Chefling Update | Shark Tank India Season 03
Entrepreneur Rounit Gambhir pitched in Shark Tank India (Season 03) for raising an investment of ₹40 lakh for his brand Chefling. The company manufactures ready to cook DIY-kits for international cuisines.
Shark Tank judges tried Shusi on the show and highly impressed with the taste. But, will any Sharks find this business investible? Find out in Chefling Shark Tank update.
If you’re in a hurry and don’t have time to read the whole story, here’s a brief overview of what happened to Chefling after Shark Tank.
Rounit pitched on the Shark Tank India for ₹40 lakh in exchange of 10% equity in Chefling. He got a combine deal of ₹40 lakh for 16% equity from four sharks Amit Jain, Namita Thapar, Azhar Iqubal, and Peyush Bansal. Chefling website had a dramatic boost in traffic after airing of the episode on SonyLiv. We are hoping that the sales is also increased and Rounit will make it a global brand.
| Company Name | Chefling |
|---|---|
| Founders | Rounit Kashyap Gambhir |
| Founded | 2020 |
| Product | DIY kits for international recipes |
| Ask | ₹40 lakh for 10% equity |
| Deal | ₹40 lakh for 16% equity |
| Sharks | Amit Jain, Namita Thapar, Azhar Iqubal, Peyush Bansal |
About Chefling
Rounit Gambhir founded Chefling during the COVID-19 pandemic and manufactures DIY kits for international cuisine. He wanted to solve the hassle of collecting different ingredients for a single dish.
Chefling provides a unique do-it-yourself kit to customers, which contains all the necessary ingredients needed to make tasty international recipes.
Their most selling kits are for Sushi & Mochi, Enchilada & Taco, and Lasagna. They are trying to cover as many countries as possible.
Chefling has already sold over 5000 units in India, and they are planning to scale it globally.
The founder explained to Sharks that the Indian DIY market is going to increase to about ₹8000 crores by 2025.
Chefling’s vision is to promote International cuisine in India and as well as Indian cuisine internationally by providing effective, easy-to-use DIY Kits.
Chefling Shark Tank India Pitch
The founder began the pitch by asking for about ₹40 lakhs for 10% equity at the company valuation of ₹4 crores.
The sharks tried the Chefling’s Sushi themselves and it left a positive impact on them. Azhar then asked about how the founder got this idea about Chefling.
Founder: I wanted to do something of my own. And, then I got an idea about starting a DIY cooking kit brand as it was the right time, and also there are no bigger brands in the market currently.
Peyush: But there is already a successful company called Plateate, which is now huge. You said that there are no bigger brands in the world, which is wrong. Also, your packaging looks quite similar to Plateate.
Even, Namita agreed with this and said that not just Plateate but there are many big DIY cooking kit brands in the USA.
Founder: Yes, but in India it’s an emerging market. And, also we don’t have direct competition as we sell only non-perishable products.
The sharks then went on to manually review and understand Chefling’s products. Namita recommended creating a QR Code mechanism that can direct users to a video tutorial.
The founder said that they are already working on it. Now, the discussion shifted towards pricing.
Amit: What is the price of your Sushi Kit?
Founder: We have three variants, which are kit for 2 and for 6. The kit for 2 can make about 35 pieces of Sushi, and it costs ₹1299.
Amit: I will order from a restaurant at this price. It seems expensive.
Peyush: Yes, and you also need to do the hard work of cooking, which many don’t want to do. They will order directly from Swiggy or Zomato.
The founder then went on to talk about Chefling’s revenue. They sold kits worth ₹19.78 lakhs in FY22-23 and made a profit of about ₹10 lakhs.
Azhar: What is the cost of producing one kit?
Founder: The CAC is about ₹400, and the average order value is ₹1400.
Peyush: Okay, so who is your team? How do you get your recipes?
Founder: We outsource it from our partner. Currently, I am working alone and have no other team members. That’s why I am here in search of a co-founder.
Namita and Azhar then gave a combined of ₹40 lakhs for 20% equity at ₹2 crore valuation because they liked the founder’s strong resilience.
Amit Jain wasn’t convinced with the market size and scalability of this product in India. Anupam also seemed skeptical about DIY cooking kits.
Peyush asked about the founder’s future plans if DIY fails. The founder says that he is sure that Chefling is not gonna fail, and if it does, then he will figure it out.
Peyush liked the founder’s charisma and confidence and decided to join Namita & Azhar’s offer of ₹40 lakhs for 20% equity. He is interested in working with the founder.
Amit: I really liked your product, but I am not sure about the market size. Still, I will give you an offer.
Namita: So, will you also join us or do separate?
Amit: Okay, then I will also join you guys.
Now, four sharks gave a combined offer of ₹40 lakhs for 20% equity in Chefling.
Anupam joined in and gave an even better offer of about ₹40 lakhs for 15% equity. He believes that the founder has the potential to make it big.
The four sharks (Amit, Namita, Peyush & Azhar) then gave an offer of ₹40 lakhs for 16% equity, which the founder happily agreed with.
Amit: You made the right choice, Bro.
Read more updates from Shark Tank India (Season 03):
Final Words
Shark Tank India is a platform that has given voice to some powerful personalities who have seen the worst and are still made out of it.
Chefling’s founder story is no different. The sharks may not have been convinced with Chefling as a brand but they saw something in the founder which made them change their minds.
Chefling now has four Sharks on board who, with their expertise, can help it grow and gain greater heights both in India and abroad.
