Meet 19-Year-Old Founders Who Got Double The Original Amount Asked On Shark Tank India

The new season of Shark Tank India has brought forward a lot of talented budding entrepreneurs. You will be amazed to know that some of them are quite young. One of the recent episodes witnessed 19-year-old founders of a lifestyle jewellery brand offering ‘bling jewellery’ by the name Zillionaire India. The jewellery is primarily made of silver and/or cubic zirconia.

Zillionaire India is a Jaipur-based startup that makes ‘bling jewellery’ popularised by rappers

The ‘bling jewellery’ is only available for sale on the company website. Zillionaire offers customized items with a regular range of pendants, earrings, bracelets, cuffs, etc. The minimum value for a custom piece is ₹15,000 and the average order value is ₹14,000.

Aaditya Fatehpuriya and Raghav Goyal founded this direct-to-customer (D2C) brand in 2020

They have a verified Instagram handle with over 56k followers. In the first year of its operations the startup made revenue of ₹11 lakh. With a growth rate of 554%, raking in sales to the tune of ₹72 lakh in FY22.

The company’s year-to-date sales hit ₹1 crore in the 7 months of FY23 with a profit of ₹15 lakh. The total sales projected by the founders was worth ₹2 crore in FY23.

Bollywood actors and notable personalities like Varun Dhawan, Ranveer Singh, Janhvi Kapoor, singers B Praak and Raftaar, and director Karan Johar are included in the startup’s clientele.

 

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While introducing Zillionaire on the show, the founder Goyal stated,

“We don’t just want to be a jewellery brand. We want to be a lifestyle brand, so that in the future if your chair has the logo of Zillionaire, its value rises. The sky’s the limit for us”

This startup’s founders asked for an investment of ₹50 lakh and walked away with double the original amount on Shark Tank India

Shark Anupam Mittal, the founder of Shaadi.com, agreed to ₹1 crore for 10% equity when the entrepreneurs asked for an investment of ₹50 lakh for 3.3% equity, which was double the amount.

How did the youngsters get the idea of the startup?

The two founders were 16 and were studying in Grade 11 during the pandemic. The duo got to discussing rap music. The idea of producing bling jewellery for themselves came on their minds. They started uploading their designs on social media specially on Instagram. This is how their startup Zillionaire was born.

Both the founders look after the production, design, and marketing of the products at present.

 

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Did you know that Zillionaire India helped Goyal earn a 40% scholarship?

The founder Goyal is currently studying at the Parsons School of Design in New York as Zillionaire India helped him earn a 40% scholarship.

The other 19-year-old founder Fatehpuriya is associated with Zillionaire full-time. For over 30 years, his father has been running a jewellery business. He is involved in manufacturing and exporting fine jewellery, especially for women. And now, Zillionaire India’s production is also handled by his father’s company.

The founders are responsible for the product designing and they pay the cost of production per piece to Fatehpuriya’s father’s company. The cost includes the cost of material and labour. Presently, the daily production of Zillionaire includes 30 to 40 pieces.

The aim of the founders is to generate monthly sales worth ₹2 crore by 2026 and expand into international markets

Their vision is to expand their business globally in Australia, Dubai, and the UK. They’re already available in the US.

When Goyal was asked what sets Zillionaire India unique, he stated,

“We’re living what we’re selling. The knowledge we have of hip-hop and this culture, usually others (jewellery designers) don’t have. We make sure to hit our customers psychologically. We already get opportunities to collaborate with Marvel, FIFA, etc., and create products for them – but they ask for MG (minimum guarantee). We’re a bootstrapped brand currently, and can’t afford that MG. In the future, if brand awareness and consequently sales increase, we can even lower the price, if required,”

“King of bling”

The executive director at Emcure Pharmaceuticals, Namita Thapar, backed out at the beginning stating that their business would not yield 100% return due to high average ticket price and existing competition.

However, the young entrepreneurs managed to impress the other sharks with their product and idea so much that they received two competing offers.

Anupam Mittal was made the first offer – ₹1 crore for 10% equity, valuing the company at ₹10 crore. The following offer came as a joint offer by sharks Aman Gupta (co-founder, boAt), Peyush Bansal, (co-founder, Lenskart) and Vineeta Singh (co-founder, Sugar Cosmetics)– ₹50 lakh for 10% equity, which valued the company at ₹5 crore.

Mittal responded to the offer by briefing the founders that,

“by having just 2-3% equity, no shark will be dedicated to your business. You need someone who has skin in the game. Don’t make a mistake!”

The founders finally chose to go with a single shark, Anupam Mittal, and naming him “the king of bling.”

Vineeta Singh wanted to match Mittal’s offer but didn’t because of Aman Gupta who appeared shocked at the decision. Peyush Bansal remarked that “he got it wrong”. Even Gupta admitted that they didn’t get the deal because of him, and Singh reiterated that she was really interested in this deal.