Music Sound of a car engine Sharks, March 2021, Sky, Suryak Mar Yadav, international debut, first gain, Jofra Archer, 6. Who does this? After a year, T20 World Cup, India-Pakistan, MCG, Virat's iconic shot of the century. That effortless, not-so-straight, straight drive. You're looking wrong.
These are all effortless shots for us. But for that, those players have made I don't know how many efforts in the back end. And these shots are inspired by lakhs of players working day and night to improve their craft. But is that hard work enough? It's not enough.
Hard work without data? No point. What you cannot measure, you cannot improve. Sharks, cricket has evolved a lot with time. There have been many changes in the format but even today there is no tool that can give you objective measurement and analysis of cricket and sports skills.
Rahul, but not anymore. We have brought with us, straight bat, your own bat buddy. Hello Sharks, I am Gagan. I am Rahul, from Bangalore. And I am Madhusudan, from Mumbai.
StraightBat is a deep tech company in sports and cricket is our first use case. Our first product is this magical device which can make any bat a smart bat. Just stick it on and bam!
This patented technology captures any motion without a camera. And in real time, it shows you your bat speed, swing speed, timing and many more things on the Straight Back Cricket app. Shak, I'll give you an example. There's a player who has changed his bat lift by 4 degrees and his bat speed has been increased by 21% and his impact speed by 27%.
That's the power of straight bat. It makes players better, faster. And that's not where we've stopped.
We have collaborated with a top brand and made this Smart Willow where our technology is integrated in bat. From international cricket teams to the streets of Surat, thousands of our players are playing with straight bats. And 91% of the players have improved their batting with straight bat technology. At Straight Bat, our vision is not just to pitch 22 yards, but to democratize the entire sport.
Sharks, we invite you and welcome you on this journey. Our ask is 1.5 CR for 1% equity. SHARKS And Sharks, let's not just make players, let's make some great players with straight bat. Very nice. Madhusudan ji, Gagan ji, Rahul ji.
Welcome to Shark Tank. Thank you so much. Tell me one thing, is this the spark of cricket?
Was there any cricketer among you? I played in Tamil Nadu till senior division. And you sir?
I am an endurance athlete. I do triathlon, I do Ironmans and I am a long distance open water swimmer. I haven't played cricket, I have played tennis ball cricket. I did my engineering from Bangalore, I am from Calcutta.
I was a techie geek, I became an architect, I wanted to understand business. I went to INSEAD Business School for an executive program in Singapore and Fontainebleau. In Blue Ocean Strategy, straight bat was conceptualized in my mind. Sports industry is an industry where there are only lagging indicators. How many runs you made, how many goals you scored, how many aces you scored.
There are no leading indicators which tell you that you can and perform bad. That was the whole thought. So sir, will you give a demo?
So this works as if any smartwatch connects to an app automatically. What you are seeing is the home screen of our app. I would like to show you my career batting CV first. I have played 116 sessions so far. Approximately 2500 shots.
And my bat speed is 71 kmph. Impact speed is 62 kmph. Timing index is 85%. you And sweet spot index is 47%.
Sweet spot is what we measure by the look and the feel of middling the ball. We put an objective number to this. Where is my bat lift coming from?
40 degrees. 4 degree shift in bat lift angle, improved. It's very important. These have become metrics.
Me versus world average, versus the pros. Some 400 or more players at stake level and above worldwide, players with straight bat, we can benchmark their data from you and give you a target. This is your target. Okay. Across different metrics.
We capture motion without cameras. This is what we do. For every shot, we recreate the entire motion without any cameras. For this, our first patent is granted. That's cool.
We can take a demo. I really want to play. We would love to actually. I'm ready for the game. We'll play one more round.
Rahul will capture your data on the tablet. Let's try and do a bat speed challenge. Aman, you want to go first.
Let's go. I used to do this from the start. So Aman, the bat is off. It swells and turns on. It turns on after turning it around?
Yes. Oh, that's very nice. We have to do one more thing. This is...
What happened? After calibrating the ball, it is very important to know the direction of the pitch and the baller. This calibrations the environment.
There are sensors in this? Yes, there are motion sensors in this. It is very nice. It turns green light and you can play. Now you are ready to play.
Good shot! Aman, let's do this. We'll take two shadow shots.
What's a shadow shot? Shadow shot means you just swing. At least you'll know how fast you can swing your bat. Okay. That's good.
Wow! Good one. I loved it, man.
Did you see that shot? You did a great job. Despite being a leg spinner.
We'll show you how well you hit. Good shot. Ritesh, power. Nice.
Ritesh, let's do two shadow shots. Let's go. One, two.
Good one. Nice. Let's compare scores.
Aman, your average bat speed per session is 49 kmph. And Ritesh, your average bat speed is 62 kmph. Oops! I got it wrong. And Aman, your last shadow shots were at a maximum speed of 75 kmph.
In which you He tried to hit a six. But accurately, the shot I gave him, it was the same. Same.
Yeah, that's very good. Same. And if I look at Ritesh's statistics, the cover drive he tried to hit, 61 was his impact speed, 68 was his total swing, 90% timing index.
And his bat comes between the first and second slip. Where did he hit the ball? 97 kmph and 92 kmph. So, 75 kmph versus 92 kmph.
And 49 kmph versus 62 kmph. So, we have a clear winner. No, but it also depends on the ball. I was wrong. If the ball is coming slow and you're fast, then there's no need.
Now, this is mostly for power hitters or you can check the normal. Power hitting because everybody is talking about power hitting. You said you had 75, he had 91. Let's assume that they were actually hitting the ball. And you had 75 impact speed and 75 bat speed. Let's assume that Vitesh had 91 but he had 75 impact speed.
