Shark Tank India has returned with its second instalment on Sony Entertainment Television and Sony LIV. Shark Tank India Season 2 episode 15 titled “Changing The Face of Indian Entrepreneurship” premiered on January 20, 2023 during the 10-11PM IST time slot. Payel Seth is the show’s creative director, while it’s been produced by Studio NEXT, with Ravikesh Vatsa as its writer.
The show is hosted by comedian Rahul Dua, and graced by six judges, better known as sharks – Anupam Mittal Founder-CEO of Shaadi.com – People Group; Aman Gupta, Co-Founder-CMO of boAt; Namita Thapar, Executive Director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals; Vineeta Singh, Co-Founder-CEO of SUGAR Cosmetics; Peyush Bansal, Founder-CEO of Lenskart.com and Amit Jain, Co-Founder-CEO of CarDekho Group and InsuranceDekho.com.
-Shark Tank India Season 2 Episode 15 Recap Contains Spoilers-
First team to join today is ‘Dobiee’, a confectionary brand founded by Arjun And Mukesh Dharamshi which brings its customers a step closer to their tasteful childhood. Having started in 2021, their multi-faceted candy brand has sold more than 9 lakh packets till now.
To raise their brand to the global market and coin ‘Dobiee’ as the ‘King of Candy’, the founders present an offer of Rs. 72 lakhs for 2% equity. Mukesh ji shares his inspirational origins, which found further ground with his son. They forward their sales through distributors, stockist and CNF (Clearing and Forwarding), and have in-house production unit.
Namita bursts the piñata and a stock of candies burst out. Sharks taste and instantly fall in love with the products. Anupam talks about how their candy business will face challenges in the “declining industry”. Gross margin for their model stands at 50% with a factory capacity utilisation of 15-20%. The detailed explanations and values laid out by Arjun are appreciated by Peyush, who calls him an “A+ entrepreneur” as he can see him as a hustler.
Amit counters Anupam’s claim by branding their products as a “pull candy product”, which will compel customers to buy it, especially since many candies are paired up with gifts as well. He offers a deal of Rs. 40 lakhs for 5% equity and Rs. 32 lakhs Debt at 11% interest.
Anupam also points out the toy inclusion, which can take the business to new heights and he too lays out an offer of Rs. 72 lakhs for 11% equity. A counter come forward for 5% equity as they want to save up on the equity. Anupam offers a final deal against 9% equity, but Amit intervenes, asking for more free space to make up one’s mind.
Amit revises his deal entirely to Rs. 72 lakhs for 7% equity, pushing them to close the deal. Further counters request both shark to come together as a team, but Anupam fixes the equity for the same at 10%. Yet another counter is brought on for 6.5% by the team, and Aman guides Amit to close the deal at 6.5% instead of tussling for the equity percentage. The team agrees as well and the deal is closed at Rs. 72 lakhs against 6.5% equity.
Kashmiri founders, Sheikh Samiullah and Abid Rashid started their delivery service ‘FastBeetle’ (started in 2019), offering speedy and safe deliveries, even on a tough terrain like Kashmir and locations like the Uri Border, LOC, and others, where mainstream delivery services can’t reach. Having bridged this gap for businesses and making their work easier, the company has empowered more than 1200 businesses and have delivered more than 10 lakh orders.
With the vision of wanting to reach all those unreachable places of the country that have otherwise been labelled remote or out of reach, the founders proceed with their request of Rs. 90 lakhs for 3% equity.
Right away, Peyush praises the choice of their niche. Aman, too, feels proud to see Kashmiri entrepreneurs, and asks the reason for the low percentage of the same. The founders hand out reasons like the lack of facilities, support, etc, but they see these challenges as a problem, because they were determined to tackle with the root cause by starting at home themselves. Accepting all the setbacks faced on the journey like curfews and other aspects of the geographical topography of Kashmir, they move on to detail how they operate across various miles – first, mid and last.
Namita asks them about competition from mainstream services. ‘FastBeetle’ founders claim that they remain unrivalled at extremely remote locations as no one else has been to reach them. The total amount raised previously is recorded at Rs. 90 lakhs, with their monthly sales ranging from about Rs. 25-30 lakhs. Moreover, the projected sales for the new year are estimated to reach Rs. 3 crores. While there’s a gross margin of 54%, there’s also an amount being burned monthly.
