The new season of Shark Tank India is underway and in the latest episode, the show saw Indian footwear brand Gully Labs seeking its fourth round of investment. The brand already has a strong presence on social media and is looking to expand its business. The ‘sharks’ fought with all their might to secure a place in the company’s future.
Founders Arjun Singh and Animesh Mishra began the speech with a couple of dance numbers, where dancers wearing Gully Labs shoes performed traditional dance forms. The sharks were impressed with this display and everyone really appreciated the designs on display. Aman Gupta and Kunal Bahl slowly revealed that they know the founders from before, as the two had introduced them to this brand during the initial stages of the company.
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Aman was quick to praise the idea behind the company and its store in New Delhi. Anupam Mittal jumped into the conversation and asked about the origins of the company. Arjun replied, “I worked at JP Morgan in Australia and had worked on two startups of my own. I came back to India in 2022 and realized that India has a lot of stories and design languages to create very lofty and aspirational brands. We didn’t start with a business pitch; this all came purely from a feeling.”
Animesh added that they started the brand with just an Instagram page and two artisans and have now increased that number to 100 artisans. Kunal also noted that the idea that Arjun and Animesh had floated to him during the initial stages had been executed very well. After discussing the figures, the sharks focused on the demand the founders had made, 1 million rupees for 0.5%, valuing the business at 200 million rupees.
At first, most sharks remained at 1 million rupees for 1%, but Kunal suggested that the founders could benefit if all the sharks came together. Before he could complete his proposal, Aman intervened and said, “No, no, wait a second. Please don’t make decisions on my behalf.” Mai nahi aa raha aap login ke saath. Than the theek hoon single (I’m not going with you. I’m fine alone).”
After much back and forth, Aman offered the founders Rs 1 crore for 0.57% equity, changing the valuation to Rs 175 crore. Aman celebrated by wearing the shoes the founders gave him, while the rest of the sharks congratulated them on closing a deal.