi.
Our ask is
Rs. 1 crore for 4.16% of our company.
The calculation to determine the valuation is very easy.
How did you come up with 4.16%?
Our last round's valuation was Rs. 24 crores.
Rs. 24.03 crores, to be exact.
Hmm! Your math is faster than a computer.
[laughing]
So, welcome Ishan and Aamir.
You mentioned that you heard this term at Stanford.
Did you study there?
I went there for my sister's graduation.
We thought you were here.
I... That is what I wanted.
We were impressed.
He is from Stanford! That was strategic.
I thought
that you would listen carefully if I say that,
after that, I'll tell you.
Tell us your story. Where did you study?
I graduated from Amity Law School.
I graduated in 2011.
After that, I worked in a Tier 1 law firm, Trilegal.
- Nice! - After working there,
I realised that I am not a good lawyer.
[laughing]
I saw the lawyers around me who were amazing.
I thought they were better than me.
I cannot be better than them, I am not enjoying this.
I moved to London with my savings.
I studied music there.
- I studied sound engineering and music production. - Where?
Pointblank Music School.
After that, I went to Berklee College of Music.
It is nice.
Over there, I understood
that I wanted to enter a creative side and not go back to law.
I met someone in London.
He said we would start a business together when I go back to India.
I returned to India, I spoke with him
and I started my first startup in 2016.
It was a publishing startup.
When that startup didn't work,
I was asked to shut the shop.
I saw I have social media managers,
designers and content writers.
So, I converted it into a full-fledged creative agency.
That creative agency has been live for 8 years.
I worked over there as a creative head.
And these Catwalk designs are my concepts.
I've done this for more than 150 brands.
Oh, wow! Where is that agency?
That agency is going on, but I am not a Creative Head there.
- Okay! - I am just a founder.
- Just? - You are interesting.
- Just a founder? - Thank you!
- That's it? - When did you start Catwalk?
In this journey, I met Aamir as a client.
We met for the first time in 2017.
We knew that
he was well-versed in things I wasn't
and I was knowledgeable in areas he wasn't.
So, we kept meeting. We became friends.
So, that is when we thought of doing something together.
I was born in a small place in UP called Khurja.
I moved to Aligarh Muslim University.
I did my BCom honours
So, I started my job.
I started as a sales executive
selling credit cards for ICICI Bank.
I worked with them for six years.
And then I worked at HDFC Bank for 6 years.
And then I left the bank and started my business.
I started trading FMCG products.
- FMCG! - I started importing non-alcoholic beer from Dubai.
We created a distribution network in India.
We had a total of 100 distributors.
That business is currently operational.
But I handed it over to my family
around a year back.
When Catwalk came to a level
where we were about to launch.
You didn't clear CAT, is that why you named it Catwalk?
- No! - No.
We came up with the name Catwalk
because we wanted this to become a fashion statement.
Those who are non-drinkers
are taking a conscious call.
They want to look after their mind
- and body. - Do you drink?
- I don't! - What about you?
I never drank.
I used to drink, but I quit.
Because I realised that
I was stuck in mediocrity, both professionally and personally.
I used to feel that I was incapable of working hard.
I needed focus in life.
Did you drink a lot?
On weekends.
You used to drink a lot during weekends.
The weekend seemed like it was meant for this.
I tried to reduce my alcohol intake.
This was around 2022.
One day, he came over and I was hungover.
He said, 'Why do you drink so much?'
I told him. There is no option. I go out.'
'If I am out for four hours, I will be holding the glass.' - Yes.
He replied, 'I have always been a teetotaller, I don't like this.'
And I said,
'Aamir, I want to quit. I am done.'
So he was like, 'Let's come up with something.'
When we received the sample of Catwalk,
It took us 2 years for R&D.
I like this, so I can replace it with this drink.
So, in the last 4-5 years,
the huge alcohol brands
have also launched non-alcoholic wines and beers.
There are a lot of D2C brands in India.
Coolberg was a funded brand
- of non-alcoholic beer. - You are absolutely right.
There are quite a few zero-calorie options in the market as well.
We noticed that you can do so much better
- than the options available. - Please elaborate.
Better taste or emotion?
Better taste, look and feel.
Let there be a first moment of truth with this.
When someone sees
a bartender preparing a drink for them,
they should feel that, even if they aren't drinking alcohol,
effort has still been made just for them.
There are special bottles.
For example,
we made a gin
in which we added pink grapefruit, lemongrass,
basil, hibiscus.
