When the story of India’s entrepreneurial revolution will be written, Shark Tank India’s second season will find a worthy mention in it. It’s not every day that a series of entrepreneurs end up receiving more investment than their original ask. This unique phenomenon was on display last week on Shark Tank India’s second season and for very good reasons. With India waking up to its innovation caliber, it’ll be a mistake to miss out on the show at this stage.
The range of innovations on display in the second season almost seems too good to be true and that’s only a fraction of India’s entrepreneurial potential.
Only in the last one week, we’ve seen a huge pivot in terms of the scale and innovations brought on to the stage. With investment bids going as high as Rs. 5 crores, the second season of Shark Tank India is serving as a grand testament to the potential of Indian innovations.
Let’s take a look at some jaw-dropping inventions that our fellow countrymen brought to the stage during the second season of Shark Tank India:
ZOFF FOODS
ZONE OF FRESH Food aka ZOFF, is a bootstrapped business founded in 2018 by siblings Akash and Ashish Agrawal. Pioneering in the cool grinding technology, Air Classifying Mills (ACMs), its fully mechanised automated production plant maintains the purity, aroma and pungency of the spices produced. To ensure this high quality even during delivery of the product, ZOFF FOODS has introduced 'zip lock packaging' with four layers that resists external temperature.
This is what sets ZOFF FOODS from its competitors.
ZOFF FOODS caught the attention of 4 out of the 5 Sharks on the show: Vineeta Singh (CEO SUGAR Cosmetics), Aman Gupta (Co-founder & CMO boAt), Amit Jain (CEO and co-founder CarDekho) and Anupam Mittal (founder of People Group). The winning bid eventually went to Aman Gupta (Co-founder & CMO of boAt) for Rs. 1 crore in exchange of 1.25% equity.
It’ll be exciting to see where ZOFF goes after its success story appeared on the show.
UNSTOP
Talk of raising the stakes, Unstop truly raised the stakes for entrepreneurs in this season of Shark Tank.
Founded by Ankit Agarwal in 2017 with the name Dare2compete, the company was rebranded in May 2022 as UNSTOP. Unstop is an Early Talent Engagement & Hiring Platform. It connects STUDENTS across domains to a world of opportunities across the GLOBE.
The original ask of investment by UNSTOP’s CEO was Rs. 1 crore in exchange for 1% equity. It was the first time in the history of Shark Tank that a Shark had offered an amount as high as Rs. 5 crore to a start-up. CarDekho’s Amit Jain offered Rs. 5 crores for 10% equity but UNSTOP’s CEO had a better deal coming his way.
After a series of negotiations with all sharks, UNSTOP went away with an investment of Rs. 2 crore for 4% equity, split equally among Amit, Anupam, Aman, and Namita.
GAVIN PARIS
A gender-neutral fashion brand supporting locals under the Make In India campaign, Gavin Paris offers a trendy streetwear collection for Indian fashion enthusiasts at affordable rates. A completely D2C business so far, Gavin Paris enjoys a gross margin of 60%.
Their structured production and logistics left the sharks impressed however it was advised that co-pitcher Ashutosh should hold at least some amount of equity instead of the sole owner Kishor who holds 100% of the company.
Kishore’s original ask was Rs.50 lakhs for 5% equity of the company at the valuation of Rs.10 crores.
Shark Vineeta made a conditional offer of Rs.30 lakhs for 10% equity and Rs.20 lacs debt at 12% interest on the condition that Ashutosh gets 40% equity. The offer was rejected by the pitcher.
OLL
OLL is an initiative by 18-year-old Shreyaan, helping students with 600 new-age skills related to blockchain, cryptocurrency, robotics. Confident young entrepreneur, Shreyaan Daga aspires to acquire his competitors one day, surprises sharks with his audacity and confidence.
Needless to say, the sharks were left highly impressed by this young and confident entrepreneur and wanted to invest in his potential. The original ask by OLL was Rs. 30 lakhs rupees for 2% equity in the company.
After a series of negotiations, Shreyaan Daga walked away with Rs. 30 lakhs in exchange of 5% equity at valuation of Rs.6 crore with Sharks Peyush and Vineeta.
DHRUV VIDYUT
Speaking of innovations, Dhruv Vidyut is a unique electric invention for regular bicycles. Dhruv Vidyut provides a DVECK that can easily convert any regular bicycle into an automatic vehicle in less than 20 minutes. The device is wifi enabled and can track location, speed and distance of the vehicle. It can be charged by pedaling itself. With a cost of manufacturing as low as Rs. 9000, Dhruv Vidyut left every Shark impressed.
With his unique non-monetary ask of 100 hours of the Sharks’ time in exchange for 0.5% equity in the company, Company’s owner Gursaurabh Singh caught every shark’s attention.
MAHANTAM
The most innovative ideas sometimes come from the simplest of problems. That’s what Jayesh & Dhaval, 2 friends from Gujarat did with Mahantam.
Mahantam is an innovative utensil washing machine which boasts of a compact size and simple design, installed at most tea stalls in India to ensure the hygienic serving of the country’s most loved beverage – tea. The machine’s USP is that it can wash 12-15 glasses In 30 seconds.
The owners made an ask of Rs.30 lakhs for 10% equity of the company at the valuation of Rs. 3 crores. The sharks weren’t going to let a concept as unique and efficient just pass them by.
After a series of negotiations, the owners of Mahantam closed an all-shark deal for Rs. 30 lakh at 20% equity.
With innovations at the center of every pitch, Shark Tank India’s 2nd Season has truly upped the game for entrepreneurs and has invented a new business grammar for young dreamers in the country.
Watch Shark Tank India Season 2 now premiering on Sony LIV.
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