PadCare is perhaps the most unpredictable pitch and one of the most amusing Shark fights in Shark Tank India. Some of the noteworthy moments of this pitch are:
Peyush Bansal gave an Open offer, a scenario that has never happened in Shark Tank before.
Anupam Mittal gave the dream deal (accepting the original ask of the founder) and according to Aman Gupta, it is his best offer by far in Shark Tank.
Namita Thapar and Vineeta Singh offered equity that was lower than the original ask of the founder.
Their behavior clearly showcases the desperation of the sharks to invest in this company. To some extent, it has little to do with the incapability of the sharks to fight with dignity and more to do with the outstanding product and the amazing entrepreneurship skills of the founder.
Let us check out what is it about the product and the founder that won the hearts of the sharks and probably the viewers alike.
PadCare Shark Tank Pitch
Padcare had built a Menstrual hygiene management ecosystem that provides a dignified way to dispose of a pad.
PadCare had 3 products:
- Decentralized Padcare bin– They are a sort of dustbin that padcare has managed to install in Co-orporates, Education Institutes, and in airports (they are also targeting housing societies). They can basically store pads and diapers for 30 days.
- Padcare X– is the world’s 1st 5D technology-based patented sanitary napkin disposal and recycling system. It works on 5 D’s.
- Disintegration– A special-purpose shredder has been designed to shred the input materials (Used pads and diapers).
- Disinfection, Decolourisation, and Deodorisation- Cytoslay a unique chemical solution made internally at Padcare Disinfects, Decolourises, and Deodrises the pads.
- Deactivation– The major material in the pad is a super absorbent Polymer also called ‘Magic Gel’ which gets deactivated.
The machine then gives the output material which is cellulose and plastic, which is safe to handle. The cellulose is further used for making paper and packaging and Plastic can also be reused.
- Padcare Vend– Sanitary Napkin Vending Machine.
They are recycling more than 1 lakh sanitary napkins each month.
They save 1,10,000 kg of carbon emission every month.
Countries like U.S., Canada, Singapore, and Africa have shown interest in their product.
The process starts by installing the Padcare bins in washrooms. After 30 days or till the bin is full, their EHS-trained team comes and collects the pads from the washrooms. These pads are then put in petcare X, which are then recycled to form cellulose and plastic.
Aman questioned that this Reverse Logistics (Supply chain process of returning products from end users back through the supply chain to either the retailer or manufacturer) kills the business.
To which the founder replied that he earns a gross profit of 68% by providing pad collection and recycling services.
Aman wanted to know why he had come to shark Tank and what does he want from sharks. The founder explained that he has managed to grow his business 3x but is not able to accelerate it. He wants to build a team to help him with that.
Anupam suggested that probably his business model is the reason why he is not scaling. According to him, the business would scale better if he would start to license his technology for not only the recycling of pads but also by developing and licensing the technology for other waste products too. The founder said that he had considered this option too, but he wanted to build a complete ecosystem and that is why he does not license his technology.
PadCare Founder Ajinkya Dhariya
Ajinkya Dhariya from Pune is the founder of PadCare. He comes from a family background and is into social impact and business. From the age of 5 years, he knew that he wants to be an entrepreneur.
After his studies, he worked on an ISRO project as an R & D Engineer. As a part of this project, he went to Pune for land immersion. And saw that rag pickers were manually segregating the pads and diapers with their bare hands.
He immediately called his mom and asked her how does she dispose of the pad, she replied that she wrapped it in paper and throws it in the dustbin. At that time he thought that to secure a women’s privacy, one needs a disposable solution.
He wanted to give women a dignified way to dispose of pads, make a business out of it, and create a recycling loop. He studied all this in detail and made this project his passion and vision in life.
His family is very open and gives a lot of importance on social impact. He did not feel awkward discussing with his family that he is making a pad disposal machine. He had the full support of his family in this endeavor.
He got grants from the government, Tata trust, and Infosys worth ₹2.25 crores. In Dec 2020 he raised 1st round of ₹75 lakhs rupees at the post-money valuation of ₹8.75 crores.
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Deal or No Deal?
Original ask ₹50 lakhs for 2% equity.
Peyush gave the offer of ₹1 crore for 4% equity (which is double the money that was originally asked for), when he felt that others too are interested in giving the offer, he gave the open offer. This basically means that the founder (Ajinkya Dhariya) can determine the valuation of his company. He had clearly told Vineeta during the shark fight that he wanted this deal anyhow.
Anupam matched Peyush’s offer and later changed it to a dream deal (which is agreeing to give the original ask)
Vineeta Singh and Namita Thapar ₹25 lakhs for 1% equity and the remaining 25 interest-free debt.
Aman Gupta thoroughly enjoyed the fight But did not wish to participate. He was out.
They gave one more deal of Anupam, Vineeta, and Namita ₹75 lakhs for 3% equity.
When Peyush said that why are they not taking him, they gave one more offer of ₹1crores for 4% equity.
The founder accepted and the deal was made.
Concluding Remarks
A big shoutout to founders like Ajinkya (founder) for:
- Making a big social impact by solving one of the world’s problems of disposing of pads in a dignified way.
- Creating a unique technology, that does not exist anywhere else.
- Building an ecosystem to sustain his business.
- Converting waste into a resource.
His success proves what a person can achieve when the parents provide open communication and unconditional support to their kids. Kudos to such parents. This is something that all Indian parents should strive to achieve.
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