‘Mine costs ₹300’: Shark Tank India 4 pitchers sell books 10x more expensive than Namita Thapar’s book

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Sibling founders Anurag and Radhika pitched their books brand ZebraLearn on a recent episode of Shark Tank India season 4. The brand specialises in educational books and they offer products such as financial advice and NCERT textbooks for students. 

The siblings told the ‘sharks’ that they are eyeing a revenue of more than ₹20 crore this year, and have ₹2 crore in the bank at the time of pitching their brand. 

During the pitch, Emcure Pharmaceuticals executive director Namita Thapar highlighted the elevated pricing of books, ranging from ₹1500 to ₹3000, compared to her own priced at ₹300.

She expressed apprehension regarding potential scaling challenges and the business model’s fragility, noting that four books dominate the sales, which may not sustain growth. 

“In your case, there are a lot of areas where you could be looking at disasters and scaling issues. It’s my duty to tell you these areas. Four books are driving the majority of your sales. Your books are way too expensive. It’s a highly vulnerable business. Don’t diversify. double down on your strengths.”

Even though he was initially impressed with the business, Titan Capital founder Kunal Bahl spotted some red flags.

The red flags identified by Bahl included a low repeat order rate of 10%, suggesting consumers were more inclined towards quick wealth rather than continued learning.

He also discovered that the primary sales drivers were the few books available, indicating limited customer retention. Due to these reasons, he refrained from investing in the business. 

boAt Lifestyle co-founder and CMO Aman Gupta decided against investing, citing disinterest in books, quipping, “I would just spend all my time trying to get you to shut down your books business.” 

Anupam Mittal also refrained from investing, deeming the business’s status precarious. He stated that he couldn’t propose an offer with less than 5 per cent equity, which clashed with the company’s expectations.

OYO Rooms founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal perceived profitability prospects and commended the founders for their educational initiative in finance. He offered an investment of ₹1 crore for a 1.6 per cent stake, effectively halving the company’s valuation, an offer which the founders accepted. 


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