Shark Tank India has returned with its second instalment on Sony Entertainment Television and Sony LIV with the motto “Entrepreneur ki Leher Ek Baar Firse”. Shark Tank India Season 2 episode 7 premiered on January 10, 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.
Having game-ified kids’ education, Sourav and Gunjan Gupta, founders of ‘GunjanApp Studios’ cater to children falling in the age category of 1.5- 12 years. With 40+ mobile games for kids, they help teach them subjects like Maths, English, Hindi and more. Pre-existing learning apps in the market have higher subscription rates and require an online platform.
Starting in 2016 with their first application, they opened up a free offline learning platform, which has now gained 200 million+ downloads. In hopes of helping kids worldwide, they present an ask of Rs. 2.5 crores for 1% equity. The couple came back to India from U.S. to execute their vision. Even their son learnt the basics through the same application without their support.
As soon as the app demonstration commences, the sharks raise an issue about the rapidly increasing screen-time among children, especially due to the Corona pandemic. So, they see their games as the “quality screen-time”, now that the usage of phones, or other devices isn’t going down despite schools reopening.
Their top-ranking math game has 60 million downloads with 3 lakh positive reviews. However, Anupam brings up other competitive brands like Kiddopia, ABC Mouse, and points out that applications developed by these businesses have similar modules. He can’t accept that they’ve produced a breakthrough in the industry with their application, since identical products had already pre-existed in the game.
Breaking down the revenue streams of their business model, Sourav Gupta details about advertisements (96%), in-app purchases (1%) and subscriptions (new model – 3%). Annual sales recorded for the 2021- 2022 cycle were Rs. 24 crores, and gross profit stood at Rs. 22.8 crores with EBITDA at Rs. 21 crores and net profit of Rs. 15 crores. Their professional team includes 32 members.
Pushing the previous debates aside, Peyush applauds their efforts and their success rate. Eventually, Vineeta and Namita are out of the deal due to the high ask and their opposition for screen-time issues.
Anupam doesn’t believe in the scale of the business and its ability to compete with their rivals. Peyush advises them to expand their work culture, but steps out. Similarly, Aman is also out.
It’s time for the second team to walk in. Soham Payal Pathaan and Payal Pathak introduce their line-up of healthy and delicious salads under the brand name ‘The Simply Salad’. Adding an Indian edge to their salad recipes, while keeping them affordable through weekly and monthly subscription options, they started their journey in August 2022 and have fulfilled 35,000 orders since then.
Presenting an ask of Rs. 30 lakhs for 10% equity, Payal Pathak reveals how they found inspiration for their business model during the COVID period, having run a PG (Paying Guest) service at the time. Their weekly subscriptions are priced at Rs. 180 per day, while monthly ones are rated at Rs. 150 per day. Moreover, their gross margin stands at 64%.
Shockingly, Aman makes the offer despite his general dislike for salads, and he’s joined by Vineeta for a joint opportunity of Rs. 30 lakhs for 10% equity, thus matching the original offer of the company. She even praises the mother-son duo’s “grit + gratitude” combination, which ultimately wins her over.
Anupam advises them to look further into the health aspect and expand their business, while also keeping an eye out for branding and more marketing strategies. Peyush is also astounded to see how the subscription model has worked wonders for them, but ultimately steps out of the deal, leading us back to Aman and Vineeta’s offer, which is finally sealed.
The last pitch is finally a matter of intrigue for Namita. Adarsh Kachapppilly, Tapas Pandey and Varad Patil from ‘AyuDevices’ initiate the conversation around technology aiding heath issues. Putting on the signature symbol of doctors propagated by mainstream – the stethoscope – they build up their pitch for their pioneering digital stethoscope, AyuSynk.
They welcome Peyush to exhibit the working of their product, as it enhances the audio factor while listening in to the patient’s heartbeats or chest vibrations. The US patented product when fixed on to the stethoscope tube in place of the ordinary chest piece removes background noise to an exceptional extent, while providing audio and visual clarity. Through their device, the data of the diagnosis can even be live streamed across states via their application, which will further support patient residing in the rural areas.
Their ask to further elevate their business is of Rs. 1 crore for 1.5% equity. Further declarations announce that the digital alternative has also cut down the time for diagnosis and helped doctors with a better input for decision making.
In the B2C model, they charge Rs. 12,000 a piece for the same and have recorded a gross margin of 55%. Last month sales stand at Rs. 32 lakhs, while the year’s projection is estimated at Rs. 7 crores with EBITDA at 18%.
Vineeta pulls out of the deal due to her lacking specialisation. Aman, on the other hand, claims that the price is too high and they need to drop these numbers, while Anupam can’t anticipate the market scale and believes that doctors are resistant to change and won’t necessarily welcome this novel design with an open eye.
Peyush is ready to make his offer for Rs. 50 lakhs for 5% equity and Rs. 50 lakhs Debt at 12% interest. However, as soon as the camera turns to Namita, she proclaims her transformation from “a dolphin to a shark”, and is determined to fly in solo with the health deal as long as the stakes are all reserved for her.
She posits the challenges they need to work upon in the future include price reduction, a strong team foundation and the need for education and awareness in the domain. Accepting that the market is big enough for them flourish, she offers Rs. 50 lakhs for 4% equity and Rs. 50 lakhs Debt at 10% interest.
The team comes back with a counter offer for 3.5% equity, and Namita goes along with it, finalising the deal of Rs. 50 lakhs for 3.5% equity and Rs. 50 lakhs Debt at 10% interest.
Shark Tank India Season 2 Episode 7 Review
This time the pitches were quite swifter and to the point. Watching the latest episode, while keeping the previous, rather “dramatic” deliveries from Shark Tank India during the season, brings you back to the ground reality of the business reality TV show. The essential driving force of the series is the invigorating and stimulating back and forth discussions between businesses and the sharks.
While it may be true that the real pitches are much longer than we perceive them to be, as articulated by Anupam Mittal during a KBC sequence, the televised reality of the show only comes across as an effective channel of communication when things stay purely about the work. Even though bringing the founders to a humble ground with their life context is crucial, it doesn’t always work out well for this particular format of reality TV, wherein the continuity is already being broken off by several advertisements interrupting the broadcasted pitches.
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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