Shark Tank India 2: Vineeta Singh recalls when her company had ‘zero’ revenue and a few of the employees had let go 100% of their salary to rebuild her business

In the latest episode of Shark Tank India 2, Parveen Singhal, Vinay Singhal and Shashank Vaishnav bring an entertainment app focusing on content made in Haryanvi and Rajasthani dialects.They speak about their platform solely focusing on regional dialects. They share that within a short span of time they created a local movie industry in Haryana and gave work to 1000+ Haryanvi artists.Their vision is to include all regional dialects across the country and bring it under one roof. Their ask is Rs 3 cr for 1% equity (Valuation Rs 300 cr).Parveen and Vinay are from Bhiwani, while Shashank is from Indore. Sharks Anupam Mittal and Peyush Bansal share that even their roots are from Bhiwani.Vinay talks about having a company previously, which Anupam and Vineeta say that “It was a very big company.” Vinay narrates how they were one of the top most viral content creating platforms and had made a huge business only to find one fine day that their business didn’t exist. Back then they had 12 crore traffic and had Rs 40 crore revenue. Their company got deplatformed from the social media platform due to an American regulation, non-American company was using the platform to influence American voters.They said, “We were clinically depressed and went through therapy.” Their company vanished on November 26, 2018, had their headquarters in Indore and also an office in Times Square. For months they didn’t fire anybody and kept giving them salaries till February 2019. In January 2019, they held a Townhall addressing their current situation and told them to believe in them and asked for 6 months time. “We told them that we will provide 25% of their salary and the 75% they will double it and give it as an equity of the company,” Vinay said adding, “You won’t believe out of 90, 54 employees stood by us and said let go of 25% and wanted to invest with their savings. Our office became a local shark tank and after 6 months, in November 2019, just in a year we launched this OTT platform.”Peyush Bansal asks them about their business model. Vineeta shares that she is out of the deal as the company valuation is too high. However she shares that they are 3 most inspiring entrepreneurs and goes on to narrate her own experience. She shared, “In March 2020, we had made Rs 12 crore revenue and in April 2020 it became zero. I remember many of the employees had given up 100% of their entire salary and stood by me for 2-3 months. Those days of telling them to have faith in us, and then making a comeback is so inspiring. Your story has also inspired me. We are very proud of you.”Aman, Namita and Peyush present their offer: Rs 1.5 cr for 0.6% equity and Rs 1.5 cr debt @ 18% interest. (Valuation Rs 250 cr). They accept the deal.The third pitcher of the day happens to be Pooja Bajaj Shah and Benoy Shah, who have created India's first colour changing apparel brand. Their ask is Rs 20 lakh for 10% equity with valuation of Rs 2 crore.Pitcher Pooja also happens to be expecting her first child and Namita Thapar congratulates her.The pitchers show their colour-changing clothes, masks, shoes and also smart watch belts. All the sharks try to understand their business model. Peyush and Vineeta opt out of the deal. Aman says it is difficult to go ahead with one USP and hence he is out. Namita offers them Rs 20 lakh for 20% equity (Valuation Rs 1 cr). They make a counter offer, Rs 20 lakh for 15% equity (valuation Rs 1.33 cr). Namita tells them to focus more on kids products and merchandise.After giving some thought, the pitchers agree to Namita’s offer.