Namita and Amit are the first ones to pull out of the deal, but Peyush, Aman and Anupam present their respective offers one after the other. Aman believes that they should fire up the entrepreneurship ecosystem of Kashmir, which fuels his reason for wanting to invest in the business as well. After laying out numerous collision-bound deals, all three sharks revise their offer to the same level of Rs. 90 lakhs for 9% equity. A counter offer is raised by the team for 5% equity, while also hoping for both Aman and Peyush to join them.
Once again, Anupam feels left out of the scene and voluntarily backs out as well. Peyush is open to go for a joint offer with Aman, and they talk about having 9% equity, which is again countered and brought down by the team to 7%. A final, non-negotiable joint offer for Rs. 90 lakhs against 8% is forwarded by the two sharks, which is yet again met with another counter for 7.5% equity. The sharks accede to the same and the deal is closed satisfactorily.
For the last pitch of the day, Dr. Ashish and Dr. Preeti Rawandale walk out with ‘P-Flow’, world’s first disposable and portable uroflowmetry system for detecting urine related disorders. Using this apparatus, patients can proceed with the tests at their respective residence without having to compromise on their dignity upon being asked questions by the lab technicians that may leave them feeling uncomfortable. Dr. Ashish even adds that this arising hesitation can lead to falsification of reports as well, which is where their portable system comes in handy and counters such problems.
Sales for the same are carried out on their website other online marketplaces. Extra funnels are also offered to the customers to facilitate repeat tests. The doctor-couple asks for Rs. 60 lakhs for 1% equity to popularise their vision. They further reveal that the original conventional tests at the lab cost about Rs. 1000 per test, however, their apparatus allows them to conduct three tests for Rs. 1000, thus cutting down the charge too.
The sharks approve their ideas, however, they can’t seem to comprehend their business model. Some questions are also raised about it falling under which of the categories – B2C and B2B. It’s eventually revealed that this particular division of their work is still at a pretty early stage, to be considered a work in progress. They’ve worked out all their R&D phases, but need the sharks’ mentorship and guidance regarding marketing it.
Finally, the sharks agree that this could emerge as a new category creation project, which would ultimately become a plus point for home usage. The founders’ pitch one again creates a bit of confusion as they introduce a separate “public company” of theirs, thus making their shares public on the stock market. Thereafter, a list of achievement and feats under Dr. Ashish’s name announce him to be a two-time Guinness World Book record holder as well for having extracted about one lakh stones from a kidney and the largest kidney removal respectively.
Aman is absolutely bowled over upon hearing of all these successes, but doesn’t offer them a deal, because a better and “unbeatable” one awaits them in the form of a joint offer from Namita and Amit. While the former has her healthcare expertise, the latter can help them in the marketing domain. Their non-negotiable offer is for Rs. 60 lakhs against 10% equity. On the other hand, Peyush and Anupam are already out because they find the team’s business structure to be complex, and they can’t make out as to how the team hopes to build out their business.
Namita and Amit’s offer is countered for a 3% equity, Namita budges, but only up to 8%. ‘P-Flow’ doesn’t give in either, compelling the sharks to come down to 6%, but the team again asks for 5%. Ultimately, the deal is closed at Rs. 60 lakhs for 6% equity.
Shark Tank India Season 2 Episode 15: Final Thoughts
Without a doubt, the Kashmiri delivery service ‘FastBeetle’ is bound to skyrocket as another fan-favourite brand after this episode, and for very right reasons. Through this pathway, the founders haven’t merely opened up the space for their business to flourish, but also for other Kashmiri ventures to reach out to the rest of the world.
As we receive more episodes with Amit Jain in it, another aspect of the show is being opened up to the audience. While it’s arisen as a debatable argument, the other sharks can still be seen delving into petty altercations. Some have even initiated an unsaid chain of expressions and reactions which doesn’t come across as an acceptable feat from their end. In this scenario, Amit Jain’s personality is further being foregrounded as a humble centre of gravity among al sharks.
He takes the pitchers’ words seriously, weighs them out and then delivers his final decision on the matter without slandering the founders. Hopefully, this will kept up as we proceed further, and he won’t be transformed by the need of the ‘reality’ aspect of this show to turn him into yet another detestable element.
Shark Tank India Season 2 episodes will be broadcasted on Sony Entertainment Television and live-streamed on SonyLIV from Monday to Friday at 10 PM IST.
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