Jhaji Pickle, a Bihar based pickle brand started by two women in their fifties, pitched their product in Episode 4 of the first season of Shark Tank India. While the brand did not get funding from any of the sharks, it ended up getting funding from Velocity, a revenue-based financing startup focussed on helping ecommerce brands grow.
In the piece, I will walk you through what is the vision of Jhaji Pickle, the Jhaji Pickle shark tank pitch and also share updates about what is going on with Jhaji Pickle post the Shark Tank Appearance.
Vision of Jhaji Pickle:
Hailing from a small town in Bihar, a bhabhi & nanand duo in their early 50s started a pickle brand in June 2021. The idea behind it was simple: they wanted to popularize the traditional and unique Bihar pickle and take it beyond Bihar. The store sells sun dried pickles that do not include any kinds of preservatives, chemical or artificial color. The founders claim that the organic nature of the pickle is what makes its flavour different.
Jhaji Pickle Shark Tank Pitch & Deal
Until the time the Jhajhi Pickle founders appeared on Shark Tank, they had sold 2500 pickles in three months. And they were offering 10% equity of the company in exchange for 50 lakhs to the Sharks. On hearing their pitch, Aman was extremely happy and said that he was pleased to see entrepreneurship growing in a small town of Bihar, which suggested India’s moment had come.
The two women told the Sharks that they also had help from one of their son’s, who was an IIT Delhi pass out, and was helping the duo with the website and marketing of the store. In exchange for his efforts, the son holds 20% equity and one of the founder’s husbands, an MBA professor, had 15% equity in the startup.
When the Sharks asked about last month’s sales, they were informed that Jhaji Store sold pickles worth 5 lakhs, close to 1 lakh of which was net profit. The founders also informed Sharks that their investment would be used to meet surging demand, buying machinery, opening a new warehouse to reduce delivery cost, add new items to the store and marketing in new cities like Mumbai, Kolkata etc. The founders were not only looking for money but also guidance from the Sharks.
While it was visible that all the Sharks were happy to the brand and its offering, but all of them refused to invest in the business citing various reasons like no having guidance to offer in this market, lack of proper shareholding, lack of proper direction compared to valuation and investment required but they wished them all the best. The Sharks also went on to say that the duo has won the heart, stomach and mind of the Sharks.
What Happened to Jhaji Pickle After Shark Tank
While the Jhaji Pickle team did not raise funds on Shark Tank, the publicity they got from the show helped them close a funding round from velocity, a revenue based financing startup for ecommerce brands.