91, 75, 75, 75. Your... The ball is more important. And consistency will be more important. Simply because at the point of impact, you have given your power to the ball. I am saying that.
There is stability. He is just looking ahead. It's not necessary. I can tell you that the IPL team, Rajasthan Royals, they have been using straight bat for the last five years now.
If a team sees that a player is playing very well in this app, Can they find team members also like this? In trials, everyone plays with a straight bar. After that, let's say you are bidding for me.
I will have my data in front of you. On the basis of which, you will bid for me. In fact, I can quote a senior person from Rajasthan Royals saying, What started off as a technology experiment is our way of finding our next superstar player. Nice. But are you trying to say that A team like Rajasthan Royals You have also improved their performance by sharing data analytics Some of them, yes Yes You must have seen Rajasthan Royals this time They have chosen a 13 year old boy And they specifically said that He had come to our trials 3 balls, 3 sixes We found his data interesting That's why we bid on him Did you have his data?
Unfortunately, I can't tell you anything about it Why? Okay, you have a yes in your name too So it's okay Your core customer is an athlete. It is designed for pros.
You want to become a professional or you are already a professional. We created this category. This was not a category. You don't know about Metfix.
We made a cricket Australia customer. We made Rajasthan Royals. Why?
First, product market fit. Is the product accurate? Is the product effective? Does performance improve with Metfix or not?
We did that. We gained credibility. But the overall vision is to democratize.
If your customer is a pro and an athlete, then you have to make the best in the world technology. If your customer is like us, who are hobbyists, then you have to make engagement and entertainment. So what do you want to make? When we work with pros, it's a service package where we provide them dashboards, analytics, which is far more detailed than what will be in the app. But for the consumers, this app So, either it's for highly passionate cricketers or for pros.
It's not for casual players at all. It's actually made for casual players. But what difference will it make to casual players?
Why are you doing this? Because the market size is getting smaller. The kids from 14 to 12 years old, to elite players, all of them are our customers. But what we do is the same technology. We provide to everyone and our answer is Democratization of Technology in Sports You started your company 7 years ago When did you start selling?
We started in March 2017 Our first customer was in November 2017 You made your product in 6 months Our thought is that if we are not embarrassed by our first prototype, first product, then we are very late We believe in an iterative model This is Mark Anderson's quote Yes, and Eric Ries too. Okay, you've read all the quotes. Okay, let's focus on the numbers.
Let's discuss the numbers of the last three years first. Kunal, I'll ask you for 30 seconds of patience if that's okay. Till 2019, we didn't sell products.
We used to go with academies, teams, leagues. We used to fit our product market, but we were paying customers as a service model. 2020-21 was not good for us.
Because of COVID, people were not playing. Okay. In 2022, we launched the black and red product.
The one with well-grow. Yes, the one with well-grow. So, what was our revenue that year? 1.2 CR. And in 2024?
Similar number in 2022-24. Why was it flat? Basically, D2C channels. First, we didn't know if our go-to-market model was right.
This is not the way to sell this product on D2C channel. Okay. We have questions on the pricing model as well. Let's finish these numbers first. So, how much has FI25 earned so far?
So far, we have earned a revenue of 44 lakhs. That's it. Again flat.
This month, we will earn around 18 lakhs. How much was our burn in FI23? Around 3.5 crores.
How much was our burn in FI24? Around 2.5 to 3.5 crores. How much is our burn in FI25 this year?
Around 45 lakh rupees. This is the expense. Expense hua hai? 45 lakhs Revenue aapne ka 18 lakh rupiah hua?
Haan Isme se kitna sales India mein aur kitna Australia mein hai? 95% India hi tha Is financial year mein kitna revenue hoga? Is 4 crore rupiah revenue hoga?
How? Anything. 40 lakhs to 4 crores.
What is the change that you will go from 1 crore to 4 crores this year? And that too you have only 3 months left, practically 4 months. So we didn't have money to manufacture.
We didn't have raw material costs to buy in bulk. So we have now switched to the big contract manufacturers in South East Asia. In which the assembly line gives you more predictable and much more scalable thing.
How much did you put in Apex? 80 lakhs. If you don't have the resources, if you don't use the capacity, then how is your 2-300% burn happening every year? In what way is it burning?
There is a fixed cost of 20 lakhs. Employee cost. We are an 18 member team.
Per month? Per month. So, it's 2.5 crore per year. This is a continuous R&D. Tell us about the pricing.
How does it happen? That product, the black product is 6499. In which, 1188 rupees. is subscription revenue. This year we have pivoted the entire go-to-market.
We have a multi-thousand unit deal with SG where they will sell this smart willow through almost 800-900 retailers in the country. We have their order book for the next 3 years. What is the value of this?
We have got 50,000 units ordered for them over the next 3 years. So how much do you get for this sticker? We are not comfortable sharing the pricing for a OEM B2B deal. Sorry sir.
Let's talk about the percentages. There are a lot of mathematicians in India. But I would like to tell you that this number is not cooked out of some air.
This is contract signed and is getting delivered as we speak. Vagan, you said that you got this idea while you were at INSEAD. So is it fair to say that you are the CEO?
Just tell us about all three roles and the equity structure of the three. Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder, 14% equity. Gagan Raga, CEO, 27% equity.
Madhusudan, Chief Business Officer, 5.57% equity. The three co-founders have 46.5% equity. Which means that the balance is with 53.5 investors. There are around 13-14% ESOPs and advisory.
And the rest? The rest are investors. We just did a series A round in October, in which we diluted 22%. Xfinity Venture Partners led.
We raised a total of 3.5 million. How much equity do they have? Xfinity 10%.
