18-year-old Arjun Goel and his father, Sanjay Goel, appeared on Shark Tank India 5 to pitch their brand VKYD. A digital fashion brand inspired by the avatars that exist on the gaming platform Roblox, VKYD designs outfits that can help one twin with their virtual avatar in real life. The founders came to the tank asking for funding of Rs 1 crore for 10 percent equity. While the Delhi-based pitchers failed to get a deal, they did impress the Sharks and left with a promise from Varun Alagh, Namita Thapar, Vineeta Singh, Kunal Bahl, and Viraj Bahl to meet them again. Now, in an exclusive interview with SCREEN, VKYD’s co-founder, Sanjay Goel, revealed that only Viraj kept his promise to meet them. Arjun and Sanjay also expressed disappointment over the edited episode.
VKYD founders says crucial moments edited out
While the Sharks lauded Arjun and Sanjay for their futuristic idea, many of them said that they didn’t fully understand the concept. Given that it was a digital brand with a complicated commerce trail, Varun, Namita, Vineeta, and others were not confident to invest. Sharing his views on the feedback from the judges, Sanjay Goel said, “Arjun was really disappointed about certain things. It worked towards our disadvantage that the Sharks didn’t understand, and were not able to relate to it because they are from such businesses where there are not so many parts. It was difficult for them to gauge all of it. One and a half hours was less for us to explain these things; so four sharks didn’t understand the idea. Kunal did, but his investing experience is so high.”
Arjun also expressed disappointment over one of his crucial answers not making it to the final cut of the pitch. He said, “Vineeta had asked a baller question, and I answered it, but it didn’t make the final cut. She asked me what my backup plan was, and I told her about my vision. They couldn’t show that, but I was really looking forward to seeing that answer on TV.” Sanjay further added, “They have limited time, and Shar Tank India is a reality show; so a lot of decisions are taken not just by the business team, but the creative team too. We are happy to see the traction and interest from people even after the pitch that aired.”
‘Seemed very difficult to meet the Sharks again’
While Sanjay and Arjun walked out of the tank without funding, in his exit video, Sanjay said he wasn’t sure if he would approach the Sharks again once their business scales. Explaining how his words were edited just to grab attention, Sanjay shared, “That was again the creative team’s genius, I believe, no man can cross the same river twice. In life, I have seen investors give a standard statement that they would meet you later, and on national TV, I didn’t want to give a wrong message that they genuinely meet outside. My point was that it seemed very difficult to meet them again, and two days before the episode aired, Viraj’s team connected with us to meet; no one else did that, despite promising to meet us.”
He further shared, “All of us get busy in our lives, and God is the provider, not the Sharks, so what I meant was if it were these Sharks or someone else who would be a source of investment for us. That line was edited and made smaller on TV.” Sanjay further lauded Viraj for meeting them after the show, and said, “Viraj has been so kind and helpful, he called us and has promised to keep a watch on the business as it grows. Viraj has also invited Arjun to meet him often and share the progress and issues. Viraj also said that he and Kunal might come together if they see more traction happening. He also sent a bouquet and lots of gifts for Arjun. Viraj kept his promise, and it felt nice seeing that.”
The Shark Tank India impact
Like many founders, Sanjay and Arjun have also reaped positive outcomes from the show. Talking about how appearing on Shark Tank India 5 benefitted them, Arjun shared, “We got good marketing from the show, and hiring became a lot easier. We are getting people with the required skill set quite easily. A lot of relevant VCs and investors from across the globe have also started reaching out, and we have started getting commitments from a lot of people. So much organic traction has come. Sales have not been impacted so much; we didn’t benefit from that since our market is in the US. But Roblox has reached out to us. ” Sanjay also added, “Shark Tank India was about raising funds, and because of this show, other investors found us. The show took us to the right people. We have gotten small commitments from people, but we cannot talk about that as of now.”
He also lauded the Shark Tank India team and said, “The team is great, they are very professional, they helped us grow indirectly. While preparing, we got clarity, some numbers that we mentioned on the show, we were not that serious about those. But because they ask for lots of proof and documentary evidence for whatever we speak on the tank, for that we had to deliberately research. That research gave us a lot of clarity and helped us prepare a 3-year road map.”
