R Damani Backed ‘CURRYiT’ Secures 1.5 Cr From Mohit Yadav on Shark Tank India Season 5

The Delhi-based clean-label cooking company CURRYiT stole the show with their tasty pitch in an exciting episode of Shark Tank India Season 5 (Episode 38). They also took home a contract that might revolutionize home cooking in India.

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Founded in 2020, CURRYiT is a direct-to-consumer (D2C) food brand with its headquarters located in New Delhi. The company’s goal is straightforward but effective: by providing clean-label, preservative-free pastes that enable home cooks to rapidly produce traditional meals without chopping, mess, or lengthy prep hours, they make authentic Indian cooking easier and healthier.

CURRYiT’s product line includes more than 20 cooking pastes that are specifically designed to enable anyone to prepare traditional Indian dishes in roughly 15 minutes, including rich curries, biryanis, and mixed veggie bases.

Official Website – CURRYiT

With its line of 100% preservative-free cooking pastes, CURRYiT’s products enable anyone to make traditional Indian meals in roughly 15 minutes with no chopping, little mess, and maximum flavor.

Some of the popular offerings include:

• Curry pastes such as Andhra Mutton, Dhaba Butter Masala, Chettinad Chicken, and Kashmiri Rogan Josh
• Biryani pastes
• Essential cooking bases like ginger garlic paste, tomato puree, and instant tadka
• Combo kits and curated meal packs

These goods have a home-cooked feel rather than a factory taste since they are produced with traditional recipes, fresh, locally sourced vegetables, and spices.

In recent years, CURRYiT has rapidly expanded throughout India:

• Through e-commerce and quick-commerce platforms, the firm promises to serve over 25,000 pin codes every day.
• It has achieved 50%+ month-on-month growth on quick-commerce channels like Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and Zepto.
• Convenience-focused solutions may succeed in India’s home-cooking sector, as demonstrated by CURRYiT, which also celebrated four years of operation with robust demand and a customer base of over 300,000 consumers.

Unit Economics:

Trade Margins – 35%

Taxes – 7%

COGS – 24%

Shipping – 4%

Marketing – 30%

Amount Raised:

2021 – Rs 2 Crores

June 2023 – Rs 2 Crores

June 2024 – Rs 2.6 Crores

2025 – Rs 3.5 Crores

Gross Sales:

FY 23-24 – Rs 98 Lakhs

FY 24-25 – Rs 5.7 Crores

YTD – Rs 4.8 Crores

FY 25-26 – Rs 12 Crores

EBITDA – -19%

As soon as Nischal Kandula and Richa Sharma took the stage, their pitch struck a chord with every Indian home: the constant conflict between the desire for real flavors and the lack of time to prepare meals from scratch. They marketed CURRYiT as a remedy for contemporary kitchen weariness rather than merely a product.

According to the founders, CURRYiT makes clean-label cooking pastes without preservatives that mimic traditional Indian bases and gravies. Their main point was straightforward: avoid extensive prep cycles, grinding, and chopping. To get restaurant-quality flavor at home, simply add the paste and cook for a few minutes.

They largely relied on the convenience + authenticity combo to strengthen their argument. CURRYiT pastes enable customers to prepare meals themselves while removing the most time-consuming procedures, in contrast to ready-to-eat meals, which frequently sacrifice freshness. As a result, the brand was seen as a compromise between ultra-processed food and traditional cooking.

The Sharks were especially interested in taste differentiation, which is important in India’s fiercely competitive food sector. The inventors highlighted their formulation process, emphasizing that local flavor profiles and actual ingredients, not generic spice blends, were used to create the pastes. Given that the Sharks responded favorably to the flavors, sampling was crucial in this case.

Naturally, the topic of discussion turned to scalability and consumer behavior. Given their strong attachment to making their own masalas, the Sharks wondered if Indian households would embrace commercial cooking bases. In response, the founders discussed the rise of nuclear families, shifting urban lifestyles, and the expansion of convenience-driven direct-to-consumer food brands.

The Ask

Founders asked for Rs 60 Lakhs for 1% Equity at the valuation of Rs 60 Crores.

Sharks Reactions

Shark Kunal Bahl was impressed by the taste, branding but he had one issue that it’s a low repeat business. Thus, he opted out.

Shark Anupam Mittal advised the founders to have a VC round instead of such small amount at this stage stating their high revenue. He backed out as well.

Shark Namita Thapar showed concerns over the brand’s losses, she wanted to wait for the brand to narrow them down. She didn’t offer anything.

Shark Aman Gupta did not want to invest in a company which already has a lot of investors. He let himself out.

Shark Mohit Yadav, on the other hand, saw an opportunity. Thus, offered – Rs 1.5 Crores for 5% Equity at the valuation of Rs 30 Crores.

The founders gave a counter offer of Rs 1.5 Crores for 3.33% Equity at the valuation of Rs 45 Crores.

Mohit pointed out that the journey is uncertain and this is an appropriate valuation, thus he kept his offer unchanged.

The Founders took 2 minutes for discussion came back and revised the offer – Rs 1.5 Crores for 3.33% Equity + 1% Advisory at Rs 45 Crores valuation.

Mohit rejected this offer.

Founders gave a last offer – Rs 1.5 Crores for 3.33% Equity + 1.2% Advisory equity at the valuation of Rs 45 Crores.

The founders gave a tough negotiation time to Shark Mohit Yadav. The deal that eventually closed was at – Rs 1.5 Crores for 4.5% Equity at the valuation of Rs 45 Crores.

With a fresh Rs 1.5 Crores investment and the backing of Shark Mohit Yadav, CURRYiT is set to scale its presence across 25,000 pin codes and its growing quick-commerce channels. The brand aims to reach an ambitious Rs 12 Crores sales target for FY 25-26 by leveraging its “clean-label” appeal to capture more of the urban home-cooking market.

Moving forward, the founders will focus on narrowing their 19% EBITDA loss while expanding their portfolio of over 20 preservative-free pastes. By emphasizing the balance between 15-minute convenience and authentic restaurant-quality flavor, CURRYiT plans to drive higher repeat-purchase rates among its base of 300,000+ consumers.