How is WEHEAR doing after Shark Tank India?

Founders: Kanishka Patel & Raj Shah
Business: Hearing Aid
Ask: ₹2.5 Crores for 1% Equity
Valuation/ Networth: ₹250 Crores
Funding: ₹1 Crores for 1% Equity + 1.5% advisory shares
Sharks: Peyush Bansal
Episode: Season 3 Episode 7

WEHEAR Shark Tank India Pitch:

WHO suggests that by 2030, around 100 crore people will face hearing problems, and to help resolve this issue, the Indian startup WEHEAR was created. As of 2023, there are about 2.3 Crore people globally who either don’t have ears or have hearing issues. They do designing, manufacturing, engineering, and development of all their products in-house. At the time of the pitch, they had 3 granted patents and 3 published patents. They also have a technical development team of 38 people. They are present in 11 Indian cities and launched globally in 13 countries. Founders sought an investment of ₹2.5 Crores for 1% of the company, valuing their business at ₹250 Crore valuation.

WeHear makes cost-effective solutions to hearing problems using advanced technology. They had two products in the market at the time of their pitch, the first one being HearNU Pro, which is also their hero product. They also have a patent granted for this product. Further, The cost of HearNU is ₹80,000, and it would replace the need for surgery, which would normally cost ₹8 Lakhs. This makes up a total of 70% of their revenue. They also have a second product, which is a proactive solution to save any potential hearing loss, and this makes up 30% of the revenue.

WEHEAR Financials during Shark Tank India:

WEHEAR products are recommended by the National Institute of Speech and Hearing. They have also tested the product. They have just closed a funding round where they raised ₹8 Crores for 3% equity, which gives them a post-money valuation of ₹268 Crores. WEHEAR had another ₹50 Lakhs in the back along with the commitment of ₹8 Crores. They have raised their first round of ₹1 Crore at ₹5 Crore valuation, diluting 20% of the company. Their second round was closed at ₹50 Crore valuation, where they raised ₹2.5 Crores in 2022.

WEHEAR has a lifetime revenue of over ₹5 Crores. They have done ₹2.82 Crores till September of FY23-24 and are hoping to close the year at . The company have made ₹93 Lakhs in September 2023, which came from products exported to Dubai and ₹89 Lakhs in August of the same year, which was due to an export order to Kenya. They are hoping to expand to 30 cities in India and 25 countries across the globe in FY24-25.

WEHEAR Shark Tank India Negotiations & Funding:

Anupam was the first shark to go out, citing he couldn’t help the entrepreneur grow this. He was also skeptical if this would be the right tech to capture this market. Vineeta goes out because she couldn’t justify this valuation. Aman goes out due to the same reason as he couldn’t justify the valuation either. Ritesh goes out because he thought this would take a lot of time, which he would not be able to commit. However, he still offered access to his connections to the entrepreneurs.

Peyush was interested in investment, but he added that his offer would come in with the condition that India will be the major focus for the company. He offered ₹1 Crore for 1% of the company and the rest as debt at 9% interest with a 3-year term. The founders asked Peyush if he would take advisory shares. He revised his offer to ₹2.5 Crores for 1% and 1.5% advisory equity. Founders accepted that offer, and they closed the deal at ₹250 Crore valuation.

Who are the founders of WEHEAR?

Kanishka Patel & Raj Shah founded WEHEAR. They are based in Ahmedabad.