The Croffle Guys

Rahul Vinod Vohra: "I have studied Economics from New York University. But, I have worked as an actor in the film industry for 9 years. I have worked for a Director named Kabir Khan. Now, I am full time working in this." Rahul also appeared in an ad with Shah Rukh Khan, and his background in Kabir Khan's productions has shaped Croffle Guys' distinctive visual identity and storytelling-first brand voice Annanya Agarwal: "I have studied MBA from Atlanta. In 2017, my brother and I started a recycling startup. I am still operating in that company." Annanya's first startup, Runaya, is projected to clock ₹1,000 crore in FY25-26 — making her simultaneously one of Season 5's most commercially successful prior-entrepreneur co-founders. Veer Pinto is part of Karan Johar's creative team at Dharma Productions, bringing content and entertainment industry brand-building expertise.

The Croffle Guys is built around croffles — a hybrid dessert that blends the flaky richness of a croissant with the crisp texture of a waffle. The concept was discovered during a trip to Thailand and adapted for Indian consumers, where it has quickly gained popularity among young, urban audiences. Namita held on to the croffle for over 15 minutes during the pitch to test its crispness — an organic quality test that communicated the product's texture retention better than any description could. The brand operates on a QSR model with standardised recipes for consistent taste across outlets, serving croffles in multiple sweet (chocolate, Nutella, fruit) and savoury (margarita, cheese) variants alongside coffee — positioning the croffle as the centre of a full café experience rather than a single dessert item.

Amount Asked: ₹1 crore Equity Offered: 1% Implied Pre-Money Valuation: ₹100 crore

The shayari (Urdu poetry) pitch opening was Season 5's most creatively theatrical entrance — four friends presenting a food concept using the rhyming couplet format of classical Indian poetry. The creative choice immediately communicated the brand's entertainment-industry-influenced personality and distinguished it from every other QSR pitch in Shark Tank India's history. During the pitch, the founders explained that the idea for the brand emerged during a leisure trip to Thailand. The team said they encountered the product at a local stall, where its taste and format stood out, prompting them to explore its potential in the Indian market. The croffle tasting was the pitch's most decisive commercial moment — all the Sharks were quite impressed by the taste of the product as much as, if not more, by Rahul's acting skills.

Vineeta Singh was impressed by both the product taste and the brand's creative storytelling potential. She made an offer, appreciating the founders' marketing and brand-building capability — recognising that a food brand's long-term value lives in its cultural relevance and virality as much as its product quality. Aman Gupta was enthused by the founder profiles and the organic search traction on food delivery platforms the kind of early demand signal he recognised from boAt's own early consumer interest metrics. He made an offer. Peyush Bansal made an offer, drawn to the category-creation potential of croffles as a standalone food format similar to how bubble tea carved out a dedicated category in India's café landscape. Anupam Mittal made an offer, impressed by the brand's storytelling clarity and the founding team's complementary skills across film, business, and operations. Kunal Bahl and Mohit Yadavmade a joint offer — all the Sharks on the panel made investment offers.

The founders asked for ₹1 crore for 1% equity (₹100 crore valuation). All five Sharks made offers. The offers varied in terms of valuation and equity, with investors citing branding potential and early traction as positives. After deliberation, the founders accepted a joint offer from Kunal Bahl and Mohit Yadav. The agreed deal involved an investment of ₹2.5 crore for a combined 6% equity stake in the company. The founders chose more capital (₹2.5 crore vs. ₹1 crore asks) with more equity (6%) from Kunal and Mohit — valuing their QSR industry experience (Snapdeal's consumer commerce scale and Minimalist's D2C brand-building playbook) over the lower-equity individual offers.

The Croffle Guys accepted Kunal Bahl and Mohit Yadav's joint offer of ₹2.5 crore for 6% equity — valuing the company at ₹41.67 crore post-deal. Despite all five Sharks making offers, the founders selected Kunal and Mohit's joint bid, which offered 2.5x more capital than the original ask at 6x the equity, choosing a pair whose consumer commerce and D2C brand-building expertise directly aligned with a QSR brand's scale-up requirements.