Shark Tank India has returned with its second instalment on Sony Entertainment Television and Sony LIV. Shark Tank India Season 2 episode 16 titled “Pitchers ki Tayyari” premiered on January 23, 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 16 Recap Contains Spoilers-
The first team of the day is VS Mani and Co., a brand that proudly supplies an authentic instant filter coffee, South Indian snacks and spices. Founders GD Prasad, Rahul Bajaj, and Yashas Alur bring on an impressive pitch, opening the latest episode in a delectable and tasteful way.
The ‘Sepal’ team joins in with founders Kashyap (design) and Vidhey Addepally (engineering) to present the world’s first motorcycle canopy which protects the passenger from strong winds, pollutions, rain, and sun. The weather-proof canopy also facilities smart integration, which, however, is still in its early stages of development. With 25 states already using their product, ‘Sepal’ has shipped across to countries like the UK, US, Middle East and African countries. The team aims at transforming the passengers’ bike experience and to achieve the same, they ask the sharks for an investment of Rs. 50 lakhs against 1% equity.
Consequently, Namita is quick to ask as to which issue this design is solving, especially since it doesn’t offer overall coverage of the bike and heavy rain can penetrate through either direction. Vidhey welcomes the sharks on-stage to demonstrate how the problem will be solved as their design has been built in-line with basic physics and while keeping the angle of rainfall in mind.
The smart system, facilitated through a mobile phone, is also operated. However, nearly all the sharks seem unconvinced by the pitch. Their reactions are further heightened in the wrong direction when the price is revealed to be as high as Rs. 10,000.
The co-founders instantly take it as a hint and claim that the price can be brought down in the future once their business model is worked out more efficiently. Having started merely a few months ago, the lifetime sales of their company stand at 1000 units, whereas last month’s sales concluded at 160 units, with the gross margin at 37%.
This again compels the sharks to raise an eyebrow, wondering how the business will be converted into a profitable turnover. ‘Sepal’ team reveals how their limited production at the time is the real reason for low sales, but Amit pulls out of the deal soon after that as he believes the target audience for this design is extremely limited, especially due to its price factor. Namita, too, doesn’t feel the price is justified and walks away.
Anupam brings in talks about too many inclusions and features being included, thus, making the whole construct quite complex and something that will eventually be developed by other game players in the market as well. Aman can’t seem to accept the approach due to its low-rating style appeal, and he agrees upon the idea about the design being worked out by either hook or by crook.
Peyush, on the other end of the panel, sits with an interest in mind. He raises a few questions and is willing to bet on the entrepreneurs due to their value system as humble and customer-conscious founders. Eventually, he’s at loggerheads with Anupam and the rest as they continue speaking lowly for the product and its scalability in the market. They question as to why he’s partnered with the team at all, but Peyush is open to learning more through ‘Sepal’ and is content with his investment of Rs. 50 lakhs for 2% equity as he’s sure about the company reaching greater heights in the future.
The final pitch of the day is one you can’t ignore. The four co-founders of ‘Solinas’ – Divanshi Kumar, Bhavesh Narayani, Linda Jasline and Moinak Banerjee – introduce their fight against a national matter of concern, i.e. manual scavenging.
All four team-players reign from different parts of the nation and present a united front in their vision of replacing manual scavenging with machines doing the same deed. Their AI-based septic tank-cleaning robots are truly the need of the hour to curb the number of deaths resulting at the hand of an inhuman task. Having launched in 2020, they lead by example with their one-of-a-kind approach to sanitation-related issues and hope for the sharks to invest an amount of Rs. 90 lakhs against 2% equity for their noble cause.
Namita initiates the applause chain for the company. ‘Solinas’ eventually breaks down the dark reality of the nation and how numerous people have lost their lives to the poisonous and hazardous practice. Their machines are priced at a range of Rs. 15-25 lakhs, which helped them garner sales of Rs. 1.22 crores during the last financial year, with gross margin standing at 60% and service gross margin at 55-60%.
Anupam presents his perspective on the issue and claims that the team will have to join hands with the municipality and government to gain profit in market. Namita and Amit offer them a collective deal of Rs. 52 lakhs for 2% equity and Rs. 38 lakhs debt at 10% interest. Peyush, too, thinks that they need partners and micro entrepreneurs to expand their approach, and to also make their system more affordable. He comes along with Anupam for a joint deal, but the equity doesn’t match with the team.
Countless counters are placed, but it’s quite evident that ‘Solinas’ wants to partner with Peyush’s team, which leads Namita and Amit to voluntarily backing out. The final deal is closed with Peyush and Anupam for Rs. 90 lakhs against 3% equity.
Shark Tank India Season 2 Episode 16: Final Thoughts
In the midst of the final pitch, another petty round of arguments ensues. It’s almost become a pattern at this point that if you praise a particular shark a day before, with the very next outing, they prove you wrong by indulging in these cheap tricks as well. Amit and Anupam’s shallow war of words was uncalled for, yet again, and so were the sharks’ reactions during the second pitch by ‘Sepal’.
If Peyush was willing to bet on the founders’ credibility, the others could’ve simply accepted his decision. Yet, they stooped low to speaking poorly about the company, that too in the presence of the founders. I’m not a fan of this latent sense of ongoing passive-aggression adopted by the sharks supposedly hold the picture-perfect image of mentorship and guidance personified.
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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