We took six months to complete it.
So the question is,
is this only for people who want to quit?
Let me tell you.
- A lot of mock meats are available nowadays. - Yes.
Vegetarians don't eat mock meat.
Because vegetarians don't want that.
Those who are trying to quit eat them.
- The market gets limited. - Yes. Absolutely!
Is this just for people who want to switch?
Mock meat is still not famous
because we have soya in India.
Soya is tasty.
To get mock meat so close to real meat
that they forgot to make it tasty.
What are you adding to it
that makes it resemble alcohol, but it's not actually alcohol?
In gin, juniper is a botanical that you can use.
This didn't taste like gin.
It is sweet and tangy.
This tastes like juice.
Why does it say 0% gin?
Because we used botanicals that go into making gin.
But the taste you are missing
comes predominantly from ethanol.
[laughing]
When we were making this product, we never tried it neat.
Because neat alcohol is consumed directly.
So, we have to dilute it.
All the natural flavours get compacted together.
So, to release them, you need to add something.
Why don't we give a diluted final product?
- We have it in the can... - It is with a mixer.
How much does one can cost?
Rs. 125 is the MRP.
The bottle, the design and the font you chose
are very high quality.
I like the packaging too.
- It's cool and unique. - Thank you!
I have one question.
Is this a gender-focussed brand?
If you think so because of the name,
then we named it Catwalk because we wanted a mascot.
This cat is our mascot.
It has a story. The cat is named Battuta.
- Wow! - Battuta is inspired by
the medieval traveller, Ibn Battuta.
- Oh! - Ibn Battuta used to collect spices from around the world.
Our cat collects botanicals.
Our Delhi 6 Botanic
has cinnamon, cardamom and fennel.
Stockholm Infusion has peach and orange.
Battuta is our travelling cat.
Let's talk about the numbers.
How much are we selling every year?
We launched in April...
Okay! This year April. How much did you sell in 6 months?
We did sales of Rs. 32 lakhs.
In April, it was Rs 5 lakhs.
In May, it was Rs. 4 lakhs.
In June, our revenue was Rs. 2 lakhs.
In July, it was Rs. 6 lakhs.
In August, we did Rs. 5 lakhs.
In September, Rs. 6 lakhs.
October was approximately Rs. 3 lakhs.
This must be placement, mostly.
- And the number is between Rs. 5-Rs. 6 lakhs. - Yes.
- What is the reason? - The first placement that we had...
Yes, it just went into the placement.
After that,
our website went live in May.
30% is online. 70% is offline.
How many tertiary events took place last month?
In the modern market, there were 71 bottles of tertiary.
The big bottles are priced at Rs. 1,299.
That is less.
- Yes! - We have not done marketing.
We are not doing anything. It is automatic...
You don't have a promoter?
- Nothing! - No promoters as of now.
Are online sales happening without marketing?
We started allocating a small budget for performance marketing.
What is the budget and how much did you sell?
We get orders worth Rs. 1.5 lakhs
after spending Rs. 1 lakh on online marketing.
I doubt you are making money.
- We are losing money. - How much?
The average total burn is between Rs. 5.5-Rs. 6 lakhs.
- Oh my! Sales of Rs. 5 lakhs and burn of Rs. 5 lakhs. - Yes.
How much is your gross margin?
We did one round with Angels.
Introduce us to these Angels who give
a valuation of Rs. 24 crores for sales of Rs. 5 lakhs.
We did a soft launch in January.
We gave our products to mixologists, chefs
and others to give feedback.
Based on the feedback,
we went to them
and with his network, we already had orders.
How much capital did they provide?
We raised Rs. 85 lakhs from them.
We raised CCDs.
Floor is at Rs. 19.2 crores.
Cap is at 24.
And why did you raise CCD as your first round?
in June 2023.
Okay! How much did you raise there?
Rs. 25 lakhs at Rs. 5 crores valuation.
We have around Rs. 3 lakhs in our bank account.
And Rs. 18 lakhs as receivables from debtors.
- No, not both of you. - In your business.
In your business.
In simple words,
the train has left the platform.
Because we are getting repeat orders from good restaurants.
Customers are giving us repeat orders.
Our plan is,
if we don't get the funding, we will reduce the burn
and we will keep the business going with our sales.
Receiving funding seems dicey.
No! We still... I know those who come here say this.
But we also have soft commitments.
Everyone who comes here says this, it seems!
- I know you take this lightly. - And you are selling soft drinks.
