- Founders: Yash Sakhlecha, Rij Eappen & Dishant Sanghvi
- Business: Finance & Marketing
- Ask: ₹50 Lakhs for 0.5% Equity
- Valuation/ Networth: ₹100 Crores
- Funding: ₹50 Lakhs for 1% Equity
- Sharks: Anupam Mittal
- Episode: Season 3 Episode 8
WYLD Shark Tank India Pitch:
WYLD is an Indian startup that appeared on Shark Tank India Season 3 Episode 8. They claimed to have invented the world’s first social currency payment card. Visa powers this card and would give earning opportunities to influencers with over 1000 Instagram followers. The founders sought an investment of ₹50 Lakhs for 0.5% of the company, valuing their business at ₹100 Crores.
WYLD has three steps to get people onboard on their platform. First is to register through their website; secondly, after approval, influencers will need to shop/dine at partner brands/restaurants using their WYLD card. Finally, they would need to post the pictures of those places on their Instagram and tag their brands. This would give influencers an opportunity to earn 30-100% cash back on their purchases.
WYLD started in July 2023. Since then, their users have made over 1500 content pieces with a reach of above 40 Lakh viewers. Important to note that their pitch was shot in September 2023. The company also has a proprietary algorithm for determining the WYLD score. Further, The score ranges from 100-1000, and only people with over 100 WYLD scores will get access to the app. Also, The founders added that they can achieve similar reach with ₹5 Lakhs that would take around ₹40 lakhs by traditional methods. This gives the brands around 80% on their marketing.
WYLD had 500 active users at the time of the pitch. An average user is spending ₹3500 per month. The average cashback on these transactions is around 30%. WYLD had three revenue models. First, they charge a brand 10% affiliate fee on all purchases. Secondly, they get 1% of the transaction amount as the merchant discount rate from partner brands. Finally, they also charge a one-time fee of ₹599 to users for the physical card.
WYLD Financials during Shark Tank India:
WYLD raised their first investment round in January 2022 at ₹18 Crore valuation, where they raised ₹2.75 Crores. They just closed another round in July 2023, where they raised ₹2.5 Crores on a convertible note where the floor is at ₹55 Crores, and the cap is at ₹100 Crores. They still had ₹2.5 Crores in the bank as of September 2023, with a burn rate of ₹12 Lakhs per month.
WYLD Shark Tank India Negotiations & Funding:
Azhar believed in the core concept of the business while he felt like he still didn’t have all the answers. With this, he puts out the first offer of ₹50 Lakhs for 5%, valuing WYLD at ₹10 Crores. Namita liked the business model as well and asked Azhar if she could join his offer, which he accepted. Amit was also interested, so he offered ₹11 lakhs for 0.2% equity, giving them a ₹55 crore valuation and the rest as debt at a 12% interest for a 3-year term.
Anupam felt like it would be a bad idea to take debt or give away 5% of the company at this stage, so he offered ₹50 lakhs for 3%, valuing the company at ₹16.67 Crores. Peyush also jumped in with his offer as he liked the team. He offered ₹50 Lakhs for 2.5% of the company. Anupam revised his offer to ₹18 Crore valuation, which comes to 2.75% equity in exchange for ₹50 Lakhs. Azhar & Namita also revised the offer to ₹50 Lakhs for 2.5%, matching Peyush’s deal.
The founders wanted to do an all-shark deal, so they countered all of them to come together at ₹50 Lakhs for 1%. Amit commented that he would like to go solo on this deal and offered exactly what the entrepreneurs countered with, ₹50 Lakhs for 1% of the company. Anupam matched Amit but also wanted another .5% of equity in advisory shares. Peyush, Namita & Azhar joined hands to offer ₹75 Lakhs for 1.5%, valuing the company at ₹50 Crores as well. Anupam matched the trio’s offer of ₹75 Lakh for 1.5%. The founders took a moment to think and went with Anupam’s offer and shook hands on ₹50 Crore valuation.
Who are the founders of WYLD?
Yash Sakhlecha, Rij Eappen & Dishant Sanghvi founded WYLD. Dishant is the CEO, Yash is COO, and Rij is CMO of WYLD.
How is WYLD doing after Shark Tank India?
Our research on WYLD revealed that their Shark Tank India deal with Anupam closed after the show aired. Interestingly, we also found that the entrepreneurs already knew Anupam & Aman beforehand. Infact, Anupam has also done a podcast with one of the co-founders which you can listen through here. Likely, Aman has also invested in the company, but the number is not yet disclosed. We will update this article as soon as more information comes to light.
In an interesting event, Nish Hair, Another Shark Tank venture shared that they are partnering with WYLD to give consumers cash back on their purchases.
Regardless of that, Shark Tank India has given a ton of exposure to WYLD. They are still in business, and their Instagram handle boasts around 50 thousand followers as of February 2024 and is growing rapidly. You can also check out other Shark Tank products by clicking the Amazon Button below!
Thank you for supporting the Blog by shopping through Amazon, Please note that we make a small commission on those purchases*
Source: Instagram @getwyld.in
Here are other companies from Shark Tank India Season 3 Episode 8.