10%. The rest is 12%. After that, we have investors in TRTL Ventures, Eternal Capital, Succeed Innovation and Probo.
We have done 1.6 million in total in angel rounds from 2017 to 2024. There are angels, Succeed Innovation Fund, Lead Angels, Textiles. Cricket Australia is our investor. Huh!
How much equity does Cricket Australia have? They will invest 7.5 million Australian dollars into marketing and branding in Australia and based on users and revenues in years time, they will earn out equity. So this 5.5% has to be vested based on value. It is not time vested, it is based on value created for the business. Greg Chappell is our investor.
James Sutherland is our investor. Amazing. We have done diligence on the cap table.
It's very complex. This is something unique to this pitch. It's been 7 years since we started this business.
Are you happy with the progress? No. Why not? Category creation was difficult. I knew it.
But are we the lion in the market? The answer is definitely yes. Our In the entrepreneurship ecosystem, investor ecosystem, they always say, hardware is hard.
In that 7-year journey, maybe you too have understood why hardware is so hard. It takes a lot of time. It takes time to make a product. It takes time to evangelize it.
It takes time to adopt it. It takes time to make software. And your commitment to this business has been very good. But do you know what the difference is between a product and a business?
that you have solved a lot of problems. Right now, I feel that we have made a very good product. But we haven't made a business yet.
It is possible that this contract can go up to 5 lakhs instead of 50,000 bats with different manufacturers and OEMs. But, Today, when we are assessing this investment, it is not clear. Today, I am out of this, but wish you all the best.
Thank you. I think you've built a good product and I wish... you can also make a good business.
Thank you so much. Thanks, Kunal. The complexity of your cap table is so much that as an investor, I don't think I can add any value to it.
What these investors already have in 54%, they won't do it. In fact, you have Greg Chappell and the Cricket Australia board. So, I don't think I will have any value or benefit in this. For that reason, I'm not.
Thank you. You have partnered with Rajasthan Royals, you have partnered with SG, you have not spent money in marketing in D2C, but you have tried some efforts in it, you have partnered with Cricket Australia. All of these opportunities of 20-25 crores minimum, and possibly 50 crores value addition, are there. I was feeling like telling you, we will do the conditional deal, SG contract diligence, okay, we will do it.
But at one place, you have still... I haven't cracked it completely. So, that's why I'm out today. I wish you all the very best.
Thank you so much. Thanks, Sudeep. Thank you. I believe you that your consumers are basically all the cricket players in India and globally.
My problem is the valuation. To give a valuation of 150 crores, can't justify it with 2.5 crore loss. So, are you flexible about valuation or... You will not do a down round is my question to you. Thank you so much.
Unfortunately, we won't go down round. Very surprising. You are sitting on 8% advisory pool. That's the same for people like you, right?
If you ask me a question, I can't tell you. What's the price of this? Who gave it to you?
I can't tell you. Can I give you an advisory? I can't give you. So why did you come, bro?
We have come here. Do marketing. We have come here to get some of you on our side of the table.
I don't think it's intentional, boss. How do I tell this now? I don't know. Gagan, do you want to take a deal?
Yes. For sure? I think you have created an interesting tech, good tech.
I think it can do well. It hasn't come yet. You just have to learn how to close a deal.
Let's see if you can learn that or not. I'll give you an offer. 1.5 crore 4%. 1.5 crore 4%? Aman, thank you.
I want to discuss this with my partner. But then why did you refuse me? No, no, no.
No, no, no. I'm feeling offended. We won't lower the valuation. But can a deal be made? Can I tell Aman that a deal can be made?
Can I tell you that a deal can be made? Give us some time for us to think Okay, think outside the box and come back soon We want to see if you actually want to take a deal or not I don't think he will go below 117 No, he will say at 117 and then he will say that he will give an extra 1% He will give you a counter at 2% Aman and you, Namita, we want you to come to our cap table and help us. We need your help. At the current valuation of 117 Cr, 1.5 crore is up to 2.5%.
What is up to? Now your counter is 1.5 crore for 2.5%. Simple? I want Namita to come too.
I would be happy to join. It will be a pleasure. I feel that there is a lot of work. Yeah, there is a lot of work. It's not that it's a financial deal only, it's a strategic deal.
We should stick to four. Four. 1.5 CR, 3% request you 3.5 Last 3 Let's do it We are sure of the deal Good decision Very nice, very nice, good call Thank you.
Very good. Oh my God! Oh!
One more make-up! Ruby is organic, so I know this brand. Do you know the company?
Of course! It's been a long time. You're having so much fun! Blow it away!
Namaste Sharks! My name is Rubaina and I am from Mumbai. Today I am here to talk about my first love. Makeup. Can you see how my eyes light up when I say that word?
But unfortunately, my love was one sided. Because the makeup that I loved, didn't love me back. Then I came to know after a study that in India, 36.7% of females have some kind of skin sensitivity.
Because of which they are unable to use a lot of cosmetics. Sharks, we have become so skincare conscious but we're still not paying attention to the colour cosmetics we use which contain petrochemicals, artificial fragrances, hormonal disruptors, microplastics that can affect our health in the long term. That's why I started Ruby's Organics in 2017. One of the first online D2C brands to create the clean beauty category in India. We make cosmetics from plant and mineral-derived ingredients.
For example, the carbon black pigment in a regular kajal pencil is derived from fossil fuels. Our black pigment is derived from vegetable fibres. The more love every girl has for her makeup, the more love our products have for her. Our vision is to create clean beauty products that don't just make us feel better, but are actually better. That's why my request is 1 crore for 2.5% equity in my company.
