Shark Tank India 4: Aman Gupta tells EM 5 pitcher ‘tu banda GOAT hai’ as he picks him over Anupam Mittal; promises to make Rs 5 cr in 5 years

Anupam Mittal took a sly dig at Aman Gupta in the latest episode of Shark Tank India 4. (SET India/YT)

Even if other reality shows sometimes fall short in delivering high drama, Shark Tank India never disappoints – and the ongoing Season 4 is proving to be no exception.

In a recent episode, drama unfolded among the sharks themselves as they got into a heated debate over investing in the Indore-based perfume brand EM5. Introducing the origins of his venture, EM5’s founder Shashank Chourey shared that his journey began with a simple question: Why are luxury perfumes so expensive?

“Most luxury brands work with very high margins. Upon looking for perfumes that were not so costly, I saw they were spending more on branding, packaging and bottling and no real value was being added to the actual perfumes,” he noted and shared that this realisation led to the creation of EM5, a brand committed to offering high-quality luxury fragrances at affordable prices.

Chourey, an engineering dropout who also worked as a professional hacker due to his passion for IT, stated that he owns his own manufacturing unit and revealed that in just two years, EM5 had achieved a monthly run rate of Rs 1.7 crore, largely due to its minimalist packaging approach. Seeking investment to scale further, he pitched for Rs 70 lakh in exchange for 2 per cent equity, valuing his company at Rs 35 crore. The sharks were impressed after sampling the perfumes as well, paving the way for a potential good deal.

However, when the discussion turned to investment, a debate erupted among the sharks over whether they should back another perfume brand, given the number of similar ventures featured on the show. When Varun Dua, founder and CEO of ACKO, questioned what would happen if other brands started replicating the same fragrances, Chourey confidently responded that they couldn’t, emphasising that EM5 is distinct from many others as it does not rely on third-party manufacturers. Vineeta Singh, CEO and co-founder of SUGAR Cosmetics, added, “What a lot of these brands do is, they choose the global bestsellers of international luxury brands that sell for Rs 10,000 and duplicate the exact same scent.”

Despite the strong pitch, Peyush Bansal, co-founder and CEO of Lenskart, and Singh opted out, citing concerns about Chourey’s overconfidence. Meanwhile, Dua offered Rs 70 lakh for 5 per cent equity with an additional condition of a 1 per cent royalty until he recouped 1.5 times his investment. When Chourey emphasised that beyond capital, he was looking for gyaan (knowledge) from the shark who comes on board, Anupam Mittal, founder and CEO of Shaadi.com and People Group, quipped, “Gyaan tumko pata hai kiska paas hai (You know who has the knowledge),” cracking up Aman Gupta, co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of boAt Lifestyle, as the remark was aimed at him.

Mittal then proposed two offers: Rs 70 lakh for 4 per cent equity with a 1 per cent royalty until he recovered his initial investment or Rs 70 lakh for 6 per cent equity. At this point, Gupta entered the scene with two offers of his own: Rs 1 crore for 10 per cent equity or Rs 70 lakh for 6 per cent equity. In response, Mittal revised his bid to match Gupta’s Rs 1 crore for 10 per cent equity. Ultimately, Chourey accepted Gupta’s offer, sealing the deal at a Rs 10 crore valuation.

Aman Gupta showed a lot of faith in the pitcher, saying, “Tu banda goat hai, mere paas boAt hai (You are greatest of all time and I am the owner of boAt).” The pitcher said let’s make Rs 5 crore in 5 years, to which he agreed.