Confident Shark Tank India pitcher claims he’s easily beating Wow Momo’s sales with litti chokha brand, Namita Thapar says founder is her friend

Shark Tank India 4: Namita Thapar accused Anupam Mittal of being 'predictable' as he competed with her for a deal. "I'm not here to be unpredictable," he replied.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | February 12, 2025 11:46 AM IST

3 min read

Namita Thapar on Shark Tank India 4.

Alok, an entrepreneur from Bihar, pitched his cloud kitchen brand Gaon on the latest episode of Shark Tank India. He said that his vision is to take regional Indian cuisine across India, and hopefully, across the globe. Alok said that he is currently focusing on Bihari, Rajasthani and Awadhi cuisines, and wants to transform litti chokha into a pan-Indian snack that can compete with momo. He asked for Rs 80 lakh in exchange of 4% equity, valuing his company at Rs 20 crore. Alok’s pitch began with a tasting, which impressed the panel of ‘sharks’ immensely.

But Aman Gupta felt that there are a lot of variables in a business like this. He backed out of the deal, saying that Alok hasn’t yet cracked the standardisation required to take his company across India. Namita Thapar had similar questions, but was impressed with Alok’s responses. Alok told her that he has already started working on standardisation by preparing his signature handi meat in an oven. He said that this would require minimal human involvement in the future. He also said that he has backups for every vendor, and backups for backups as well.

Also read – Anupam Mittal says ‘6 lakh aur lele’ as Shark Tank India pitcher haggles over valuation, Aman Gupta reacts: ‘Paagal kar rakha hai’

Peyush Bansal thought that he was spreading himself too thin by introducing three brands. Peyush told Alok to focus on litti and build the brand that way. He told Peyush that he wants consumers to view litti as an alternative to momos, and said that he plans on introducing dozens of fillings in the future. Namita said that the founder of Wow Momo, who is a friend of hers, works extremely hard on research and development, as well as standarisation. Alok told her that his litti brand is making more than two times as much as Wow Momo through QSR.

He said that his current run-rate puts him on track to earn Rs 7.5 crore this year. Namita was impressed enough to make him an offer. But Vineeta Singh and Anupam Mittal showed interest as well. They joined hands to make Alok an offer of Rs 80 lakh for 8% equity. Presented with the options, Alok chose to go with two ‘sharks’ over just Namita, and locked the deal.

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