NOCD — No Carb Drink,Parent Company: Jouleshealth Enterprise Pvt. Ltd.

Siddharth Mishra and Vinay Kumar are childhood friends who had worked together in the same firm in the sales and marketing department. They started their journey from Bengaluru and are both marketing professionals. Siddharth Mishra serves as the CEO and is the public face of the venture. His professional background is rooted in FMCG sales and marketing, having worked with large organisations including HUL (Hindustan Unilever) and Hike Messenger. This commercial marketing pedigree gave him a sharp understanding of consumer behaviour, distribution channels, and brand positioning — skills that would prove invaluable in building a beverage startup from scratch.

NOCD — which the founders pronounced as "Knocked" — is a zero-carb, zero-sugar, low-calorie functional energy drink. The name itself is a play on "No Carbs Drink" and the founders also separately describe it as standing for "No Ordinary Caffeinated Drink," positioning the brand as both a health product and a lifestyle statement. NOCD is a nootropic brain stimulator that enhances memory, cognitive functioning, focus, and mood. Enriched with vitamins and BCAA (Branched Chain Amino Acids), NOCD is for people who want to adopt a fit and active lifestyle without being addicted to any drink, beverage, supplement, or tablet.

Amount Asked: ₹50 lakhs Equity Offered: 2% Implied Pre-Money Valuation: ₹25 crore

The NOCD pitch was the final one of Episode 3, coming after the technically impressive but doomed qZense Labs pitch and the socially compelling Peeschute pitch. By the time Siddharth and Vinay walked in, the Sharks had already seen significant deal-making action and were in an evaluative frame of mind.The founders opened with the brand positioning — "Never Fried, Never Baked" was Tagz Foods' tagline; NOCD's equivalent was the assertion that every Indian deserved an energy drink without the sugar. They explained the product concept clearly: a zero-carb, zero-sugar, 5-calorie functional drink fortified with BCAAs, amino acids, folic acid, biotin, green coffee beans, and multivitamins.

Ashneer Grover was the most vocal critic — and his criticism cut right to the heart of the brand's biggest vulnerability. He directly said he didn't like the brand name "NOCD," Aman Gupta had two specific concerns. First, he didn't like the taste of the drink — a straightforward consumer verdict that any product startup dreads. Second, Aman was concerned about the sales and marketing strategy and said that if he were to invest, he would need to work very hard. Namita Thapar and Anupam Mittal both stepped back relatively quickly. Namita and Anupam felt they didn't have the expertise in the sector and may not be able to help the business grow. Vineeta Singh was the decisive Shark.Vineeta saw the mass potential in the functional beverage category and was willing to invest.

The negotiation between Vineeta Singh and the NOCD founders was the most structured and back-and-forth exchange of the episode's final pitch. Vineeta made a counteroffer to take 20% equity for ₹20 lakhs and ₹30 lakhs in debt. Professionalsaathi This was a significant reframing of the ask — Vineeta was proposing a mixed deal structure (part equity, part debt) rather than pure equity, which changed the financial dynamics considerably. The ₹20 lakh equity investment at 20% implied a valuation of only ₹1 crore — a dramatic markdown from the founders' ₹25 crore ask. The ₹30 lakh debt component would need to be repaid with interest, reducing the effective "free capital" in the deal. The founders took a few minutes and countered with an offer of 10% equity for ₹20 lakhs and ₹30 lakhs in debt.

The final deal on screen was agreed at ₹20 lakhs for 15% equity and ₹30 lakhs as debt from Vineeta Singh a mid-point between her 20% and their 10%, with the debt component unchanged.