Startups Shark Tank India

Wakao Foods- How does a Jackfruit selling startup grab Rs75 Lakhs from Shark Tank India?

Wakao Foods | Shark tank India | Startups | Jackfruit wakao

This article is based on Wakao Foods making jackfruit and got featured recently in Shark Tank India. This article aims at wakao foods, wakao foods  amazon, wakao foods Flipkart, wakao founder, wakao foods funding, wakao foods shark tank, wakao foods revenue, wakao India, and Shark Tank India

Wakao Foods | Sairaj Guarish | Shark Tank India

Sairaj Guarish Dhond is the founder of Wakao Foods. He belongs to Goa.  An apple changed the life of newton and the world received the theory of Gravitation. One Jackfruit changed Sairaj’s life. 

He made the Superfruit of world Jackfruit to the 70 million Vegan. Whether it’s home or restaurant and party or a date vegetarians always struggle to satisfy their taste buds.

Their products come with a shelf life of 12 Months and it requires no refrigeration.

What is ask of startup from Sharks? | Shark Tank India

He asked Rs75 Lakhs for 5% Equity and the valuation of the company is Rs15 Crores.

QnA | Sharks asking Wakao Foods | Shark Tank India

founder of wakao foods | jackfruit selling startup | wakao shark tank india

Protein Value of their Products.

They have 0.1gm to 100gms in their products.

What is the difference between Wakao and Beyond Meat?

They are only Jackfruit. When we see normally a big jackfruit its normal age is 4-5 months and the jackfruit which Wakao uses is one month old also known as Tender Jackfruit. It does not have any taste or smell.

When you make this parallel to nonveg it is like stale fish.

What is special in Wakao Products?

He thinks that 80% of India has tasted Jackfruit but still it is the most ignored fruit. If you roast this then easily it will take 2-3 hours as it is a tremendous process whereas this startup will give us ready to cook.

It will have 0 Preservatives and be 100% Natural.

Costing of Products.

They sell a product for Rs350 and it costs them Rs160 as the margin is 60%.

What are the sales and networth of Wakao Foods?

They have started selling products 10 months back and clocked sales of Rs60 Lakhs.

Why did they come to Shark Tank?

There are two things famous in India firstly D2C- Direct to customer and Wakao does not have expertise in that secondly HORECA(Hotel Restaurant and Cafe) as they were struggling with Jackfruits.

Many investors approached them but no one of them was sharks. He wants partners who can help him to exploit this product in the market.

What is the perception of Jackfruit Globally?

There is very good preception of Jackfruit globally. There is an American Jackfruit company and their story is how they come to Kerela.

70% OF Jackfruit is wasted in India.

1:1 | Sharks investing in Wakao Foods | Shark Tank India

wakao foos | wakao foods shark tank india | startups | shark tank india

Anupam Mittal

Anupam said that HORECA is a very dangerous industry and advised him not to be a jack of all master of none trades. He is out from this pitch. He said that there are 3 mothers in Sharks (Pharma, MamaEarth, and Sugar Maa)

Vineet Singh, Ghazal Alagh and Namita Thapar

We do not value your HORECA business as it is only good for brand awareness but if you want to build a D2C Brand Ghazal and Namita have built many brands in their career. You need a good team and increase their margins.

Offer- 75 Lakhs for 30% Equity.

Peyush Bansal

He advised him not to dilute 30% of equity at this stage as to scale this startup lot of funds will be required. 

Offer- Rs15 Lakhs for 5% Equity and Rs60 Lakhs as Debt for 12% Interest / Rs25 Lakhs for 10% Equity and Rs50 Lakhs as Debt for 12% Interest

Counteroffer from Wakao

He said that 30% will be too much. 
Counter Offer- Rs75 Lakhs for 15% Equity.

Where did the deal got met?

Funding raised by Wakao foods | Emcure pharmaceuticals, Mama earth and sugar cosmetics invested in wakao foods

Peyush Bansal Matched their Counter but Wakao wanted 3 Mothers.

Namita, Vineeta, and Ghazal offered Rs75 Lakhs for 21% Equity.

Sairaj countered Rs 1 Crore for 21% to three mothers.

The deal got closed at Rs75 Lakhs for 21% Equity. 

Don’t forget to read this!

You can read about these Sharks and Creators and How they build their Billion Dollar Brands by clicking down on their respective Names.

  1. Aman Gupta-CMO and Co-Founder of boAt Headphones
  2. Ashneer Grover– Founder of BharatPe
  3. Vineeta Singh– CEO Sugar Cosmetics
  4. Anupam Mittal– CEO and Founder of Shaadi.com

This article was penned by Devansh, if you liked this story you can follow him over Instagram and Join us now on InstagramTelegram, and Twitter.