PremiumShark Tank India: This entrepreneur impressed sharks with his confidence, made Anupam Mittal stand and salute him
Aman Gupta quoted from Ranveer Singh's film, Band Baaja Baarat while responding to his query about his interest in investing in the company.
Last Updated: 05.38 PM, Apr 05, 2022
The show, Shark Tank India has witnessed several great pitches but rarely, have sharks been so impressed with an entrepreneur that one of them stands and salutes him. Yes, you read it right. A successful businessman, Anupam Mittal, who is the founder of Shaadi.com, once saluted a young entrepreneur. He and the other sharks were so impressed with his confidence and conviction that they were surprised to find that he is just 22 years old.
It happened during the pitch by Krishnav Dhingra, a 22-year-old founder of Sneakare. The moment he walked onto the stage and introduced himself saying, 'Mujhe kaam karna bahut accha lagta hai', he swept the sharks off their feet. Born and brought up in Delhi, he came on the reality show to pitch his shoe care company which sells boxes to store shoes and products to clean and maintain them. Krishnav shared his journey on the show and how he sold 7,000 boxes in 8 months. He started selling costumes to schools first for their 12 std graduation but it ended when the lockdown was introduced due to the pandemic.
He demanded Rs 20 lakh for 5 per cent equity in the company. The judges were very impressed with his confidence and knowledge. Vineeta Singh, the co-founder of Sugar Cosmetics, was the first to make an offer. She offered Rs 20 lakh for 20 per cent equity but later, matched up to the offer, made by Namita Thapar, executive director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals. Thapar made an offer of Rs 20 lakh for a 15 per cent stake.
Peyush Bansal called Krishnav a 'phenomenal entrenpreneur' but politely refused to make an offer as Vineeta and Namita had already offered a deal. When Krishav asked if Anupam and Aman were interested, Anupam said he had doubts about how big a market it is in India. The startup founder immediately responded that Anupam had also started his company Shaadi.com when the internet was not even a thing in India. Aman Gupta, the co-founder of boAt, was taken aback by his response and quoted something similar from Ranveer Singh's film, Band Baaja Baarat. He later joins Vineeta and Namita and the three make an offer of Rs 21 lakh for 15 per cent equity.
Krishnav makes a counteroffer of Rs 21 lakh for 12 per cent and the three immediately agree even without any negotiation. Before Krishnav walks out with a cheque in his hand, Anupam Mittal gets up and salutes him for his vigour and confidence.
Meanwhile, all episodes of Season one of Shark Tank India are available to stream on SonyLIV. Based on the US show, Shark Tank, the reality show was hosted by Rannvijay Singha. It is about entrepreneurs pitching their ideas and business models to sharks for funding in exchange for a per cent of stake in the company.