Shark Tank India Season 5: The latest episode of Shark Tank India Season 5 featured three innovative pitches. From EVs to fast fashion, the judges Varun Alagh, Namita Thapar, Mohit Yadav, Vineeta Singh, and Ritesh Agarwal, were seen engaging in high-charged negotiations in the tenth episode. One such pitch stood out as three founders who had an Australian residency and earned a comfortable Rs 70 lakh decided to wrap up operations and start a nutrition-based protein brand in India.
Founders Rohan Shah, Shiven Chaturvedi, and Darshan Gattani pitched their brand ‘Stroom’, intending to add protein to every Indian’s diet. Identifying the market gap of taste-based marketing, they launched Stroom by alternating their protein source from whey isolates to milk and soy, thus improving the overall taste. The Shark Tank judges, however, had some problems with their claims.
Sugar, taste, texture and more: Where did Stroom go wrong?
Stroom started in May 2022, when these founders from a vast background collaborated on their protein project. Manufacturing their products in-house, the brand offered their products for every Shark Tank judge to taste. However, Veeba founder Viraj Bahl, in the FMCG industry himself, pointed out his core ethical concern about honesty. He remarked, “It is misleading when you write ‘no refined sugar’, since you mention Oreo bits, and honey.” Stroom’s founders were quick to accept feedback and promised to fix the packaging.
Shortly afterwards, Honasa founder Varun Alagh was quick to point out an issue with the taste of their coffee-almond bar. He remarked, “I just had the 10gm bar. My experience wasn’t good, I didn’t like the taste.” Replying to his concern, Rohan Shah offered insight into the product’s sales. “The one that you ate is the coffee-almond flavour. It is the chewiest of all our products.” However, it offended the founder, who quickly rejected the product and put it down. Alagh said, “Meri galti hai phir [Looks like it’s my fault],” as he placed their product back.
With protein marketing becoming a rising trend in lifestyle brands, household staples, and giants like Amul have not stood back. Pricing their products at a subsidised price, Sugar Cosmetics’ Vineeta remarked that it could be the biggest competitor to all niche brands in the segment. However, Stroom has a consistently rising brand loyalty, their business is largely dependent on quick commerce.
What struck a chord and sealed the deal
Stroom’s initial ask was Rs 1 crore for 2 per cent equity in their Rs 50 crore firm, after two rounds of funding. However, countering this, Shark Tank Judge Namita Thapar upped their offer for 5 per cent equity. Bringing an alternative to the heated space, Vineeta Singh offered 4 per cent. However, Kunal Bahl decided to pair up with the cosmetics giant. After much discussion, negotiations, and a nail-biting finale, Stroom sealed the deal.