Auli Lifestyle (AULI Lifestyle Consultancy)

Aishwarya Biswas is one of Season 1's most globally-credentialled founders — a woman who lived across five countries, held senior management positions in multiple industries, and walked away from all of it to build a home-based Ayurvedic skincare brand in Kolkata, because the market did not have what she believed Indian skin deserved. Aishwarya Biswas has lived in five countries, working at senior management levels before launching her own skincare brand, Auli Lifestyle, in June 2017. She completed her graduation with a double major in marketing from the University of Bridgeport in the US, and followed it up with an MBA at SP Jain Institute of Management alongside a short stint at the London School of Economics. A trained image consultant from the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, Aishwarya is a well-known face in the beauty industry, and was the winner of Lakme Sananda Tilotamma.

Auli Lifestyle is an internet-first Ayurvedic and natural skincare brand offering a comprehensive range of cruelty-free, chemical-free, and sustainably produced skincare, haircare, body care, and wellness products — formulated in-house, targeting Indian skin conditions and India's diverse climate zones. AULI stands as an Affordable, Unique, Lush, and Indian skincare brand that uses all-natural ingredients. Bizlitesolutions Each word in the acronym is a commercial commitment: Affordable (premium quality without luxury pricing), Unique (proprietary in-house formulations), Lush (sensory richness in texture and fragrance), and Indian (made in India, for Indian skin, with Indian botanical heritage) Auli is a skincare brand that combines Ayurveda with modern science. Start Up Article This is not greenwashing — the Ayurvedic active ingredients (botanical extracts, honey, traditional herbs) are combined with scientifically validated actives.

Amount Asked: ₹75 lakhs Equity Offered: 4% Implied Pre-Money Valuation: ₹18.75 crore

The Auli Lifestyle pitch was distinctive from the opening moments. Aishwarya walked in with poise and purpose — and products. The Sharks were invited to try the skincare products during the pitch, giving the presentation a sensory dimension that cold financial data cannot provide. The founding story was presented warmly: a global citizen who had lived and worked across five countries, who discovered that Indian skin had specific needs that neither Western brands nor India's mass-market brands were adequately addressing, and who decided to address that gap with an Ayurvedic-modern science hybrid approach formulated specifically for India. The customer loyalty data was genuinely compelling. Almost 57% of their customers are repeat customers, and for them, it's Auli or nothing. A 57% repeat customer rate in the skincare D2C category — where customer acquisition costs are high, brand switching is common, and product trial is easily facilitated — is exceptional.

Anupam Mittal and Peyush Bansal took a step back early — Anupam citing the crowded skincare market, Peyush citing category mismatch. Ashneer Grover requested that Aishwarya bring in a co-founder to shore up the solo-founder governance risk, which she declined. Ashneer requested Aishwarya take a co-founder, but she declined, and he withdrew. Aman Gupta was hesitant. Aman Gupta was hesitant to invest since he wasn't sure if Aishwarya could build it up. Namita Thapar was the decisive and enthusiastic investor. Namita adds that Aishwarya can go forward without a co-founder as long as she gets the guidance.

The negotiation between Namita and Aishwarya was one of Season 1's cleanest — a woman-to-woman negotiation between two founders who immediately recognised the alignment of their values, resulting in a deal that moved quickly from the opening offer to closure. Namita offers ₹75 lakhs for 20% equity. The entrepreneur refuses to give 20%. Namita counters at 18%, but Aishwarya asks if they can come to an agreement at 15%. Namita accepts the offer, and they close the deal.

Final deal = ₹75 lakhs for 15% equity — implying a ₹5 crore post-money valuation.