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Shark Tank India Season 4: Sugar Cosmetics' Vineeta Singh was annoyed with a Gurugram-based startup founder who wore ₹10 lakh shoes on the business reality show Shark Tank India and called his ask “outrageous”.
IIM Ahmedabad graduates Devansh Jain Nawal, 26, and Ackshay Jain, 27, appeared on Shark Tank India for their brand ‘Culture Circle’, a platform for reselling luxury and designer apparel, shoes, bags, and accessories.
They sought an investment of ₹1.2 crore from the sharks in exchange for 0.5 per cent equity on a valuation of ₹240 crore.
Vineeta opted out of investing in Culture Circle because she was sceptical about the valuation, which she called “waahiyaat” or outrageous.
She accused the IIM-educated entrepreneurs of using Shark Tank India to promote their companies, thereby taking valuable funding opportunities from those who truly needed them.
Her scepticism deepened further when Devansh and Ackshay revealed that they had ₹17 crore in bank reserves.
While the ask itself was pretty high, what really raised eyebrows was when the co-founder of boAt, Aman Gupta, drew their attention to Devansh's sneakers worth ₹10 lakh.
“Let me tell you all, the shoes that Devansh is wearing are worth ₹10 lakh,” he said.
A shocked Namita Thapar, Executive Director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals, said, “What?”
Shark Kunal Bahl, founder of Snapdeal, responded, “Even if I combine the price of all my shoes, it won't be ₹10 lakh.”
Devansh then shared that his shoes were Dior Air Jordans.
“In the marketplace, its price is ₹10 lakh, but on Culture Circle, you can get it at ₹6.5 lakh,” he said, sharing his firm's USP (Unique Selling Point).
A clip of the moment is going viral on social media.
While Vineeta was not interested, sharks Kunal Bahl, Ritesh Agarwal, Namita Thapar, and Aman Gupta were keen to invest in Culture Circle.
The show ended with Kunal Bahl investing ₹2 crore for 2 per cent equity, and Ritesh Agarwal invested ₹1 crore for 1 per cent equity in the startup, valuing it at ₹100 crore.
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