Goenchi Feni

Yash used to work as a Flight Attendant at Qatar Airways for more than 4 years before they both started a business together. Yash and Tulika Sawardekar are Season 3's most culturally heritage-driven brother-sister alcohol founders. Yash's founding moment came during his Qatar Airways career when a Polish colleague asked him what spirit was made where he lived. Yash answered whiskey. When asked what spirit was indigenous to his homeland, he had no answer. That unanswerable question became the founding moment of Goenchi Feni: why doesn't India celebrate its own indigenous spirits the way Russia celebrates vodka, Mexico celebrates tequila, Japan celebrates sake, and Korea celebrates soju? After the era of COVID-19, Yash and Tulika traveled across the country and discovered that Goan feni is the best.

Goenchi Feni makes a spiritous liquor drink that originated in Goa. They say they are the new-age artesian feni brand made in India, from cashew apples and coconut flowers, but no additives or sugar. While other countries are proud of their spirits, Indian spirit makers are struggling to get the name up. Goenchi Feni is India's most culturally mission-driven indigenous spirit brand, producing GI-tagged Goan Feni using a 500-year-old traditional distillation craft, sourced from the founders' ancestral farm, with zero preservatives, sugar, or additives. The brand's mission extends beyond commerce: it seeks to make Feni India's answer to tequila, sake, and soju on the global spirits stage. "Feni has been crafted for centuries through techniques passed down from father to son. This ancient wisdom has survived monarchies, colonialism, and even modernism.

Amount Asked: ₹1 crore Equity Offered: 5% Implied Pre-Money Valuation: ₹20 crore

Yash and Tulika walked into Season 3 Episode 10 with the most culturally patriotic spirits pitch in Shark Tank India history. Yash's opening framing, listing every country's celebrated indigenous spirit (Russia: vodka, Mexico: tequila, Japan: sake, Korea: soju, Brazil: cachaça) and then asking "what is India's?" gave the pitch its most emotionally resonant national pride context. The founders served Cashew Feni and Coconut Feni to the Sharks. The product quality and storytelling impressed Deepinder Goyal particularly, who saw in Goenchi Feni the same cultural-brand-building opportunity that Zomato had pursued in making Indian food culture globally accessible through technology. The pitch's most dramatically tense moment came during the deal negotiation. Deepinder offered two non-negotiable options.

Aman Gupta was the first to exit, citing the category-creation challenge. Vineeta Singh exited on regulatory and domain expertise grounds. Anupam Mittal did not invest but gave valuable advice. He suggested the founders improve their storytelling and packaging to better communicate the heritage and premium positioning. He urged the founders to accept Deepinder's offer when they hesitated. Namita Thapar exited on domain expertise grounds. Pharmaceutical healthcare distribution has no commercial overlap with traditional artisanal spirits distribution. Deepinder Goyal (Zomato guest Shark) made his first-ever Shark Tank India investment.

Deepinder gave two non-negotiable offers: ₹1 crore for 10% and ₹2 crore for 15%. The founders took a moment and came back to decline, but before that, other Sharks interrupted and suggested them to take the deal. After some back and forth, the founders accepted ₹1 crore for 10% as they wanted to keep more equity. To which Deepinder responds that ₹1 crore for 10% is off the table, leaving them only one option of ₹2 crore for 15%. After some thought, the founders accepted. The SportsGrail Season 3's most dramatically escalating negotiation: Deepinder presented two options, the founders hesitated, tried to accept the smaller deal, and Deepinder pulled it off the table, forcing acceptance of the larger investment at higher dilution. The "₹1 crore for 10% is off the table" moment was Season 3 Episode 10's most commercially assertive Shark negotiation move.

Yash and Tulika Sawardekar accepted Deepinder Goyal's offer of ₹2 crore for 15% equity at ₹13.33 crore valuation. The deal was Deepinder Goyal's first-ever Shark Tank India investment, making Goenchi Feni the only alcohol brand in Shark Tank India history to secure a deal from any Shark (Proost, DesmondJi, and Naara Aaba notwithstanding, as Naara Aaba is wine). The monthly breakfast meetings in Delhi condition created a personally mentored investment relationship unlike any other Season 3 deal.

After its success on Shark Tank India, the company plans to expand its reach across India by doubling production capacity, exploring new markets, and expanding its team, with key markets being Goa, Haryana, and Karnataka. The founders were happy with the deal and they even took the suggestion by Anupam to improve their storytelling and packaging. Goenchi Feni continues growing with Deepinder Goyal's investment and mentorship. The expansion to Haryana and Karnataka moves the brand beyond Goa's local market for the first time, testing whether Feni's cultural appeal can convert consumers in North and South Indian markets where the spirit has no existing consumption tradition. The production capacity doubling, combined with Deepinder's food and beverage industry network (Zomato's restaurant partner relationships across India), gives Goenchi Feni the specific distribution acceleration that no other alcohol brand investor on the Shark Tank panel could have provided. Deepinder's personal involvement (monthly breakfast meetings) ensures that the brand building receives the most personally hands-on Shark mentorship of Season 3.