Hornback Cycle Shark Tank Pitch:
Hornback is an Indian startup focusing on electric automobiles. They created the world’s first full-size diamond frame folding bicycle. Nishith shared that they have patented their mechanism. Their bicycle can be folded and fit into a car or carried on escalators and elevators. The founders share that they already have orders for 80 bikes even before the official launch. They sought an investment of ₹50 Lakhs for 1% equity, asking for a ₹50 crore valuation.
Hornback bikes come with a 250W battery, which gives the bike a 45-kilometer range in a charging time of 4 hours. Their electric bike costs ₹44,999. The founders shared that their vision is to eventually take this overseas, as Anupam calculated that the total addressable market size in India for these bikes is very small. The company has already raised ₹3.33 Crores at a ₹15.33 Crores valuation. Notably, 3 months ago they closed this round.
Hornback Cycle Shark Tank Negotiations & Funding:
Namita was the first shark to go out, citing that she was not convinced that the foldable bike is that big of a feature as it was shown by the entrepreneurs. Peyush went out of the deal, but he suggested that the founders should get a strategic investor who can license this technology. Anupam didn’t see marketing muscle in the entrepreneurs; therefore, he went out of the deal. Aman shared the same sentiment as Anupam and followed his lead to go out of the negotiations as well.
Amit was interested in the company but commented that the founders have a weak business sense that needs to be evolved. He suggested that they should bring a co-founder who can focus on marketing. With those comments, he offered ₹30 Lakhs for 2% of the company and the rest as debt at 12% interest. The founders countered at ₹50 Lakhs for 1.5%, to which Amit countered with ₹50 Lakhs for 3% of the company. The founders declined that offer, to which Amit again gave an offer of ₹50 Lakhs for 2.5% of the company, which entrepreneurs accepted, and they shook hands on that deal.
Who are the founders of Hornback?
Rajkumar Kewat & Nishith Parikh founded Hornback. They come from Hyderabad. They both graduated from IIT Bombay.
How is Hornback doing after Shark Tank India?
Our research into the company revealed that their Shark Tank India deal with Amit Jain did not close after the show. Despite that, as of January 2024, the company is still in business and has three variants of their bikes available for sale on their website and marketplaces. Notably, Indian business tycoon Anand Mahindra noticed their bikes and is one of the users and promoters of their ebike.
A bunch of IIT Bombay guys have made us proud again. They’ve created the first foldable diamond frame e-bike with full-size wheels in the world. That makes the bike not only 35% more efficient than other foldable bikes but it makes the bike stable at higher than medium speed. And… pic.twitter.com/U1HHGD6rfL
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) October 21, 2023
While the financials of their company are not yet public at this point, we will update this article as soon as more information comes to light.
Source: Instagram @mkewat_rajkumar
Here are other companies from Season 2 Episode 37.
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