‘This is not even a business’: Anupam Mittal slams ‘uninvestable’ startup before Aman Gupta steps in with Rs 60 lakh offer

After hearing their pitch, Anupam came to the conclusion that the company did not have a unique differentiation and the likes of Google Pay, PhonePe or PayTM could also enter the market and take over. When the pitcher claimed that they were the only company in the country to have the required permissions and compliances to sell this kind of a card, Kunal found it unlikely and confirmed again. This is when Harshvardhan said that they were one of the two companies to have such permissions, the other being Google. Aman and Anupam scoffed in unison after they heard this.

As the sharks continued to grill the pitchers, it appeared that they were cracking down under pressure. By this time, Anupam was starting to lose patience with them and said, “I think you have understood that there is no differentiation in your product. You are just the first to market and you want to capitalise on that.” When Kunal confirmed with them that they were not selling a unique product, the pitcher finally admitted that eventually, other companies could have the same product.

 

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After much back and forth, Anupam was the first one to exit the negotiations. He said, “Tumhari baatein bhi nahi samajh aati (I am not understanding what you are trying to say). You don’t know your numbers. I have no idea what you are talking about. This business is not fundable. It is not even a business. Mujhse nahi hoga (I can’t do it).” Namita Thapar and Kunal also exited the negotiations.

After the pitchers lost three sharks, co-founder Shikha stepped in and explained what they had achieved in the last few months and how their first-mover advantage was actually showing results in Chennai and Bengaluru. She also clarified that they were not competing with PhonePe and Google Pay, but were actually competing with SBI and Airtel as they have a similar product. Hearing her speak with confidence, Aman applauded for her and said, “You brought me back.”

Aman was quite impressed with Shikha’s pitch and offered them a deal. After some negotiations, the closed the deal at Rs 60 lakh in exchange for 4 percent of the company, valuing the company at Rs 15 crore.