While talking to Sanjeev Bikhchandani of Info Edge at the ET Now Global Business Summit 2024, Gupta recalled that in the first season he made around 20 investments with a total investment of Rs 6 crore.
“I invested Rs 20 lakh in Skippi and I am just getting an exit at Rs 6 crore. So one company is itself giving me a return of all the rest,” Gupta said while explaining the high-risk-high-reward nature of investment in startups.
Skippi benefited not just from the funding and support from the sharks, but also from the publicity that the brand got. The company’s sales have jumped 100 times and is now eyeing Rs 100 crore revenue in FY25.
The ice pops brand is expecting to end FY24 at a revenue of Rs 70 crore and remains profitable, ET had reported earlier.
Gupta, who runs consumer electronics brand Boat, recalled when he had no money to invest two years ago and was dependent on wife’s earnings.”Two years ago, I didn’t have money to invest. My wife used to earn and I used to burn her money. I got my secondary exit in 2021. It was the first year of Shark Tank. I was given a list asking how many investments have you made till now. I had done 5 co-investments till then which was about Rs 5-10 lakh each. So I actually became an investor for the first time on Shark Tank. I had never heard pitches before that. I had only given pitches,” recalls the self-made entrepreneur.He said he learnt the art of investments while sitting with other sharks like Namita Thapar and Anupam Mittal. “They have done investments all their life. I learnt a lot on Shark Tank and I don’t invest outside of Shark Tank anymore,” Gupta said.
D2C audio and wearables brand Boat had clocked sales of Rs 4,000 crore in FY23. Earlier, the company had filed a draft prospectus with the market regulator Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for a Rs 2,000-crore initial public offering (IPO), but the company proactively withdrew its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP).
Later on, Gupta had said they are not in a hurry to go for a listing and were looking at the FY25-FY26 timeframe for the IPO.
“When people were not investing in electronics, Kanwal (Fireside Ventures Founder Kanwaljit Singh) invested Rs 6 crore and I have already returned Rs 100 crore. He still has 3% in our company,” Gupta said at the summit.
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