How is CandidMen Doing After Shark Tank India? -

Founder/Owner: Rishabh Poddar and Shweta Poddar
Business: Fashion Rental Platform for Men
Ask: ₹60 lakhs for 2% Equity
Valuation/ Networth: ₹30 Crores
Funding: ₹60 lakhs for 5% Equity(2% will be given back to founder if ₹2Cr PAT is achieved)
Sharks: Amit Jain and Vineeta Singh
Episode: Season 3 Episode 28

CandidMen Shark Tank India Pitch:

CandidMen, as the name implies, is a men’s only fashion rental platform. They offer a variety of categories, including Jodhpuri, Kurta Pajama, Sherwani, Suit, and Tuxedo. This platform promotes fashion rental as a sustainable alternative to reducing fashion pollution. CandidMen operates in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Delhi.

Approximately half of the designs are created in-house, while the remaining half are sourced from wholesalers. Interestingly, a unit of clothing is typically phased out within 1.5 years on average. The rental price is based on the maximum retail price (MRP), with rent typically ranging from 10% to 15% of the MRP. For CandidMen, rental prices range from ₹899 to ₹6,000, with a minimum rental period of 4 days. Additionally, customers incur additional charges for pick-up and drop services.

CandidMen Revenue & Financials during Shark Tank India:

In FY19-20, CandidMen surpassed ₹1 crore in sales. However, the following financial year saw a decline to ₹42 lakhs, but they were able to rebound, achieving ₹85 lakhs in sales in FY21-22. Their sales continued to grow significantly in FY22-23, reaching ₹2.1 crores with a profit of ₹60 lakhs. For the current fiscal year, FY23-24, they are projecting sales of ₹6 crores and anticipating a profit of ₹2 crores.

Their sales channels are diversified, with 20% coming from online platforms and the remaining 80% from offline sources. The average rental price for their offerings is ₹2,300. Additionally, the capital expenditure (capex) required to establish one store is around ₹60 lakhs.

Who are founders of CandidMen?

CandidMen was founded in 2017 by Rishabh Poddar and Shweta Poddar in Bengaluru. Both Rishabh and Shweta are alumni of the Vellore Institute of Technology, where they completed their computer science engineering degrees. Shweta serves as the CEO of CandidMen, holding 70% equity in the company, while Rishabh holds the remaining 30% equity.

CandidMen Shark Tank India Negotiations & Funding:

Namita was the first to exit from negotiations, expressing concerns about the operational challenges and the high inventory model, which includes potential downsides such as damage and maintenance costs. However, Vineeta was impressed by the founders’ ability to achieve an average of 8 rentals per year for clothing, maintaining a fraud rate of less than 1%. She offered ₹60 lakhs for a 10% equity stake, with the condition of verifying the fraud rate and average rental per clothing item.

Similarly, Amit, impressed by the founders, made an offer of ₹60 lakhs for a 5% equity stake. However, Anupam chose to sideline himself from the negotiations due to the perceived high operational complexity of the business. Meanwhile, Aman advised the founders to consider opening 2 or 3 more stores to secure a better valuation deal, as he believed the current offers were not on par.

In response to the offers, the founders countered with a proposal of ₹60 lakhs for a 3% equity stake. Anupam suggested to Vineeta and Amit to include a clawback provision. Consequently, Vineeta offered ₹60 lakhs for a 5% equity stake, with the condition of giving back 2% equity if the company achieves a profit of ₹2 crores in FY23-24. Amit matched Vineeta’s offer.

The founders requested both sharks to come together, and the deal was finalized with Vineeta and Amit agreeing to the terms.