- Founder: Divansh Jain Nawal & Ackshay Jain
- Business: Reselling App
- Ask: ₹1.2 Crore for 0.5% Equity
- Valuation/ Networth: ₹240 Crores
- Funding: ₹3 Crore for 3% Equity
- Sharks: Ritesh Agarwal & Kunal Bahl
- Pitch: Youtube
- Episode: Season 4 Episode 2
Culture Circle Shark Tank India Pitch:
Culture Circle is India’s premier marketplace for high and luxury fashion. The startup appeared on Shark Tank India Season 4 Episode 2. Their app offers many features like price comparison, globally verified resellers & best price guarantee. The founders shared that they are one of the top 50 shopping apps in India even though they have only launched 11 months ago. The founders sought an investment of ₹1.2 Crores for 0.5% equity in the company valuing the business at ₹240 Crores.
Culture Circle has over 2.5 lakh active users. The founders added that the secret behind that growth is their proprietary supply chain platform called sourceX, which is India’s largest network of resellers with over 25 Lakh active listings at any moment. The company’s cheapest shoe on their app is worth ₹6000 and they go up to ₹30 Lakhs.
Culture Circle was started as a college project in September 2023. It was first a price comparison site for the first few months and then they launched it as an App in January 2024. Their product line includes Sneakers, Jackets, and Sunglasses. The products on the site are pre-owned but brand new in mint condition.
The company has a authentication process which involves digital analysis and human verification through 24 sets of pictures. They also do seller verification by taking vouches from other resellers on the platform. The company source their data from 240 websites globally to do product aggregation. They currently have a 99.2% fulfilment rate.
Culture Circle’s Financials & Revenue during Shark Tank India:
Culture Circle has raised a round from Info-edge in May 2024 where they raised ₹16.2 Crores at a valuation of ₹80.2 Crores. The company is charging a blended commission or a take rate of 16%. The founders added that they were doing ₹1.3 Crores in GMV when they got this funding but they closed their last month(November 2024) at ₹5.05 Crores in GMV.
60% of the Culture Circle business comes from Sneakers. Apparel makes another 30% and rest comes from accessories. From April to November 2024, The company did a gross sales of ₹22.2 Crores. Their blended take rate on that is at 11% which brings their revenue to around ₹2.5 Crores. The company is profitable for last 3 months with around ₹10 Lakhs in net profits. They company is growing 30% month on month.
Culture Circle is expecting to do a GMV of ₹300 Crores in FY25-26 with a 15-20% month on month growth rate assumption. The company has ₹17 Crores in their bank as of November 2024. The founders shared that they also have additional ₹50 lakhs from the profits in last few months.
Culture Circle Shark Tank India Negotiations & Funding:
Vineeta was very vocal about the fact that the company is not at a stage to ask for ₹240 Crore valuation so she concluded that the founders do not have an intention to make a deal. She decided not to invest in the company. Kunal offered an ₹8 Crore in funding in exchange of 10% equity in the company. Ritesh offered ₹1.2 Crores at 1.33% equity valuing the company at ₹90 Crores.
Aman also offered ₹40 Lakhs for 1% equity and rest as debt at 10% for 2 years valuing the company at ₹40 Crores. Namita also offered ₹1.2 Crores for 1.2% equity in the company valuing the business at ₹100 Crores. She added that she would also collect royalties of 0.5% until her investment is recouped.
The founders take a moment to think and come back with a counter to all four sharks. They offered ₹2.4 Crores in exchange of 2% equity valuing the business at ₹120 Crores. Namita changed her offer to ₹1.2 Crores for 1% but she added that royalties will stay at place. Aman and Ritesh offered ₹1.2 Crores for 1.5% of the company valuing the business at ₹80 Crores. Kunal saw that the entreprenuers were hesitent to give equity away so he asked for 2% equity at ₹80 Crore valuation.
The founders countered at a ₹100 Crore valuation. Kunal asked for 2.5% equity for ₹2 Crores but Ritesh & Aman changed their offer to ₹2 Crores for 2% which Kunal Matched. The founders were ready to do offer with all sharks and incresing the round but Aman objected. The interested sharks discussed and then they offered ₹4 Crores for 5% bringing down the valuation to ₹80 Crores again.
One of the founders slipped that they should take Namita’s offer so that they can get aired on the show. Aman decided to go out after that as he felt like the founders were only their for marketing. After Aman going out Kunal and Ritesh went back to their original offers so they closed the deal at ₹3 Crores in Exchange for 3% equity in the company valuing the business at ₹100 Crores.
It was honestly one of the best negotiations so I recommend everyone to watch their pitch(opinion)
Who are the founders of Culture Circle?
Divansh Jain Nawal & Ackshay Jain founded Culture Circle. They have been best friends for the last 14 years. Ackshay went to Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology for computer science. Divansh has studied computer science at NSIT, Delhi & MBA from IIM Ahmedabad from where he graduated in 2024.
How is Culture Circle doing after Shark Tank India?
Our research in the Culture Circle revealed that their pitch gave them a nationwide exposure after their episode aired. Their pitch did go off as one of the most entertaining pitches of Season 4. At the time their pitch aired they had 185k followers on Instagram.
The company went on to open a physical retail location as well which was not mentioned in the pitch. From what we researched, it looks like their deal with sharks is yet to close as they may still be in due diligence phase. we will update this info as soon as more information comes to light. in the meantime, you can check out other shark tank India products by clicking the Amazon button below!
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