Shark Tank India 3: Anupam Mittal calls cloud kitchen entreprenuers ‘lost’, terms their expansion plan ‘suicidal’. Watch

In the recent episode of Shark Tank India Season 3, Shaadi.com’s founder Anupam Mittal backed out from the pitch offered by owners of Eatverse – a multi-brand cloud kitchen. The Kolkata-based entrepreneurs could not crack a deal as they failed to persuade the judges with their business ideas. Other than Anupam Mittal, even Aman Gupta and Amit Jain were not very convinced with the valuation asked by the pitchers. The three entrepreneurs asked for an investment of Rs 1 crore for one percent equity. However, their ideas to expand nationwide led Anupam Mittal to comment, ‘It is a suicide.’

While the judges liked the food the entrepreneurs served, Anupam questioned the tagline they kept for the brand. Amit Jain also shared how the profit margin in the business was not as scalable as the pitchers promised, he later questioned them about how would his investment grow. Anupam was also not convinced about the profit margin the pitchers made over the last 10 years. After the pitch, he conveyed to them that the food delivery market was a vast one and cloud kitchens were a sub-industry. Referring to Zomato and Swiggy as the gatekeepers in this market, Anupam also said, “Your margin will be built by two things, either they let you make, but they are not doing charity. Or else, customers are jumping to come and eat your food unless there is proof of this. You won’t grow beyond 5-6 percent.”

Also Read: Why almost 50 percent of Shark Tank India deals never happen: Sharks say they’re ghosted by founders, even face fraud

Story continues below this ad

Calling the owners of Eatverse ‘lost’, Anupam also added, “I think you can scale your business up to Rs 30-40 crore, but beyond that going into new geography is a huge risk. You have not gone there yet and to go now with Rs 1 crore, it’s suicide. And that’s the reason I am out.”

Also Read | Shark Tank India: House of Beauty founder Vibhuti Arora says she felt attacked by Vineeta Singh, reveals sales doubled after rejection

With this, the pitchers returned home empty-handed. Off late, Shark Tank India judges have been accused of badly behaving with several pitchers. Last week, an entrepreneur slammed Vineeta Singh and Namita Thapar for not even letting her speak.