‘Deal pakki hai’: Balika Vadhu’s Neha Marda bags Rs 3.6 cr investment on Shark Tank India

Neha Marda, who rose to prominence on television and in the Shark Tank spotlight, is prepared to make a significant business move and is doing it with a very intimate backstory. The actor Balika Vadhu will make an appearance on Shark Tank India Season 5, where the Sharks will scrutinize her high-end underarm roll-on brand.

Neha, who just started her own business, presented her personal care line, Phitku, an underarm roll-on that contains alum. She openly discussed how her confidence was impacted by postpartum changes during her pitch, which inspired the product’s concept. She described her experience, saying, “I started feeling a little uncomfortable with my body odor after my pregnancy.” As an actress, I felt unconfident that day. In reality, nothing was able to resolve it. What started out as a personal issue quickly evolved into a commercial concept.

Related: Awsum on Shark Tank India Season 5 with Ayurveda-Inspired Functional Confectionery

Phitku is a natural personal care brand built on simplicity, transparency and honest results. What started as a deeply personal quest for effective yet gentle skincare became a mission to make clean and affordable solutions accessible to everyone. Founder Neha Marda, frustrated with products that over-promised and under-delivered, immersed herself in learning from dermatologists, chemists, and everyday users to craft something better—skincare that truly works without harsh chemicals or unnecessary complexity.

Website url – Phitku

The Sharks scrutinized the product’s promises and cost as the conversation went on. Given that the roll-on is promoted as a natural product that provides all-day freshness, Anupam Mittal questioned the aroma claim. “Yeh fragrance ka matlab kya hai?” he inquired. Is it merely a ruse?

The product’s origin tale resonated emotionally, but the price immediately caused controversy. Namita Thapar questioned the viability of a ₹999 deodorant in an Indian market where choices under ₹200 predominate due to price sensitivity.
Concerns regarding customer perception were also brought forward by Aman Gupta, who noted that fragrance is frequently the main selling feature of deodorants, making a scent-free composition difficult to sell. Anupam Mittal questioned if the brand’s variations were only promotional or truly functional, delving further into the company’s marketing approach.

Marda and her team defended the brand by pointing out that Phitku has already served over two lakh consumers, demonstrating the rising need for high-end, natural personal care products.

The founders insisted that efficacy and skin health are more important to them than mass-market cost.  Neha Marda’s appearance demonstrated her resolve to reinvent herself outside of television, despite the panel’s differing opinions. Her trajectory demonstrates a willingness to take chances and change, from her legendary performance as Gehna in Balika Vadhu to navigating the demanding boardroom of Shark Tank India.

Sep’25 – Rs 1.4 Crores

Oct’25 – Rs 1.6 Crores

Nov’25- Rs 1.98 Crores

While Anupam Mittal and Aman Gupta struck a reasonable agreement, three of the five sharks—Namita Thapar, Ritesh Agarwal, and Amit Jain—withdrew. These sharks valued the product’s inventiveness and thought it had potential, but they weren’t impressed by the numbers’ deception.

After extensive negotiations with Marda and her co-founders, Mittal and Gupta came to an agreement that offered Phitku Rs 1.8 crores apiece from the investors in exchange for 1% of the equity. In contrast to Anupam Mittal’s initial offer of Rs 1.8 crore for 3% of the shares, this put the company’s valuation at Rs 180 crores, which was what had been proposed. In response, the two investors said they would receive a 5% portion of the royalties till Rs 5.4 crores was recovered.

After giving it some thought, the Phitku team decided that it was fair trade and enthusiastically accepted the offer. One of the co-founders, Neha Marda’s brother, even exclaimed, “Deal pakki hai!” (The deal is sealed!) After shaking hands, the pitchers and investors grinned while posing with the checks. The pitchers were seen bouncing around with delight as the three Phitku players left, and the sharks were seen applauding Mittal and Gupta on a good agreement that would benefit everyone.

Phitku’s tale is about a scalable startup that sprang from a human issue, not just a product. Although having Neha Marda as the brand’s public face is undoubtedly advantageous, Sharks emphasized that structural and numerical transparency are just as crucial. The royalties agreement between Aman and Anupam demonstrates that risk equals growth.