Aman Gupta invests Rs 2 cr in Shark Tank India 5 pitcher’s loss-making business that’ll be out of money in 3 months: ‘I am your only chance’ | Television News
Former BoAt CMO, Aman Gupta, has committed the highest amount of investments on Shark Tank India 5. So far, Aman has locked deals with 20 founders, and the total investment committed by him is Rs 20 crores. Out of the 91 pitches shown this season, 51 have managed to get funding on Shark Tank India. The total investment committed to the show so far is Rs 74.38 crores. While Aman Gupta has been quite gutsy this season, he has taken a leap of faith on several investors who have not been in quite good shape. In the latest episode, Aman Gupta invested Rs 2 crores in a loss-making snacking brand called Mama Nourish.
What is Mama Nourish?
Shark Tank India 5 pitchers Mama Nourish is a clean-label snacking brand made with grandma’s recipes. It was founded by Kunal Goel, Usha Shrotriya, and Yash Parashar from Mumbai. Promising to have no preservatives or chemicals, their products consist of all kitchen-sourced items and are made by different grandmothers across India. These grandmothers are chosen through a contest, and their recipes are acquired for the brand. Usha got this idea in 2021. Yash, who is her son, and his friend Kunal then started the brand in 2023. The first product was launched in the market in 2024.
Asking for funding of Rs 60 lakhs in return for Rs 1.5 percent equity, Kunal and Yash placed the company’s valuation at Rs 40 crores, inviting strong reactions from the Sharks. While Kunal Bahl and Vineeta Singh lauded the product’s taste, Aman Gupta asked if the products were healthy. When the founders said the products were ‘better for you’, Aman responded, “Calling it better for you becomes subjective.”
What went against the founders was their contract manufacturing model and revenues going into severe losses. Sharing their sales for 2023-24, the founders revealed they earned Rs 6.64 lakhs in three months in the first year. In 2024-25, they earned Rs 1.2 crore; however, their EBITDA was minus 2.2 cr. Year to date, they have earned Rs 1.2 crore, and their projection is to make sales of Rs 3 crores this year. Reacting to this, Aman Gupta said, “Bohot kam hai.”
As the founders further spoke about their losses, Aman added, “Sach sach batao total kitna loss hoga iss saal. (Be very honest about how much loss you’ll make this year.)” The founders went on to reveal that their burn so far is Rs 80 lakhs, and they will have a 50 percent EBITDA loss of Rs 1.2 crores by the end of this year.
Packaging is flimsy: Vineeta Singh
After learning that the founders had only Rs 47 lakhs left in the bank, Ritesh Agarwal said, “That will only last 6 months, you guys are in big trouble, and we need to work on an urgent basis. What are you doing to fix this?” Founders said they are launching on quick commerce soon. Sharing his views on this, Kunal added, “A lot of time, founders say they are coming on QC, but that’s not important; footprints matter too.” Aman also asked, “Why are you onboarding on so many platforms? Try on a few ones first; if you don’t sell, they will drop you.”
Vineeta decided to opt out, and explained: “I am out, firstly, just to increase the shelf-life of the recipes; you have made all your variants similar. I find the packaging a little flimsy. I don’t think you’ll have worked a lot on the brand and product, since it’s an early-stage company, I am out.” Namita also withdraws from the deal and says, “You are exactly double priced, you can only do that when you build trust. You still have not been able to build that brand; you need an execution rigour which is not easy to crack. I am not getting that confidence, so I am out.”
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Ritesh also backed out and said, “Your performance and brand marketing spend show that you’re yet to work on the product market fit. Since that is missing today, I am out.” Kunal shared, “I believe you are in love with the business and the idea, but the customers are not in love with the product. Your unit economics and slow growth show that, to scale a food business, customer repeat is important, so I am out today.”
However, Aman Gupta decided to take a leap of faith. Before making his offer, he said, “Your product is not special; many can copy this because you don’t have your own manufacturing. Your finances are a big stress, with a few months of money left in the bank, and too many SKUs for the money you have as of now. You need to hold on to one place and attack there. You need someone who can guide you’ll well, bohot dimaag aur paise laga ke sikhana padega. I will give you an offer, it’s Rs 2 crores for 20 percent, a valuation of Rs 10 crores.”
While the other sharks said it’s a very fair and generous offer, Namita added that the offer is good for a loss-making company with no runway. However, displeased with Aman’s demand for 20 percent equity, the founders gave a counteroffer asking to reduce equity to 6 percent. Aman refused and said, “Your investors will go to zero after three months, there is only one chance to save their money, and that is Aman Gupta. If I don’t have 20 percent, I am out.”
Eventually, the founders agreed, and Aman Gupta inked the deal with them.