We spoke with VC.
They asked for a minimum of Rs. 50 lakhs in sales.
We saw each other's faces and said
if that were the case, we would've managed.
[laughing]
Let's assume your money issue has been resolved.
How will you make this a big business?
In HORECA, we want to make a team of mixologists
and promote this.
Distributors have told us that they will put our product
in 100 restaurants in three days
if we hire a team of mixologists.
We want more people to drink this.
The more people we give it to, the more it will grow.
So, Ishan and Mr. Aamir Khan,
Both of you already have businesses.
This becomes a good business to try out.
I think this is category creation, which will need a lot of money.
What will it become?
Both of you are interesting founders.
It will be fun working with you.
You can come to me for some other business, but not this one.
Unfortunately, I am out.
And I like your branding and positioning.
But I have a few problems with this business.
I believe your go-to-market
for Rs. 5 lakhs per month business is confused.
The only time
when people want such a cool thing is during social drinking.
You came up with this product too soon.
I think you are not patient enough
to build a category creation business.
That's why I am out.
And I think you shouldn't raise the valuation of Rs. 24 crores
because you will keep getting impatient.
The product you have is a bit in the early stage.
It has only been six months.
Many hotels are willing to try your products, we will also do that.
Since I believe that
your product-market fit is not quite there at the moment,
for that reason, I am out.
they have been almost flat.
The demand for the product does not fit in.
For that reason, I am out.
You are overestimating this market.
Indian consumers have
- just started consuming in the last 5-15 years. True.
Now, they want full indulgence.
When I asked you, what will you do if you have
infinite resources?
And if our answer is
'we will do sampling,'
then I think our aperture is narrow.
We will need to increase the aperture a bit.
But for that, we might have to evolve our product.
'In India, between 2005-2022,
the number of consumers in men and women has come down.
But consumption has increased.
So, people who are drinking are consuming more.
But if you look at government data.
The number went from 32% to 22%.
As Aman said, he thought
both the founders were smart.
When smart, talented people
enter a particular category, they do so after careful consideration.
They can see something that motivates them to take that step.
They don't blindly jump into it.
Ishan and Aamir, welcome to the PokerBaazi Zone,
where you hold the cards.
Let's have some fun.
Have you played poker?
- Yeah! - Not me.
- I have. - But you have.
So you would know
- the similarity between poker and business. - Absolutely!
These are the sequences.
- Then it will be... - Sales.
Sales is your full house.
- And then? - And marketing.
- That's the flush. - Flush.
Usually, marketing comes before sales.
Because there are no sales without marketing.
So, why did you switch flush?
We come from the same background.
He is from sales and I am from marketing.
So, for us, sales and marketing are equal.
You too download the PokerBaazi app,
apply strategy and make a winning hand.
And download the app now.
They say hair is not only about style.
It plays a big role in confidence.
'Like permanent hair extensions,'
'temporary extensions that can be DIYed and wigs.'
'My ask is'
'Rs. 60 lakhs for 2% equity.'
- 'Whoa! - Oh my!'
How much have you done in sales?
'In around five months, we did Rs. 2.5 crores.'
- 'Wow! - Nice!'
Our today's founders gave confidence
to the entire world with their premium hair extensions.
'You are here for validation.'
'You got validation from 5 judges.'
- 'You have one offer. - Yes!'
'There are three Sharks. Anupam, Peyush and Ashneer.'
'Rs. 60 lakhs for 5%.'
'On the other hand, you have Vineeta and me'
'with the same offer of Rs. 60 lakhs for 6%.'
'Ashneer, Anupam and Peyush,'
'please accept the counteroffer of 4%.'
'Accepted! Done!'
'Congratulations!'
Hello and welcome to Adani presents Beyond the Tank.
Adani celebrates every Indian's
'Hum Karke Dikhate Hain' spirit.
In this special segment, we speak with founders
who achieved success and turned their dreams into reality.
We have with us the visionaries,
the founders of HairOriginals,
Piyush and Jitendra.
So, let's speak with the founders who made it.
How is it going?
If you go to any city in India, you will find our stores.
The valuations have gone up by 10%.
When we were aired in Season 1, no one knew
about hair.
When I first told people
about it, they thought I'd bring hair from temples and sell it.
Even I thought so.
I'm being really honest.
I'm proud to say that through Hair Originals
and of course, Shark Tank,
the world, especially India, now knows about hair extensions.
Earlier I had to sit them down and explain what it is.