The future is clean, it's green, it's Ruby's. Ruby, welcome to Shark Tank. Thank you.
It's been a dream. And it's very difficult to make organic plant-based makeup. It is.
So well done in building the brand. Thank you so much. How did you figure out how to make these products? I used to have a lot of skin issues.
After using foundation for 3-4 days, my skin used to be inflamed. Of course, I consulted a dermatologist. And he said that those who have sensitive skin, they don't have enough petrochemicals, microplastics, and silicones to suit them. And at that time, there was no option. I mean, we used to call aunties and uncles from the US, there's an organic brand, please get some for us.
We just laughed like this. Which organic brands were there in the US? RMS Beauty.
How big is the brand? I think $60 million. And they are acquired. Does anyone else make organic makeup in India?
Yes, of course. A lot of people. So there is Juicy Chemistry.
Okay. There is Earth Rhythm. There is Daughter Earth.
There is Plum in some respect. There have been some studies, whether in India or globally, to show what damage can happen to your skin from regular makeup versus organic. Do you have any data or evidence?
Lots, ma'am. Give us a couple of examples. The most harmful thing for skin is phthalates. So phthalates is used for carrying fragrance in a formulation.
We sometimes read that fragrance is written at the end. Many companies use that as a trade secret to hide the phthalates that they're using, which is DEP. It's a very commonly used ingredient and it's not disclosed.
So how does a common person like me find out? That's what... What are some one or two other ingredients that I should know are bad for me? Polyethylene. What does that do?
So it actually doesn't cross your skin barrier. In that sense, it's safe. But... The lipsticks we use, we're eating our lipsticks.
I just want to add to this. The fragrance in makeup, even if a brand adds it, a lot of brands don't add it, it is 0.0001%. It's the last ingredient, which is why it's not expanded.
But fragrance is something that body washes, face washes, as well as perfumes, is in a much higher concentration. The harm that can be caused by fragrances and phthalates in the long term is actually least in makeup. But the harmful ingredients in makeup specifically those that were there Lead, Asbestos, Mercury Yes. That government of India has banned them.
The petrochemicals that are coming again the biggest is wax. So lipsticks have wax but lip balm also has wax. But I haven't read any research on how harmful it is.
I think a lot of brands are not using polyethylene these days. Our focus is not to demonize chemicals or any other brands. But we can be more thoughtful and mindful about the ingredients we do choose to use.
Just a small example, the UV filters in our sunscreen. Oxybenzone, Avobenzone, Octinoxate. There is proof that When used, it enters the bloodstream and it's been found in tissues as well.
So, it's more of a precautionary approach. That's it. We have discussed a lot about what is good and what is bad.
Now, tell us about your product and your proposition. Why should someone buy Ruby's Organics? Makeup made better.
But what does that mean? It's an ingredient-first approach. So are these organic ingredients? They are EcoCert and Cosmos-approved ingredients and most of our ingredients are certified.
Our sourcing is only done by EcoCert and Cosmos-approved suppliers. The kind of testing it undergoes gives a surety to the customer that this product is truly clean. Aman, your huge packaging is very nice. Thank you.
Ritesh. Thank you. Just in case you want. Yes. Thank you.
Thank you so much. Ruby ji, your product feels good. Thank you. This lipstick is a bit unique, right?
You have to press it, then it comes out. Yes, it's a kick. And it's like a pen.
So why did you separate it? It was important to give unique packaging. That's the effort. So I want to make it cool. I want to make it unique.
How many SKUs do we have, Ruby? A hundred, approximately, active SKUs. Which are our top selling products? Our Kohl Pencil by Volume. What do you call this?
Eye pencil? Kohl Pencil, yes. Is it Kajal? Kajal It's a British name, coal pencil So this...
So how much does kajal normally cost in the market? 200 to 600 So it comes in very expensive ones? No, so the selling price would be 585 Which is good or bad? Which is very expensive It's on the premium side but...
We are convincing people with really good content. So, our website has a conversion rate of 4-6% on a normal day. This is very nice. Yes, it's mineral based. Your tinted sunscreen.
I was checking, you claimed no white cast. It is a correct claim. Tell me one thing, you said EcoCert and Cosmos.
Right. That's incredible certification. Why don't you write on pack? When they write that, Vinita ma'am, that's when the brand is certified.
So why didn't you certify the brand? Because it's really, really expensive. But you should invest that, right? Because that's...
On the brand, right? Yes, of course. Without that certification, you can't even say that it's EcoSort, Cosmos. But I promise you, it's part of the plan. Ruby, organic, plant-based, mineral-based makeup.
Is this an afterthought or... From the beginning, you had to do this? From the beginning, I had foresight because in North America, Europe, Australia, these small brands were popping up. Because obviously, because of my own issues and struggles, I knew what was happening. So when I saw this, I thought, how are they doing this?
I also wanted to try. I didn't have any backup. I took a loan of 5 lakhs from my dad. I had 5 lakhs in savings.
After a year of making... Ingredients in my own kitchen by the way. I used to order these raw materials from eBay.
I was making these in the kitchen but this was food grade. I felt that this was worth exploring. Then I connected with an R&D company.
They helped me fine tune the product. After a lot of research, we found alternatives. If I want this consistency...
What ingredient to use? If I don't want to use silicon, what can I use? Of course, I spent three years without earning a salary, at home, on basic, minimal, whatever I could get.
But now, when I look back, it's all worth it. How? Where are you now? What are you doing now? Where have you reached?
Tell us the scale of your business. FY21-22 was 2.2 crores. 22-23 was 3.2 crores, 23-24 was 4.5 crores and this year we are projected to close at 7.5 crores.
