In Shark Tank India 5, BoAt’s founder, Aman Gupta, is emerging as quite the firebrand. After locking horns with Anupam Mittal in the previous episodes, Aman now targeted OYO founder, Ritesh Agarwal. In the latest episode of Shark Tank India 5, Aman took a dig at Ritesh during a pitch, pointing out that the founders were pitching a premium dining experience and not budget-friendly rooms like OYO. During the pitch from Early Morning Cartel, the two Sharks started on a bad note; however, they ultimately joined forces for the deal later.
What is Early Morning Cartel (EMC)?
Early Morning Cartel is a Cafe in Mumbai’s Kandivali area that runs on the Japanese concept of Omakase, which allows the chef to decide the menu for the customer. It was founded by two brothers from Mumbai, Neel and Rishiraj Kanwarjani. 23-year-old Neel and 19-year-old Rishi appeared on Shark Tank India with a request for Rs 2 crores in exchange for 5 percent equity, valuing their company at Rs 40 crores.
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While Neel and Rishi impressed the Sharks with their food and dining experience, Neel also expressed his wish to expand the cafe. Being a culinary student, Neel revealed how their father also ran a small cafe in Mumbai where he tried and experiemented a few dishes he learned to cook from YouTube. He also shared that he has been a student of culinary skills. His brother Rishi, on the other hand, is currently studying design.
The brothers also mentioned that EMC is their third venture since 2023. When Aman enquired about their first venture, Rishi shared that it was an athleisure brand. Neel added, “We ran it for 6 months, but weren’t confident, since we were also quite young, and we were scared of competition.” Vineeta and Namita later expressed concerns over scaling their latest venture.
However, their revenue and profits left Kunal and Ritesh quite impressed.Neel shared that in 2025-26, their revenue was Rs 1.14 cr in seven months, which was around Rs 15-20 lakhs per month. EBITDA is 32.2 percent, and they projected it to rise to 39.9 percent by the end of the year. Ritesh was quite impressed to learn that in 17 months, they have recovered the investment.
Namita Thapar raised concerns about scaling
While the Sharks were impressed by the ‘incredible founders’ Aman Gupta asked Neel and Rishi about how big they planned to make the company. In response, Neel said, “As big as I can sit beside you.” Later, Aman pointed out that their venture cannot be standardized, so expansion might be a problem. Namita also added that real estate is a problem in India for scaling.
While Namita and Vineeta didn’t seem very confident about investing, Ritesh was further impressed to learn that the founders has rating of 4.7 on Google and their venture was completely bootstrapped.
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Aman takes a dig at Ritesh
As the Sharks moved to give their verdicts, the negotiations only got fierce. Sharing his opinion, Ritesh Agarwal said, “It’s important to acknowledge that it will be challenging and make the store perfect. I like that you have done that.” He later offers a deal of Rs 1 crore for 10 percent equity and Rs 1 crore as a term loan for 3 years at 9 percent interest per annum. Ritesh further adds, “We have 10s of millions sq ft, and the new brands we are expanding in the luxury segment, we are looking for speciality coffee partners there, we can take you there regardless.”
Vineeta, who didn’t seem very convinced, called their dishes Masterchef-level ka khana (food) and said, “I can still not figure out how you will scale this. In an attempt to scale this, you can mess with its heart and soul; for that reason, I am out.” Namita also opts out, saying, “The biggest problem is real estate, secondly, the problem with scaling is of chefs, so for that reason I am out, but you’re an incredible set of founders.”
Kunal also backs out of the deal and says, “I am not clear if we will be able to make scalable processes, so wish you guys all the best.” Aman shares his views before giving the offer and says, “I love GenZs, I think they are very cool, passionate, and independent. I love the food business. I can help you guys with this. I would give a deal for Rs 2 crore for 10 percent equity.” He later goes on to take a dig at Ritesh and says, “Hum waise bhi yaahaan Rs 999 ke rooms nahi bech rahe. (You know we’re not selling rooms for 999 here).” Reacting to this jibe, Ritesh says, “999 ke mics bhi nahi bech rahe yahaan par. (They are not even selling mics for 999 here).”
Following this argument, the founders ask Ritesh if he can make an offer without debt. Ritesh gives the same offer as Aman. The founders request them to come together. While they agree, they offer Rs 2 crores for 14 percent. Just then, Kunal Bahl jokingly says, “Lene ke dene pad gaye, acid reflux ho gaya.” With a counteroffer of Rs 2 crores for 12 percent equity, the deal got locked. Later, Aman revealed they knew this would happen, so they kept some room to negotiate.”
After Namita found out that Aman and Ritesh joined hands for the deal, she commented, “Anarth ho gaya.” As they walked out with the cheque, Neel said, “Deal mehengi pad gayi, but having two tycoons as mentors from the industry is more valuable.”
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Shark Tank India 5 airs on Sony TV and Sony Liv every Monday to Friday at 10 pm.
Aman Gupta on Shark Tank India. (Photo: SonyLIV)