How is Katidhan doing after Shark Tank India?

Founder/Owner: S.R.Ayan
Business: Farm-Tech
Ask: ₹1.5 Crores for 2.5% Equity
Valuation/ Networth: ₹60 Crores
Funding: ₹75 Lakhs for 5% Equity + ₹75 Lakhs debt @11% interest for 3 years
Sharks: Ritesh Agarwal
Episode: Season 3 Episode 41

Katidhan Shark Tank India Pitch:

The pitch started with founder sharing how animals affect 30% of the crop production throughout the country. Katidhan has invented a Solar-Powered Autonomous Light Deterrence Solution called as Parabraksh Technology. Parabraksh automatically activates after sunset, emitting light in various patterns throughout the night and deactivates after sunlight. Animals get scared due to the light patterns and do not come near the fields/crops. The founder sought an investment of ₹1.5 Crores for 2.5% equity valuing the business at ₹60 Crores.

Katidhan was started in 2017 and so far have installed their products across 1,100 farms and agricultural lands across India. The company is also working on creating Bioacoustic sound system to deter monkeys and an AI early warning systems. Parabraksh is effective for Elephants, Nilgai, Lions, Leopard & wild Boars. It is priced at ₹9,500.

Katidhan’s Financials & Revenue during Shark Tank India:

Katidhan’s second product is Kapikaat, it uses sound to repel monkeys and other wild animals. It is priced at ₹5,000. Moreover, the founder shared that their target consumer is government and NGOs. Also, The company has a gross margin of 50% and net margin of 30%. The founder shared that Kyari is their direct competitor.

Katidhan is completely bootstrapped at the time of their pitch. The launched their first product in 2020 and made revenue of ₹12 lakhs in their first financial year. This was followed by ₹18 Lakhs in FY21-22, ₹60 Lakhs in FY22-23 and projected revenue of FY23-24 is ₹1.5 Crores. They made ₹13 Lakhs in profits last year.

Katidhan Shark Tank India negotiations & Funding:

Namita felt like this would be a difficult business to scale therefore, she goes out of the deal. Aman goes out because he felt like the valuation was too high. Further, Vineeta goes out citing its not yet clear if this product is market fit. Anupam felt like there were still missing pieces to this story so he is not convinced to make this investment.

Ritesh felt like the entrepreneur lacked business acumen but he can help him out with this. He offered ₹75 Lakhs for 5% and rest as debt at 10% interest for 3 years. The founder accepted that offer without any hesitation.

Who is the founder of Katidhan?

S.R.Ayan founded Katidhan. He has a background in product design and development. He also worked in ed-tech robotics and consumer robotics.