Atypical Advantage Shark Tank
“Is SIGHT more important or PERCEPTION?” with this question, Vineet Sariwala’s (the founder of Atypical Advantage) pitch touched the hearts of the Sharks and the Viewers alike.
He pointed out that there is a 7 crore population of disabled in India but the employment rate is a meager 0.4%.
He was clear in his pitch that he does not want any pity or special treatment for the disabled. His only vision is to have ‘EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES’ for all sections of society.
His pitch led to a dispute between otherwise calm and collected Peyush Bansal and Anupam Mittal.
Keep on reading to know more about the Atypical advantage, its founder, and the shark’s tiff for the deal.
Atypical Advantage Founder: Vineet Saraiwala
The company was founded by Vineet Saraiwala. During the pandemic, when many people were laid off. He would receive a lot of queries from the disabled asking for jobs.
That is why he built Atypical Advantage. It is India’s biggest inclusive platform to give employment to disabled people.
He suffers from a condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa, wherein the vision reduces with age. Currently, he has 10% vision in his right eye and 0% in his left eye.
His philosophy is that “There is no shortcut to success apart from hard work.”
His brother also suffers from the same condition. Since childhood, they were good at their studies. They had the help of 3 good teachers who helped them study for CAT and crack IIM Banglore.
In his pitch, he hinted that his vision is to make his company Atypical Advantage obsolete when they reach a stage where everybody gets equal opportunities.
He wanted an All Sharks deal because for him this is not a company but a movement where he wants to change the consciousness of this nation concerning disability. He believes that companies require capital to thrive but for movements to flourish, It requires people from all walks of life.
After his pitch, he received a lot of messages on using the term Disability or Disabled. In his defense, he says that he prefers no labels but for the sake of representation he used the word Disability.
Even though he is an emotional individual. He wanted to be extremely strong during his pitch because according to him Reality TV takes a sympathetic lens instead of empathy. Any signs of emotions from a Disabled could be viewed as a sign of weakness.
He did not want this deal on compassionate grounds. He aimed to convince a nation of 1 billion people. So he used his mind, heart ( love ) & hand ( work) to do his very best to demonstrate what any human adversity can truly achieve.
‘Thank you Sony TV & Shark Tank for treating my story with Grace so that we can take our Nation forward into an Inclusive world’ he wrote in his LinkedIn post.
“Do remember that this world will not decide what a person with a disability can or cannot do!” Vineet Saraiwala.
Atypical Advantage Jobs
Atypical Advantage is an economic platform that generated livelihood for persons with disabilities. Whether it is a singer looking for a show, an artist to sell his paintings, or freelancers/full-time job seekers with a disability looking for a career opportunity.
Atypical advantage creates a level playing field so that persons with disabilities can earn a dignified income. They have given placements to more than 1,000 people and their top client is Amazon, where they have placed 60 people full-time.
The 3 Areas in Which Atypical Advantage Provides Jobs:
1) Inclusive Hiring
Whether you are a freelancer or looking for a full-time job. Atypical advantage has offered a lot of categories in both.
Freelancer
- Sign Language Interpreter
- Photographers
- Graphic Designers
- Content Writers
- Visual Artists
- Entrepreneurs
2) Job Category
| Accessibility Tester | IT executive | Program Manager |
| Analyst | Legal Services | Quality Assurance |
| Back office | Marketing Manager | Sales Executive |
| BSFI Executive | Musician | Secretary |
| Bussiness correspondent | Mutual Fund Executive | Tele callers |
| Chef | Operations Manager | Trainee or Intern |
| Coordinator | Perfume Quality Tester | Tutor |
| Customer Service | PR/Communication | Visual Assistant |
Additional Services Provided by Atypical Advantage
- Disability Sensitization
They conduct sensitization workshops as well as e-modules for mid-management to leadership-level employees.
- Disability Consulting
They provide end-to-end consulting for diversity and inclusion requirements.
- Post Placement Support
Enables the companies to ensure that the new hires have the means to succeed in their roles by offering them and the managers one-on-one sessions.
For more details Click here
The advantages of hiring through Atypical Advantage
- Disability Sensitization
They conduct sensitization workshops as well as e-modules for mid-management to leadership-level employees.
- Disability Consulting
They provide end-to-end consulting for diversity and inclusion requirements.
- Post Placement Support
Enables the companies to ensure that the new hires have the means to succeed in their roles by offering them and the managers one-on-one sessions.
Atypical Advantage Registration
You need to sign up as a talent with them and your profile will be automatically considered for all the relevant job opportunities.
If you need help applying, mail your resume to: cv@atypicaladvantage.in
Atypical Advantage Revenue
Their average monthly sales are ₹ 8 lakhs.
In August (2022) it was ₹10 lakhs.
In July (2022) it was ₹6.5 lakhs.
They also raised a seed round in 2021 of ₹1 cr for ₹7 Cr valuation.
Contact & Social Media Accounts
Instagram | Facebook | Website | Twitter
You can drop your queries here.
Address: 40 C.H. area, Road no. 15, Sonari Jamshedpur, Jharkhand- 831011.
Funding asked from the sharks
₹30 lakhs for 1% equity
Atypical Advantage Peyush Bansal
Peyush Basal wanted to invest solo in this deal because this cause is close to his heart as his sister is also disabled. While listening to the pitch he had envisioned some plans for Atypical Advantage. He was willing to merge it with LensCart.
He offered ₹1crore for 12% equity.
Anupam Mittal offered a deal of ₹30 lakh for 3% equity. Namita Thapar and Aman Gupta requested to join in and he agreed.
Vineet’s counter offer was ₹1.2 crore for 10% equity. He wanted Peyush to give 90 lahks and an equal split from others.
To which Anupam said that he wants to split 90 lahks with Peyush and make a deal with ₹45 lakhs each. Namita and Aman can give 15 lakhs each.
All three of them were willing to join Peyush in the deal, but he said that he does not want too many people in the business because it causes confusion.
So he changed his offer to ₹1crore for 10% equity.
This did not go down well with Anupam Mittal who accused him of having an agenda and he backed out saying that Peyush, Namita, and Aman can go for the deal together.
This upset Peyush and he too backed out saying that Vineet can make the deal with Anupam, Namita, and Aman. To which Anupam replied that he is out of the race.
Namita finally said to Vineet that he has one offer for 30 lacks for 3% equity. Vineet agreed.
Concluding Remarks
Let us all join hands with Vineet and be a part of their vision for “Equal Employment Opportunities” in whatever small way we can.
