Kunal Bahl makes ‘rare’ offer on Shark Tank India 4, quadruples initial ask of Patanjali competitors: ‘When I’m interested, I go all in’

The last time Kunal Bahl made an offer on Shark Tank India, which recently returned for a fourth season, he pledged a whopping Rs 8 crore. “When I’m interested in a business, I go all in,” he said on the latest episode of the show, which featured a pitch from a couple from Uttarakhand, who presented their brand Kiwi Kisan Window, which collates foods unique to different parts of the country under one roof. They sell kahwa from Kashmir, tea from Assam, spices from Kerala, and various other products through physical stores, but expressed interest in expanding their business online. For this, they asked for Rs 50 lakh in exchange of 1% equity, valuing the business at Rs 50 crore.

The founders said that they met via activist meet-ups, and started the brand some years ago. They are projecting sales of just under Rs 10 crore for 2024. They expressed their admiration for the Trader Joe’s model, and said that they have visited 20 Trader Joe’s outlets in the last year. Kunal Bahl asked them why they want to expand online, especially since Trader Joe’s sells solely via offline stores. They said that they want to be where their customers are, and cited Patanjali and Organic India as competitors. Other ‘sharks’ present for the pitch were Aman Gupta, Vineeta Singh, Ritesh Agarwal and Azhar Iqubal.

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Vineeta and Ritesh backed out of the deal, citing different reasons. But Aman said that he is interested. He offered the founders Rs 50 lakh in exchange of 2% equity, and asked for 2% royalty until he makes twice his principal investment. Azhar asked if he’d like to partner up, and Aman agreed. Kunal said that he doesn’t make offers too frequently on Shark Tank, but he is going to make one to them. He said that he is willing to give them Rs 1.5 crore in exchange of 10% equity in the business.

Hearing Kunal’s offer, Aman and Azhar altered their offer and removed the royalty component entirely. The founders consulted with each other for a few minutes, and returned with a counter. They asked if Kunal would be willing to offer them Rs 2.5 crore at a Rs 30 crore valuation, and he replied by saying that he initially wanted to reduce the valuation to Rs 20 crore. He didn’t out of respect for the others who’ve invested in the business previously. “Sab founders humare bhai hi hain,” he said, adding that he isn’t willing to budge from the 10% round figure. The founders agreed, and the deal was sealed at Rs 2.5 crore, five times what they’d initially asked for.