From breast milk jewellery to fresh flowers–these women entrepreneurs made a splash on Shark Tank India 2

The second edition of the desi version of Shark Tank has seen its fair share of women entrepreneurs clinching lucrative deals. Those that didn’t have gone to see an overwhelming response to their businesses and clocking unprecedented growth in the weeks after their pitch episode was aired on television.

In fact, one of the Sharks, Namita Thapar, in her book, The Dolphin and the Shark: Lessons in Entrepreneurship said, “More women should start up or at the very least become active participants in our workforce as they have many talents and abilities that uniquely place them to succeed at entrepreneurship, and at workplaces.”

In the first season of Shark Tank India, out of the ventures funded by five sharks, 15% were women-led and 49% had female co-founders.

The second season of Shark Tank India started off with a bang, when the JhaJi sisters-in-law who did not raise funding last year, were presented a cheque for Rs 75 lakh by Namita Thapar and Vineeta Singh. This season has so far seen successful pitches from women entrepreneurs.

Here are a few that caught our attention:

Uma and Kalpana Jha, JhaJi Store

In the first season of Shark Tank India, sisters-in-law Kalpana and Uma Jha from Darbhanga impressed the Sharks by using business terms like “average order value” and more. They were showcasing JhaJi Store, their pickles and chutneys business traditional to the Mithilanchal region.

Uma was a teacher and Kalpana a homemaker who had moved back home to Darbhanga after her husband’s retirement. Though the Sharks did not commit to any kind of funding, the simplicity and confidence of the women caught the attention of the masses and their stock was sold out overnight.

A year later, JhaJi Store has grown over 400%, with monthly sales touching over Rs 25 lakh. In July 2022, the Shark Tank India team from SonyLIV told the women that they would visit their factory in Darbhanga to record their progress and shoot some footage of their processes. And, to their surprise, Sharks Vineeta Singh and Namita Thapar had come all the way to meet them and also present a cheque for Rs 85 lakh from them and Jharkhand Angels.

Jhaji now has 20 SKUs and hopes to include more according to seasonal demand. It will soon move to bigger premises within the village. “We will be able to hopefully meet the huge demand after moving to this bigger factory,” Kalpana says.

Preety Maggo, Magic of Memories

When Preety Maggo pitched her venture, Magic of Memories, that makes keepsake jewellery from breast milk, parts of the umbilical cord, blood, and others, on Shark Tank India, she was greeted with an ‘eww’ from one of the Sharks.

This did not deter the young entrepreneur from presenting her pitch with confidence, and though she did not receive any deal, she walked away with her head held high. Her faith in her idea paid off, and the optometrist turned entrepreneur says her phone was ringing non-stop over the next several days. She has even received offers from investors interested in the venture.

Her ask at Shark Tank India was a mere Rs 25 lakh, but it looks like Preety is all set to scale her venture with the right investors, scale the business, and make a profit.

Magic of Memories started off by making jewellery with hair and breast milk and then kept creating new variants using parts of the umbilical cord, or pieces of clothes of dear ones. Preety creates jewellery based on client requests for both the product and its treatment. Each piece is customised, and she presently offers rings, pendants, and bracelets. For example, she dehydrates breast milk before it is used, and uses a dry form of human blood (when requested) in the jewellery.

Rhea and Yashoda Karuturi, Hoovu Fresh

Rhea and Yashoda Karaturi were the first women entrepreneurs to raise funding on the recent season of Shark Tank India. The sisters raised Rs 1 crore for 2% equity from Sharks Aman Gupta and Peyush Bansal.

Growing up on floriculture farms, the sisters were well-versed with the processes of flower production and sales. Their father started a rose farm in 1994, and expanded to Ethiopia and in Kenya, and claims to be the world’s largest rose farm. The sisters, while working with the family business, saw the possibility of scale when they realised that most Indians source traditional flowers for different purposes. Yet, the sector remained fragmented and unorganised with a huge amount of wastage.

Rhea and Yeshoda wanted to take the business forward and started Hoovu Fresh that offers fresh flowers through online channels along with a subscription model.

Bengaluru-based Hoovu has been able to increase its flowers’ shelf life from two-to-three days to 15 days. It has 50 flower SKUs ranging from loose flowers and intricate garlands to greens such as Durva grass that are used in pooja. The prices start from Rs 25 and go up to Rs 1,000.

Aakriti and Poonam Rawal – House of Chikankari

House of Chikankari, a venture started by mother-daughter duo Aakriti and Poonam Rawal in 2020, was already earning a revenue of Rs 33 lakh in the year of its launch. By the time they had pitched at Shark Tank India Season 2, they were providing employment to over 5,000 women karigars, and have 15,000 paying customers. They hope to close this fiscal year with a net profit of Rs 2 crore.

In fact, the women had no thoughts on raising funding until their Head of Marketing, Aishani Sipra, convinced them to pitch on the show. It was good advice. They were offered deals by three “Sharks” and ultimately with the Rs 75 lakh at 3.75% equity offered by Peyush Bansal and Aman Gupta.

It caters to the millennial and Gen Z customers, with styles and silhouettes designed for a younger audience. It offers a velvet collection for winter kurtas and palazzos, and western wear like strappy tops.

House of Chikankari runs with a team of 70 people in New Delhi. The garments are stitched by third-party manufacturers in Lucknow, some of them who work exclusively for them. In the two weeks after their pitch was aired on television, Aakriti says their orders have increased by more than 5x.