Visionary businessmen Raghav Goyal and Aaditya Fatehpuriya, both 19 years old, are from Jaipur. This explains how they were able to persuade Anupam Mittal, a shark, and swiftly close a deal for Rs 1 crore for 10% equity in Zillionaire, a bling jewellery company targeting the Gen Z and millennial audience.
There was no room for a bidding war when the adolescent founders on Shark Tank India Season 2 declared, “Anupam, you are the king of bling.” Four out of the five Sharks were interested in investing in their company.
Aman Gupta, Vineeta Singh, and Peyush Bansal, the other sharks, had proposed Rs 50 lakh for 5% ownership.
According to Aaditya, Anupam even walked backstage to Vinita’s room to display his deal with Zillionaire, complete with jewellery and a loud speaker.
Aaditya tells Perfect deal that Piyush told them we should have countered because they were willing to engage at the same valuation. “Backstage, all the Sharks wished us the best,” she says. Aaditya and Raghav both feel good about their choice and have no qualms.
“Having three Sharks won’t give us any significant advantages, but it will appear cool on the show. Too many individuals, we reasoned, would be confusing. The Sharks are very busy because they invest in so many brands, says Raghav, adding that having a clear line of communication with one person who knows everything is preferable.”
As a result, the founders can give a Shark some “skin in the game” if one Shark joins with a greater percentage.
Bling from Jaipur
Raghav and Aaditya founded Zillionaire as a result of their shared passion of rap music and their quest to find the iced jewellery that famous rappers wear. They now import fashionable accessories from Jaipur, which is renowned for its extensive collection of antique Indian jewellery.
The D2C brand, which was self-funded during the pandemic, has adorned artists Raftaar, B Praag, Manj Musik, and Progressive Brothers as well as actors Ranveer Singh, Karan Johar, Ananya Pandey, and Jhanvi Kapoor.
The young entrepreneurs used Perfect deal to get to the Sharks to give their very first business proposal.
Raghav claims that despite feeling anxious and overawed, the pitch was not too challenging because they were clear on the brand’s mission.
“It wasn’t hard because we are clear minds and know what we want. We were prepared with our message.”
The preparation was aided, though, by a practise presentation with Shark Tank India’s Lead Business Consultant and start-up Manager, Rahul Hotchandani.
“We only practised one mock presentation, and it really helped that he was very critical of us. This forced us to return home and put a lot of effort into our financials. Raghav remembers, “We later praised him for being so harsh.
The founders, who are as shrewd as they come, claim they came with two goals in mind: funding and brand recognition, and they succeeded in both. The funds will now be used for marketing, research, and development as well as team expansion through the employment of top designers and communications experts.
With Anupam on board, the shark’s initial piece of advice was to capitalise on the buzz that Zillionaire generates as a result of their appearance on Shark Tank India and to maintain the momentum.
Apart from that, we made videos and had a fun session with Anupam where we rapped together. He was evaluating the jewellery’s quality and promoting it all in a hip-hop manner. It was wonderful,” Aaditya exclaims in typical Gen Z fashion.
Join to invest in the best early-stage start-up opportunities. Additionally, you can register for classes on angel investing at Learn by Perfect deal.)
