After being ‘rejected’ on Shark Tank India, Theka Coffee founder opens up about going from Rs 5 crore valuation to Rs 120 crore

Several founders have realised their dreams after appearing on the reality television show Shark Tank India; while some secure their desired valuation, others walk away with crores in investment. But not all businesses succeed despite the publicity that they get on the show. There are, however, some outliers. Despite not securing a deal on Shark Tank, the founders of Theka Coffee have experienced nothing but growth.

Founder Bhupinder Madan pitched the company on the first season of the show, and asked for Rs 50 lakh in funding, in exchange of 5% equity. Bhupinder walked away empty handed, despite impressing the sharks with his product, and gaining a lot of advice from them. Peyush Bansal said that he is on the right path, but was unconvinced about the logistics behind production. In a new interview with India Today, co-founder Abhishek Acharya said that he doesn't like to think of the Shark Tank experience as a 'rejection'.

Also read - Shark Tank India 3: Anupam Mittal wants to know why founders are paying only Rs 50k salary to top employee, but asking for Rs 90 lakh funding

He said, "To be very honest, we were not ‘rejected’. The ‘Sharks’ had a few doubts about the limitations of the logistics and the shelf life of the product. We already had answers to that but refused to reveal it on national television, which would have given out our trade secret. The public sentiment was in favour of us after the episode was aired. The majority of the audience could connect with our pitch and wanted us to succeed, which translated into the business we have now after the brand was launched pan India."

Asked about their journey after Shark Tank, Abhishek said, "We have been approached by multiple VCs (venture capitalists) and investors globally. In case you aren't aware, Theka Coffee’s journey was a case study published in the case centre of IIM- Ahmedabad recently." He added, "The business has grown more than 20X. The brand went from Rs 30 lakhs yearly at the time of the show to more than Rs 60 crore ARR."

According to the report, there are now 800 Theka Coffee outlets in more than 45 cities across India. The company's current valuation is Rs 120 crore, a massive leap from the Rs 5 crore valuation they were seeking on Shark Tank.