LOKA, Parent company: Misso

Having some experience founding a food startup Foodebaba, Krishnan knew what it takes to start all over again. "I had valuable experience of working in a startup, founding a company, talking to investors. And I said now I'm going to follow my passion," he says. His pivot from food to metaverse was driven by a very specific cultural insight. Krishnan said he wanted to create a game that focused on India: "I've played several Web2 games, including Hitman with the map of Mumbai, Call of Duty based in Himachal Pradesh or Uncharted in Tamil Nadu, and I realised that when you add localisation to a game, it transforms from just being a game into something magical that connects people. I wanted to create a game that centred around India, its culture, its experiences, its people and thus, I founded Loka."

LOKA is India's proposed first gamified social metaverse — a mobile application where users create avatars and explore 3D virtual replicas of real Indian city locations, interact with other users in real time, attend virtual events, and access integrated e-commerce and entertainment services, all within a distinctly Indian cultural context. As per a statement by Sunderarajan: "I am the founder of India's first gamified Metaverse — LOKA. We're trying to create gamified 3D versions of real cities and locations like Connaught Place in Delhi, or Manhattan in New York, or Oxford Street in London, where real people can participate in concurrent and real-time experiences powered by third-party apps like Amazon, Netflix, Deliveroo, and Miniclip. We are also focused on re-creating the feel, vibe and heritage of a place or a city by integrating contextually relevant and culturally relatable elements." Loka provides its users the ability to start with an avatar first, then gender selection.

Amount Asked: ₹40 lakhs Equity Offered: 5% Implied Pre-Money Valuation: ₹8 crore

Krishnan walked in with a live demo of the Loka app — showing the Sharks his avatar navigating virtual Connaught Place in Delhi, interacting with other users' avatars, visiting virtual shops, and entering the Amphitheatre zone. For a panel of investors in January 2022 — at the height of the global "metaverse moment" following Facebook's rebranding to Meta and Microsoft's metaverse announcements — this was a demonstration that arrived at exactly the right cultural moment. The primary question that every Shark was interested in knowing, post the fun part, was: "What is the hook in this product and why should they invest?" ReadersFusion The "hook" question is the central challenge for any social platform: why will users come, why will they stay, and why will they return? Loka's answer — Indian city replicas, cultural relatability, social interaction with real people — was a reasonable early-stage response, but the monetisation model and user retention mechanics were not yet fully develop

Ashneer Grover exited quickly and for a characteristic reason. Ashneer doesn't understand the purpose of this and goes out of the deal. Namita Thapar followed Ashneer. Namita says she doesn't understand this technology, so she steps out of the deal. Anupam Mittal, Aman Gupta, and Peyush Bansal all engaged with the product substantively and ultimately invested together. Aman said that he invests on two factors — either an entrepreneur or a business — and he was ready to take a bet on him.

Aman, Peyush, and Anupam gave their joint offer of ₹40 lakhs for 25% equity. Krishnan came back with a counter of ₹40 lakhs for 20%. Anupam countered at 24%, and the entrepreneur accepted. The negotiation compressed the equity from the founders' 5% ask to 24% — giving the company a post-money implied valuation of ₹40L ÷ 24% = ₹1.67 crore, a significant markdown from the ₹8 crore ask. This reflects the Sharks' honest assessment: they liked the founder and the category, but priced the pre-revenue, pre-traction risk heavily into the equity structure. To this day, Anupam Mittal, Aman Gupta, and Peyush Bansal have been supportive of Loka's growth, the founder says.

Deal₹40 lakhs for 24% equity from Anupam + Aman + PeyushImplied Post-Money Valuation₹1.67 crore