How much has it already become, Ruby? In the first 6 months? 3 crores, 87 lakhs.
And what is our bottom line? 21-22, we were profitable by 5%. The next year after that, when we fundraised, our loss was... minus 34%.
The year after that, minus 14%. And this year, so far till date, minus 8%. And how much do you expect to be in the full year, Ruby? Minus 8%. How, Ruby?
For 7 years, Ruby, you've been losing. No, for 5 years, we were profitable. When?
2017 to... From 2017 to 2022. Yes, so when we raised money in 2022, through friends and family, we did a fundraise. How much money did you raise and what was the valuation?
2 crores for a 10 crore valuation at that time. That is when our fixed cost was very high. Because we had hired a team at that time.
CM1, CM2 positive consistently. Ruby, your progress was very good. Yes.
You are growing and at the same time your loss is also going down. This means that there is progress in business. Yes. Can you tell us a little about your unit economics?
How much is the gross margin and how much are the expenses below? Yes. One second, before unit economics, how much cash in bank do you have today? As of October end, 10.5 lakhs. So you only have 2 months' money?
Yes, but we have a credit limit. which we are getting a renewal on. Okay.
Now, tell us about Uniteconomics. Yes. COGS, 24%. Direct expenses, 15%.
What does direct expenses mean to you? Direct expenses means logistics, payment gateway charges, shipping boxes. Okay.
After that, marketing, which is about 37%. Yes. It's high.
Performance marketing is expensive. And fixed costs, which is 27%. Okay.
Club salaries and rent and all that. Where do you get your orders from? E-commerce.
So, we have D2C and marketplaces. In marketplaces, Amazon, Nike, Tira, Blinkit. It's 58% D2C and 42% marketplaces.
What's your rating in Amazon? Between 3.94 and 4.2, our foundations have the highest ranking. Repeat customer percent. On Amazon, it's about 20-ish percent.
But in D2C, it's 35% last three months. How much is your quick commerce share? Very small right now.
When was it listed? It's been a year. It's not ramped up in a year? Yes, but very limited SKUs for now.
Why do you think you haven't got so much traction in quick commerce? Because with makeup, there are still the Nikas of the world. People are so comfortable with Nika. It's not like that. We are...
I mean, we are investors in a company called Faye Beauty. Right, right. Of course, she's a friend of mine.
Yeah, she has a very good traction in quick commerce. Yeah? Is she spending?
I'm sure she is. Yeah, so that's not... We're not doing that right now. Ruby, I think there's a problem in the business. Why?
I think there's not much sale. I mean, there's not much demand for organic makeup. On the contrary, through Statista I came to know that in 2024, the sale of natural cosmetics in India was about 935 million.
Just natural cosmetics. What are your competitors' sales? So like a Just Herbs, I think they have 100 crore plus easily. Juicy Chemistry? Juicy Chemistry as of 2023, I think 40-50 lakhs.
And what about the organic range of Plum? Plum doesn't have an organic range, it has a natural call. I'm not sure about Plum.
Vinita, what is your view on organic? The market is small right now. The 900 million people are saying that a large part of it is skincare brands which also have fake natural products, which is called greenwashing. They say that we are natural, organic, but they actually don't exist because it is a lot of work. You have to work hard.
You think the market is small? It's small now. Today, it's 100 crores smaller.
Even outside, it hasn't grown. Sorry? There was a study done by Bain and DSG report where it said that young India is willing to pay a premium on these top two USPs.
Natural and chemical free and second is made in India. It is an evolving market. It's growing very, very fast. If we say Ruby, you should leave organic and do something else, will you do it?
No. But if the market is not that big and the sale is not that big, what will you do? I will.
When? 2030. So then we will enter into the business in 29. This market is going to be a billion dollar market. So then we will enter. But I don't have any problem.
I love what I do. Yes, it's yours. She's been doing it for 10 years. Why should she change what she's doing?
I love what I do. I'll keep doing it. I've been doing it for 7 years.
And if you don't get funding, won't you survive? No. How? Capital is available. Our investors are willing to reinvest also, quickly.
But I said, no, let me do Shark Tank first because... Okay, Ruby. Your journey is like a marathon.
And I remind founders many times that Startups are a marathon. It takes time, especially to build a brand and to achieve trust. But every marathon has some sprints in between. There was a phase for us when our products were going viral and were being sold out.
We realised that this is big and we need to invest in it. So I think you should also sprint. Just marathon is not enough.
Quick commerce online. The window that is there now, will not come again. Because it will become very crowded. So it is very important for you to double down there.
Secondly, certification really matters in India. Your performance marketing spend will be 10% if certification is on your products. If Cosmos is expensive, find globally what is affordable. But put an organic certificate. Those are my two suggestions.
Right now, the scale and the category in which you are playing is small for that reason. Sure. Certification, I agree with Vinita, it builds trust. But I don't agree with Vinita that after certificate your marketing will cost 10%.
Because this category is such that you have to spend a lot in marketing. That will always remain a challenge. Me personally, I feel like players like Plum and all, even Purple and Naika's own brands, very easy to catch on the organic trend when it evolves to launch their own label. Already trust is there.
And for that reason, I'm out. Okay, sure. I feel that as long as you work hard on this, to increase it, till then, any brand can double down on it and make it bigger.
So, your right to win will be a little less compared to the brands which are already funded, which are already... But that's why I'm here. This is the beginning of something very big for me. No, but why this? Because you already have funds.
You're getting it, right? I mean, it gives me access to so much guidance. Aman ji?
Ruby ji, I'm out of this right now. No problem. Unfortunately.
I feel you'll have to run a little faster. Other brands will come. 100% going to run faster. Your performance marketing spend is disproportionately higher in your numbers.
