“The whole of India did not like it, so what can I say?” Dheeraj Bansal, co-founder of Recode Studios tells Business Today. Bansal pitched his start-up brand on Shark Tank India 2. Despite decent numbers and a sizeable presence, he and the other co-founder, Rahul Sachdeva, failed to get funding.
Recode sells makeup products and cosmetics. It has a pan-Indian presence across more than 250 shops in India. The products are also sold online through the company’s website and mobile app. In 2021, they started selling the products of other brands as well on their platform. The brand recently launched three franchisee stores in Faridabad, Delhi, and Raipur.
While Peyush Bansal (CEO of Lenskart) and Anupam Mittal (Founder and CEO of People Group) weren’t convinced about the brand, Namita Thapar (Executive Director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals) and Aman Gupta (Co-founder and CMO of boAt) refused to invest in a company as it was coming in the way of their friendship with Vineeta Singh who also runs a cosmetics brand, Sugar.
After facing the backlash, Thapar even tweeted in her defence saying, “Being a shark doesn’t mean we are not entitled to our independent values & speaking candidly so if I don’t invest in a fellow sharks competition, that’s me, no regrets & if I call out toxicity & don’t join the ignorant that celebrate people w lack of integrity.. that’s me :)”
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Recode's co-founder Bansal doesn’t want to share any personal comments on the whole incident. He simply says, “It is what it is and that is why we are trending.” Bansal, however, says that he went to Shark Tank only for Peyush Bansal. “He is our favourite judge. We went to the show only for him.” Further explaining why the Lenskart boss is their favourite, he says, “We are an ecommerce platform and Peyush sir has experience in omnichannel strategy as well as ecommerce. We wanted to bring his expertise into our business.”
Another bone of contention for the sharks was the valuation. Sachdeva and Bansal offered to raise Rs 1 crore for one per cent equity at a valuation of Rs 100 crore. Clarifying the Rs 100 crore valuation, Bansal says that the sharks didn't question a lot, otherwise he would have justified the Rs 100 crore valuation. He tells BT that they are expecting to clock sales worth Rs 30 crore by the end of FY23. “Mamaearth, Sugar, Plum, Juicy Chemistry are all overvalued by about 10x so my ask for Rs 100 crore with a shark on board was definitely justified,” he reveals.
Recode closed FY22 at a revenue of 15 crore and have already made Rs 11 crore in revenue this year.
So, while the start-up failed to get funding, it has struck a chord with the viewers and netizens. Bansal acknowledges that and adds they have received immense publicity by appearing on the show. “Now I am getting calls from those corners of the country which I have not even heard of!” he says.
He says that now they are going to focus on infusing money in Google Ads. “We want to increase our presence on Facebook and Google.” In addition, they also plan to tie up with multi-brand outlets to tap into the mass market.
The entrepreneur-duo’s favourite shark could not come on board but they haven’t given up on the whole funding exercise. “We will reach out to other angel investors and venture capital firms,” he concludes.