DaakRoom

Shivani is from Allahabad and Harnehmat is from Chandigarh and both are college friends at National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. Shivani Mehta and Harnehmat Kaur are Season 3's most culturally mission-driven founding duo — two NID Ahmedabad design students who identified that the world's oldest and most emotionally powerful communication medium (handwritten letters) was vanishing from Indian culture, and decided to build a cultural enterprise around reviving it through creative experiences rather than nostalgic marketing. Their NID design education gave DaakRoom the specific creative and experiential design sensibility that distinguished their letter-writing events from generic stationery sales: each DaakRoom carnival, workshop, and school programme is designed as a full sensory experience (the smell of paper, the ritual of choosing a pen, the act of composing thoughts for a specific person) rather than simply providing paper and asking people to write.

Daakroom is a cultural startup dedicated to reviving the art of handwritten communication through creative events, partnerships, campaigns, products, and workshops. With a mission to foster meaningful relationships and promote a digital detox culture, the name "Daak" is derived from the Hindi word for "post." DaakRoom is India's most creatively designed cultural enterprise for handwritten communication revival organising Letter Writing Carnivals (large-scale public events), educational school programmes (teaching children the cognitive and emotional benefits of handwriting), and corporate marketing campaigns (brands commissioning personalised letter-writing experiences for their customers), all anchored in the mission of promoting digital detox through the physical act of writing letters by hand. Daakroom enlightens people to write through their products, campaigns, school programs, and events. Till date, Daak Room has made people write more than 8 lakh letters.

Amount Asked: ₹36 lakhs Equity Offered: 4% Implied Pre-Money Valuation: ₹9 crore

Daak Room also brings letters for all the Sharks from their beloved people. Aman Gupta received a letter from his daughter, Peyush Bansal from his wife Nidhi, Radhika Gupta from her son and husband, and Ritesh also got a letter from his wife Geet. DaakRoom's pitch entry was Season 3 Episode 13's most emotionally devastating pre-pitch moment: before the founders appeared, a postman on a bicycle rode onto the Shark Tank stage and delivered handwritten letters to each Shark from their loved ones. Aman read his daughter's letter. Peyush read his wife Nidhi's. Radhika read her son and husband's. Ritesh read his wife Geet's. Every Shark was visibly moved before a single business word was spoken. The founders then entered and revealed that this emotional experience receiving a physical letter from someone you love, feeling the handwriting, the paper, the personal effort was exactly what DaakRoom existed to create for millions of Indians who had forgotten the power of handwritten communication.

Aman Gupta was emotionally moved by his daughter's letter but exited without investing. . Peyush Bansal exited because he could not understand the exact service or revenue model. Radhika Gupta (guest Shark) exited because she found the founders confused about whether DaakRoom was a passion project or a genuine business venture. She could not clearly see the commercial scalability. Vineeta Singh appreciated the mission and offered ₹36 lakhs for 4% equity with 3% royalty until ₹72 lakhs recouped, conditionally requiring the founders to focus on high-quality premium stationery products as the primary revenue driver. Ritesh Agarwal offered ₹36 lakhs for 6% equity without royalty. He believed in the founders' cultural mission and saw commercial potential in the experience economy where handwritten communication could become a premium lifestyle choice.

The first offer was given by Vineeta Singh which was ₹36 lakh for 4% along with 3% royalty until 2x is recouped. Ritesh also offered ₹36 lakh for 6% equity. The founders requested Ritesh to deal at 5% equity as they were not able to take a royalty deal with Vineeta. Two competing offers: Vineeta's ₹36L for 4% plus 3% royalty (lower equity but royalty burden) versus Ritesh's ₹36L for 6% (higher equity but clean structure, no royalty). The founders chose Ritesh's royalty-free offer over Vineeta's royalty-attached structure and countered at 5% equity. Ritesh sealed the deal for ₹36 lakh for 6% and promised to return 1% equity if the founders could meet the projected profit of this financial year. Startup Vichar

Shivani Mehta and Harnehmat Kaur accepted Ritesh Agarwal's offer of ₹36 lakhs for 6% equity at ₹6 crore valuation, with the performance-based equity return clause: if DaakRoom achieves its projected revenue and EBITDA targets, Ritesh will return 1% equity (reducing his stake from 6% to 5%). The founders chose Ritesh's clean equity structure over Vineeta's royalty-attached offer, and the performance clause gave them a specific, achievable path to recovering 1% of the diluted equity.

Our research on DaakRoom revealed that while they got a deal on Shark Tank India, whether that deal was closed still remains unclear. This could be because they are still completing the due diligence, but early signs do suggest that their deal has not gone through yet. DaakRoom continues operating the website active with a 15% Shark Tank discount (code SHARKTANK15), products available (postcard packs, origami letter paper, stationery packs), and the 800,000 letters inspired milestone continuing to grow. The Shark Tank national broadcast gave DaakRoom's letter-writing revival mission the single most powerful visibility platform available in India. The emotional pitch entry Sharks reading their loved ones' handwritten letters became one of Season 3's most shared social media moments. Aman reading his daughter's letter, Peyush reading his wife Nidhi's, and Radhika reading her son and husband's gave DaakRoom earned media coverage that no marketing budget could have purchased, because the genuine emotional response of India's most famous entrepreneurs reading personal letters on national television communicated the power of handwritten communication more eloquently than any business pitch.