By design, if your content is truly so compulsive for the customer, then they will start buying your products without having to boost those. Right. Since they are not there today, I am out today. So, I wish you all the very best. Thank you so much.
Poonam, I'll go with your gut feeling. Good one. You want to bet on me, I know that I can see it. Oh, nice. Okay, Ruby.
I have a lot of interest in this space. I have invested in a lot of companies in this space. Yes. Faye Beauty, Rene Beauty, Mamart, Nat Habit.
Because I think Indian consumers will keep consuming. Yes. And they need new options. Yes. I think there is a lot of good in this company.
The product is good, the founder is good, the financials are improving. Definitely. But right now this company is working on room temperature.
Okay. You need to inject some heat into it. Yeah.
and raise the temperature. Yeah. Ready? I'm happy to do that.
Thank you. Yay! So I'll invest 1 crore at your last round valuation of 10 crores for 10%. Do that.
Think about it. Kunal, we have a long, long way to go. Can you please support me?
You won't regret it. Can you do 4%? Rupee, I... 1 crore 4%.
I only put in money behind founders. I'm committed to supporting for not 2, 4, 5 years. 15, 20 years.
If we get involved, if Titan Capital gets involved, then this 7.5 crore to 75 crore, we won't even know when this sale will go. Yes. If you want, you can give me one more counter, which is closer to my ass. And if you want, you can even refuse.
When you were doing 7 crore in revenue and someone gave you a 10 crore valuation... I would have said no, flat. How can I? I'm the future Vinita. I have to take her advice.
That's so nice. We would like to have you here. Okay Ruby, what is your final proposal?
Kunal, 4%. 1 crore 4%, say Kunal. You won't regret it, just trust me.
I'm telling you on national television, I'm giving you my word. I don't generally negotiate. I am very clear about my offer. There is something very very likeable about you. And for that reason, I can do this 1 crore 8% 1 crore 8% final yes or no?
You can step out and come back also. Don't feel so pressurized. Take your time. Thank you, that really helps. Take your time.
That's important. What do you think she will do? It will be wrong if she doesn't take it.
I don't think she will take it. I think she will. But I think that will be a mistake if she doesn't take Kunal's offer. Whether the fees will be that much or not. Yeah, that's the call.
Honestly, it's not... It's not great. I think Kunal will be convinced at 6. I don't think this deal will work.
Namaste, Sharks! Wow! Namaste! Welcome!
Kunal, we've scaled 3x since our last valuation. At least give us a 3x multiple on 7.5 crores. Which would be? 5%.
Cannot do it. I'll give you a suggestion. You've come to 5%. You can talk to your investors separately because they can add a lot of value.
Are you willing to do that? I'm at 8. I'm very clear. I was at 10, I came to 8, now I won't come to 7. 1%?
Let me do it. So 3% advisory shares? You can do it as you want, but 8% for 1 crore. Yes. Super paki!
Oh, deal paki! Super paki! Fantastic! Rubaina, you made the right decision. Do well!
We will, for sure. Thank you so much guys. We are rooting for you. Seriously.
Kunal negotiated with me and took my consideration. He knows how much he believed in me. We need people that really support us through the good and the bad. And in spite of my weaknesses, strengths, I talked about everything. And he still believed in me.
Opportunities like this don't come often. Chucks, what is happiness? We were also fighting this question and in search of the answer to this question, we started a campaign seven years ago. Leave your home, your job, and your people and go and live in the mountains of Nilgiris. In the hope we will find what we were looking for.
We didn't get any answer from the mountains. But we got a purpose. The indigenous communities we were living with, the women there didn't have any steady source of income. Then we combined our craft skills with their labour skills and created The Good Doll.
And after a while we realised that you can find happiness in your purpose as well. Namaste Sharks, I am Suhas. And I am Sunita. Sharks, we have seen that for centuries our children have been inspired by a western doll.
We want to play with them, but these dolls don't look like us. So, in the minds of our Indian children, an unrealistic beauty standard is being set. This has a negative impact on the psychology of our children, but also on the environment. Because 90% of the toy industry uses plastic, which reaches the landfill. And that's why we have brought The Good Dolls.
These dolls are made of upcycled fabric and they are also known as rag dolls. And these dolls look just like us. They are body positive and colour inclusive. And these dolls are tested, so...
These are safe for children. Their clothes are interchangeable. That means, children can wear them in any avatar. Now, how much fun is that? That's why we consider them the Good Doll.
Because the 32,000 children who are playing with them, they are good for them. The 100 women who make them, they are good for them too. And finally, they are good for our planet too. With Good Doll, our vision is is that our children are inspired by an Indian character. The number of women who make them should be between 100,000 and 20,000.
For this, we ask you 50 lakhs for 5% equity. So Sharks, we assure you our good doll is also good for you. For you. Oh, how nice. Thank you.
Oh, sugar. For you. How beautiful.
So cute. Amazing. This thing written on the back of the packaging, in your hand is a piece of the blue...
Mountains, the way you have spoken about rural and women, the indigenous communities. Very, very nice. I like that.
Thank you. Will you tell us the concept of rag doll? Rag means cloth.
And this cloth is old. So, a doll is made from the cloth of the house, which we call rag doll. And the philosophy of rag doll is that you put something inside it.
You can't put anything that can harm the child. You should be able to hold it, cuddle it and it should be able to give you a lot of comfort. So, Sonita, tell us your story.
I was born in Mysore. And I am from West Bengal. We were born in a typical middle-class family. We had a childhood with inadequacies. But when we got jobs in the corporate, we earned a lot of money.
