Shark Tank India 4: Vineeta Singh Refuses To Invest In Nithin Kamath-Backed Business. Here's The Reason Why
Shark Tank India Season 4's latest episode features a unique pitch from an indigenous doll company, 'The Good Doll' that impressed sharks with their initiative and motive.
Shark Tank India Season 4's latest episode features a unique pitch from an indigenous doll company, 'The Good Doll' that impressed sharks with their initiative and motive. Suhas and Sunita, a married couple pitched their company, sharing their story about how they grew tired of their corporate jobs and materialistic lifestyles, and moved to the mountains after quitting their jobs.
They left their families, friends and worldly possessions to build a new home with their own hands. They had no neighbours in a three kilometre radius, and got the idea of starting a ragdoll company by interacting with local communities. The Good Doll asked for an investment of Rs. 50 lakh with an exchange of 5% equity, valuing their company at Rs. 10 cr.
Investments in The Good Doll
The couple also told the sharks that they had raised Rs. 40 lakh from Zerodha's Nithin Kamath. While their goal was noble and involved empowering some 20,000 rural women in producing inclusive and sustainable dolls, their numbers were not encouraging. While they stated that they were projecting sales of around Rs. 1.5 cr this year, this would be the first time they cracked the Rs. 1 cr mark in four years of operations.
Problems in their business
The entrepreneur couple also spoke about the challenges their business was facing. One, that customers were not interested in dark-skinned or male dolls, which defeated two of their central USPs. Second, they also admitted to not having spent much on marketing and making an impression on online platforms.
Namita Thapar suggested that they make use of storytelling for their marketing strategy. This is not an investable business, simply because the scale is too small and what you’re asking for is too high. As an investor, it’s too early right now,” she told them. Ritesh Agarwal and Aman Gupta also told them to back out as well, because this is not a business at all. Gupta said, "You can get grants from foundations, but I can’t invest and make money from this business as a ‘shark’,” he said.
While Vineeta was impressed with their cause, she stated, "Sustainability plus inclusivity plus women empowerment is difficult, and if you aren’t able to scale this online because of how the dolls look, you may not be able to provide employment for 20,000 women. You might have to choose your battles.”
Kunal Bahl also refused to invest though he was willing to assist.
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