Pitcher With Rs 100 Crore Startup Leaves Judges Shocked By Asking For Just Rs 1250 On Shark Tank India

On usual days, we hear pitchers grabbing deals worth lakhs or even crores on Shark Tank India, right? But what happened in a recent episode of shark tank India season 3 left all the judges shocked, as a pitcher with Rs 100 crore startup asked for a funding of just Rs 1250.

Pitcher Asks For Just Rs 1250 Funding On Shark Tank India

arpit dhupar shark tank 1250/toi

In a recent episode of Shark Tank India's season 3, a pitcher left every shark on the panel impressed, but he also used a gimmick to convey his point. Arpit Dhupar, accompanied by his co-founder Anand Bodh for their startup Dharaksha Ecosolutions, approached the sharks with his alternative packaging business and requested just Rs 1,250 in funding in exchange for 1% of the business.

All He Wants Is Shark's 100 Hours Of Time

As everyone's mouths dropped in shock, Arpit revealed that the funding was essentially just a formality to close the deal and that what he really wanted was 100 hours of the sharks' time.

Arpit gave an explanation of his decision to pursue alternative approaches, stating that he has always aimed to democratize access to clean air. He claimed that polystyrene, which is the packing material of choice for many retailers, degrades over 2000 years and has a lower recyclability than even plastic.

How Did The Judges Reacted To His Pitch?

shark tank Dharaksha Ecosolutions 1250 funding/outlook

¡°How did you land on a Rs 100 crore valuation?¡± Vineeta Singh asked, after listening intently to the pitch and sampling the product. ¡°How is the valuation Rs 100 crore?¡± Anupam Mittal asked her, and Vineeta replied, ¡°Kaunse shark ke yahan 100 ghante are worth less than Rs 100 crore, tell me that?¡± The other sharks agreed. ¡°Not bad bro,¡± Aman Gupta said.

When Peyush Bansal questioned why Arpit had the audacity to offer the sharks this opportunity, the founder enumerated all the advantages he hoped to obtain from the five sharks. Aman called his statement that he could match the cost of his material with paper a "huge claim."

¡°I¡¯ll make a bigger claim, in three to four years, we¡¯ll be able to match thermocol costs as well.¡± Aman was extremely impressed by this, but just as he was about to complete the transaction, Anupam Mittal raised some red flags, saying ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just ask us for Rs 2 crore, instead of taking on debt from others?¡±

Replying to thaat, Arpit said that he has already got a valuation of Rs 22 crore from a previous round of investments, and didn¡¯t want to waste the sharks¡¯ time. This drew a round of applause from Vineeta, Ritesh Agarwal and Aman. ¡°Aap kamal ho yaar,¡± Vineeta said.

But again, Anupam wasn¡¯t convinced. ¡°I have a different opinion on this. I feel you¡¯re stuck on that Rs 100 crore valuation. You could have very easily asked for Rs 2 crore for 10%. But you wanted to get the sharks, get publicity on the show¡­ Let¡¯s talk straight, I don¡¯t like being vague.¡± Anupam was pleased to hear that Arpit would be offering a 20% discount as a counter in the upcoming investment round. In the next round, he said he would be willing to contribute Rs 1 crore and claim his 20% discount. Anupam stood up to give Arpit a quick handshake, but Aman cut them off.

Also Read: Shark Tank India Season 3: List Of All 12 Judges & Their Net Worth

"He's Either A Hero Or A Zero¡±

At the end, they decided to pitch for a total of 10 hours over the course of the following three months in order to qualify for a 20% discount at the next round because everyone was interested in placing a wager on Arpit¡ª¡°He's either a hero or a zero,¡± according to Aman. When they are confident that Arpit's claims are accurate, they will complete the remaining hours as promised. Aman said, "I've seen over 200 pitches on this show, but I've never seen anybody like you," and Arpit accepted the deal. We'll find out if you're lying or just really confident!

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