So, the inadequacies in our childhood, So we To fulfil that, we took a consumerism-overdrive path. And we thought we would be happy with it. After 13-15 years, we felt that we were not getting happiness from it.
That's when we decided to quit our job and leave the cities. That's when we shifted to Nilgiris. Tell us about your corporate life.
Where did you work? I worked with two banks. Bank of America and Wells Fargo.
I was in HR. The last company I worked with was Shell. I used to head recruitment for them in India.
I was in Accenture. I was in the BPO, so I used to handle operations. Was there any turning point in your life?
Actually, it was a long process. We had been in the city for 12 years. We were doing the same work. And we were not growing as human beings.
And we had a small son too. He is not small now. He was small then.
He was 10 years then. He is 17 now. I wanted him to experience life.
And to experience life, we have to get out of that cuck. a cocoon that we built for ourselves in the city. We chose to live off the grid in Nilgiris.
We built our own house with our own hands. There was no one in a 3-kilometre radius. The nearest village was 3 kilometres away.
We were growing our own food. We harvested water from the mountain stream. We harvested electricity from the solar system.
Many elephants, bears, etc. lived around us. There were indigenous people around us too. So that's the life that we were living. We lived like this for two years.
All three of us. Is this your house that you built? Yes. You built this house yourself? We built it ourselves.
You painted it yourself? That's... I'm asking you. Yes, yes, yes. Absolutely.
All the houses there are painted like this. What was the takeaway from living your life like this for two years? So I think we stopped planning when we moved here. There was an understanding between the two of us.
We didn't plan much. We had to stay off the grid. We had to spend time with each other. And we had to see inwardly. What was making us happy.
So it was an experiment of sorts that we did. But who among you had to go? So Sunita's idea and my execution.
When she said for the first time that she wanted to do something, what did you say? She went crazy. Did you say?
I did. The first thing that came to me was very typical. What?
What will my mother say? What will my father say? Correct. What will my friends say?
How long did it take to convince her? Two months. Not bad. You would have told her to stay with me or else I am leaving.
I am leaving. Did you give her an ultimatum? Not really, but she is very demanding.
Amazing. You should have made your own clothes. Why are you wearing this? I am Master Taylor.
Hi. Actually, when we started this project, I was already a professional quilter. So, I started teaching quilting. It was a journey for me to come here.
Good Doll didn't just happen like that. It took a lot of time to come here. My Suhas!
Amazing! I give all, all, you know. Credit to him.
You should have given credit to him. So... Good one.
Well done, Sanda. Well done. A woman who speaks her mind.
A man who understands the other guy. Maya Angelou said, one woman stands up, she stands up for a very large group of women. Amazing.
Amazing. Super. And on this, tell me one question.
Aren't there male dolls here? This is a doll, right? We got it, right? Actually, when we started making dolls, 50% were girls and 50% were boys. But the audience told us that 80% girls sell them and 20% boys sell them.
So that was done. Even the colour inclusivity for us, we made 50% dark skin, tanned skin, and 50%... light skin.
But the market pushed us to only 15% dark dolls. In fact, nobody in Mumbai buys dark dolls. And they tell us not to bring dark dolls here. Dolls, I understood.
What are animals and Nila? Nila is our new entrant. We come from Nilgiris, which is also called Blue Mountain.
Nilgiris is called Blue Mountain because every 12 years, once, A blue flower called Purinji blooms and that covers the entire mountain blue. Blue. So, Neela was born that year so Neela's parents named her Neela.
She's a mountain girl. Which is the biggest Indian doll today? There is no Indian doll on this date.
Our competitor is Barbie. Barbie is probably 90% of the market. 99% It's either Barbie or Barbie's lookalike.
Actually, when we presented them in the market Thank you. The market immediately started calling us Indian Babu. Tell us about the animal's path. Sure.
80% of Nilgiri is forest. So, there are a lot of animals in the forest, who are friends of Neela. We didn't want to show them just as animals.
And we wanted to dress animals too, because children's imagination goes really wild. So, that is why we came up with animals. Also, from a production standpoint, it helps us to standardize. Because all 12 inch dolls have the same body. So we can control SKUs when it comes to garments.
Because garments are our core. Tell me one thing, what is its price? The one you have caught is Rs. 650. And what is the price of the clothes?
If I buy this dress. There is a bag with the dress. Correct. So that is Rs. 450. How many sizes of dolls are there?
There are 3 sizes. 12 inches, 9 inches and 7 inches. Tell us about your business. We incorporated towards the end of 2021. 6.5 lakh is what we did in revenue.
Is it FY22 or FY23? FY22. Then FY23 we did 17.5.
FY24 we did 70. And this year, year to date, we've done 50. And how much are you projecting in the full year, Suhas? 1.2 to 1.5 is what we are doing. And where do you sell it?
Mostly we have relied on retail because we found it to be a Cheaper way to reach the customer. So we are selling in around 50 stores. What are these? Toy stores?
Concept and lifestyle stores. You don't sell online? We are in online marketplaces like Amala Earth, Itokri and we have our own website too.
But the other regular marketplaces? Like not on Amazon because there is a different customer segment on Amazon. For them, we have to make a different range.
Why isn't 600-700 very expensive? No, the size is a problem. Can you list it and see how much it costs? No, we have listed it on Amazon.
Bikaner. On Amazon, you know that until you do performance marketing, the sales don't start. And how much do you spend on the website? We don't spend anything on the website. Only returning customers come on the website.
Still, 10% is coming from there. And is this business profitable? We are right now in negative.
Year to date, we have burned 13 lakhs for the 50 lakhs that we have. How much was it last year? 6 lakhs was burned.