I'd also like to say that it's quite a unique category
that encompasses 'from the woman, by the woman, for the woman'.
This means the raw material for
this product is produced by women,
the ones making it in the factory are also women.
and of course, our users
are also women amongst others.
You had been on Shark Tank season one.
Back then no one knew how this was going to impact you
because it wasn't known in India. It was talked about outside India.
What were your expectations?
Firstly, we wanted to validate it ourselves
that the product or category that we've chosen is viable.
So it was definitely very validating.
Then when it went on air, we received around 27000 calls
on our phones.
Our website crashed.
You said that you received validation here.
Were you not sure about your product?
This market is worth 14 billion dollars across the world.
And in India, it is vastly governed by
the hair donations made to temples.
With the market that I had assessed,
all the demand was outside India.
And with the way India's investment eco-system is, we were concerned
about the way it would be received.
Basically, we needed validation on our category creation.
In terms of how much would this category boom in India.
Hair is an emotional aspect for everyone.
We even have consumer cases
where our users are cancer patients
and alopecia patients.
But I think all of these interesting and beautiful stories,
and the impact they have on people,
that was more of a motivation for us than the fame.
I have a 9-year-old daughter.
She donated her hair last year.
She volunteered to donate for a good cause.
Wow!
And looking at you, I'm sure she had beautiful hair.
You said that hair is supplied outside.
They have hair in other countries.
Donation of hair only takes place in India.
In temples of Southern India, there are traditions
where women also donate their hair.
Right.
And because of this tradition of spirituality,
this donation builds up.
And that's why, ethically-sourced hair
can only be found in India.
In fact, the D2C brand that we created in the US,
the theme we built for that is
ethically sourced hair from India.
It's with pride that we sit here today and tell you
that we have centres in 11 cities.
Two of them are at Coimbatore and Hyderabad airports.
We have three centres in Canada.
We're opening in Houston soon.
And in the next 16 months
we're going to open 42 centres across India where we'll be joined
by an A-list Bollywood celebrity as our co-founder.
Oh? I want to know what you think
is the best advice you received on Shark Tank
which proved very good for you.
Peyush played a huge role
in creating our D2C brand.
He has guided us so well that we're now
the top players in this category.
As for Anupam, I'd say he's a treasure trove of knowledge.
- Truly. - No matter what you discuss
with him, he has such brilliant ideas.
With respect to Ashneer, I think
he can give you solutions within a minute if he feels he has one.
So, of course, Shark Tank has been very beneficial for us.
You're running a huge business. Of course, it can't be a piece of cake.
You might have faced some challenges like every industry does.
The most challenging points are on the supply-chain side,
the manufacturing side.
The hair you get from a temple,
it's in quite a different form.
The end product that you see,
- It's beautiful! - that is
a very complicated process.
That's a challenge. Secondly, this industry is still largely manual.
Whatever we're doing,
we're trying to shift it from manual to automation.
We're trying to use robotics as well as other things
in order to automate this industry.
You increased your valuation by ten times,
This is the Adani Hall of Achievements
where we cover the success of founders.
How do you feel?
It feels like this is where it all began.
Whatever we've achieved today,
was founded here.
Sir, you're too kind.
To honour and support your 'can do' attitude and passion,
we'd like to present you with a special gesture on behalf of Adani.
- How's it going? - Hi, sir.
Good to see you, man.
- Congratulations. - Thank you.
How much is your valuation now?
After this on-going round, it'll be 150.
How can you expand it? In which category?
We've added other products with hair extensions.
Then we've powders that are hair-related.
We've covered those products. I'd like to say, eventually,
we'd cover instant hair patching or make-up but long-term.
I'm telling you,
focus solely on hair extensions.
Then venture out later.
What they're doing,
if others start scaling their business, they can still
open 1000 stores for hair extensions.
What's the revenue currently?
At gross level, we're at Rs. 2.5 crores.
Very nice.
- Net? - Around Rs. 2 crores.
- Deducting everything... - Alright.
- So good to see you. Best of luck. - Thank you.
Thank you, sir.
Alright, sir.
See you.
Of course.
We have Dhitti, a 21-year-old from Hyderabad. She writes,
If we look at all the news consumers broadly,
they can be divided into two parts.
There are active consumers of news and passive consumers of news.
Those who use social media for news consumption are passive consumers.
They look for tidbits or broader headlines.
They were anyway not our target audience.
There are people who seek news actively.
Those who want to read news willingly.