Shark Tank India 3: Pitcher who burnt his certificates after being rejected for peon job gets valuation of Rs 4 crore for taxi business

Shark Tank India judge Ritesh Agarwal was impressed with the 'clarity' with which a young entrepreneur, who'd once been rejected for a peon position, explained his business model.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | February 13, 2024 12:18 PM IST

3 min read

Ritesh Agarwal was impressed with the young entrepreneur from Bihar. (Photo: Shark Tank India/YouTube)

Dilkhush and Siddharth, two young entrepreneurs from Bihar, recently impressed Shark Tank India judges with their clarity of thought and the ‘jugaad’ they’ve applied in getting investments for their taxi service business in their home state. ‘Shark’ Ritesh Agarwal asked Dilkhush to provide some background information about himself, and how he ended up with a business that was turning over Rs 8 lakh per month in commission fees.

The young entrepreneur revealed that he decided to do something of his own the day he was rejected for the job of a peon. Dilkhush narrated how his father, a bus driver, married him off at 16, putting the responsibility of taking care of the family on him. To earn money, he went for a job interview. “When I went for an interview for the job of a peon, I was rejected as I couldn’t recognise the logo of Apple. They had already made their decision based on how I look. When I returned from there, I burnt my certificates and decided that I would never go for a job. I told my father to teach me how to drive and started working as a driver,” the young entrepreneur shared.

Also read | Shark Tank India 3: Pitcher’s ask for just Rs 30 lakh for company valued at Rs 25 crore baffles judges, his answer leaves them impressed

He elaborated on how he started his first business, and earned a commission of Rs 8 lakh from it. He took an exit from that business and got an investing firm to invest in his new business idea, a taxi service provider app, at a Rs 4 crore valuation. He also revealed that he designed the user interface of his app, called RodBez, by learning coding on YouTube.

Ritesh was impressed with Dilkhush’s “clarity” of thought and offered him a deal, along with Vineeta Singh. They offered him Rs 20 lakh at 5% equity and Rs 30 lakh in debt at 12% interest. Peyush suggested that Dilkhush continue taking money from local investors, as he is doing currently. However, he opted to accept the offer made by Ritesh and Vineeta.

The third season of Shark Tank India is streaming on SonyLIV. Besides the five main judges, Anupam Mittal, Namita Thapar, Peyush Bansal, Aman Gupta, and Vineeta Singh, there are new additions on the judges’ panel: Deepinder Goyal, Founder and CEO of Zomato; Azhar Iqubal, Co-founder & CEO of Inshorts; Ritesh, Founder & CEO of OYO Rooms; Radhika, MD & CEO of Edelweiss MF; Varun Dua, Founder of ACKO; and Ronnie Screwvala, Co-Founder and Chairperson of UpGrad.

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