And last year? 22 lakhs. We have raised it too. Oh, you have raised it?
Tell us that too. Wow. In 2022, Nitin from Zerodha, they were the first ones to give us money.
How much did Nitin invest? 40. How much valuation? 3 crore valuation.
After that, friends and family gave us 25 lakhs. at 5% and 1%. Recently, we gave Billgro Foundation 35 lakhs as a convertible. We also raised an equity-linked grant from the government.
From the Tamil Nadu government. They took 3% for a grant of 15 lakhs. But do you feel good doing all that again?
Like, what's happening now? Talk to the banker, talk to the investor. But for whom are we doing this? For them, this is a lot of joy. And how much does this equipment earn?
Anywhere between 8,000 to 20,000. Suhas, Sunita, you said many times that you didn't plan. But now you are making a business. You must have made a plan now. Yes, for business.
What is the plan? So, next year we want to get closer to 3 crore. Year after that, we want to get closer to 5 crore. And then the third year, we want to do 7 crore.
Fourth year. We want to go ahead. And how much will you have to do for profitability?
Next year, probably will be break-even and we will turn positive. Suhas and Sunita, it's a very unique story. It's a very inspiring story of both of you.
So, full credit to you and big, big, big fan. I feel that this business is a good business. But the purpose with which you are making this business, which is helping the artisans, the girls, the women in these villages. You may not be able to give it an acceleration. Because it is a limiting factor.
You can make so many dolls and maybe the demand for those dolls is the same. You may have to go through a process of discovery. How this business will scale up.
Right now I am not able to see how this will scale up. This does not mean that your purpose is not right. Or your progress is not right.
But as an investor, my expectations are with any business. It's a little different. But if you need any help, please do reach out to me.
I'd love to help you. Today I'm out. Thank you. Suhas, Sunita, today I feel that the three things you're trying to do are too much.
The direction you chose of rag dolls, because it's sustainable. But this plus inclusivity plus Women empowerment, all these three things together would be difficult because if this doll is written very differently from the doll that I am playing with, then it won't be able to scale online. And if it doesn't scale online, then you won't be able to provide employment to 20,000 women.
So, in all these three, I think you will have to choose two battles. One battle. In the effort of all three of you, the purpose of 20,000, Was that?
They might not be able to do it neatly because it is visible from your numbers. We are having to lose a lot of money on the scale of not reaching 10 lakh per month. For me, today's date is not investable but best of luck. Thank you. I think to make a scalable brand from this, we have to make a story.
Just through distribution and sales, this brand will not be made. You will have to create content, you will have to create a storytelling. Around Nila, and that will be your heroine character. Right. Not hero product, it will be heroine product.
Right. And around that, all the other products will be sold. Correct.
But that is a long-term journey. Right. At this point, it's not an investable business.
Simple reason that the scale is too small and what we are asking for 10 crores is too high. As an investor... I don't think this is a business right now for me. Too early, so I'm out.
Thank you. Thank you so much. Suhas, Sunita, I really like you guys.
I really liked meeting you. Thank you. I didn't find this business-wise a little business. I thought that, as you said, we will invest in the grant, foundation, the company, we do it too. But as a businessman, as a shark, I should invest in you and say that this will make me rich.
that can't happen. Keep doing good work. Thank you. I'll be out, but wish you all the best. The work you're doing towards Indian Doll, I think it's a massive business opportunity.
I haven't added your impact perspective to this yet. Which, according to me, is a multiplier. But that said, there are some challenges.
You'll have to be commercially savvy in distribution. You heard about Fab India, right? Yes.
Fab India, We started out by helping local craftsmen. Correct. But when they had to scale up, they had to open their stores, expand their costs, and shrink their income.
Because at the end of the day, these commercial decisions start happening when investors join you from outside. Right. And that risk is quite real in the 1.5 to 10 crore way.
I really wanted to support you in some way, but since I have to judge you purely on your business, unfortunately, I will be out because of that. I wish you all the very best. Thank you.
Nice meeting you. Thank you. All the best.
Bye. Many best wishes. Good luck. Thank you so much.
This is a social impact. So its scalability is very different compared to what Sharksar used to. But the feedback they gave today was very positive. From point zero, we have made a journey here. We will continue to make a journey from here to there.
But like they were saying, it's a different path, which we appreciate. Hello and welcome to Ask the Shark. Today with us is the co-founder of Snapdeal and Titan Capital and promoter of Unicommerce eSolutions, Mr. Kunal Bhail. Hi Ashish. How are you?
Very good sir. I am absolutely fine. Sir, today's question is from Rukul Kapoor.
He is 28 years old and from Panchkula. His question is that Kunal, you invest in so many companies. How do you manage to give time to everyone? And is it necessary to give time to all the companies?
Look, in some 200-300 companies, I have not invested in one year. I have invested in 13 years. So, I have invested in about 20 companies every year.
um Whenever we invest in a company, we meet that company for the first 6 months every month. Okay. After that, when the company's... Set ho jaata hai way of working, unki trajectory thodi clear ho jaati hai.
Uske baad fir hum usse company se once a quarter milna shuru karte hai. Lekin uske beach mein, kabhi bhi founder ko kisi bhi cheez ki zaruwat hoti hai, to hum ek WhatsApp message hai, ek phone call ya ek email ki dori pe hi hai. Jaisa aise company badi hote jaate, unki challenges change ho jaate aur founders ki bhi bandwidth. It becomes very less.
They don't have enough time to meet and update investors every week. Nor are we backing such founders who need investors all the time. They are self-driven, self-motivated, self-sufficient founders. Thank you so much for the answer.
Let's meet next in Aaj Da Shaak with a new question and a new Shaak. Oh