Toffee Coffee Roasters

Established in 2019, Toffee Coffee Roasters was conceived by Nandini Shrivastava and Rishabh Nigam, driven by their mutual passion for coffee. Rishabh Nigam and Nandini Srivastava are Season 3's most passion-to-product specialty coffee founders. Their shared love for exceptional coffee led them to build a brand around the specific philosophy of freshness: selling coffee within 48 hours of roasting so customers experience coffee at its absolute peak flavour, a standard that no mass-market coffee brand in India can match because logistics and shelf-life requirements force them to sell coffee weeks or months after roasting. The brand started as a physical cafe in 2019 (₹25 lakhs revenue in the first year), then pivoted to D2C coffee products, surpassing ₹40 lakhs in sales the following year.

Toffee Coffee Roasters offers a wide variety of coffee products, including grounded coffee, hot brew, cold brew, filter coffee, and specialty instant coffee. Their specialty coffee beans are sourced globally and roasted in small batches to enhance flavor. Toffee Coffee Roasters is India's most freshness-obsessed specialty coffee brand, sourcing 100% Arabica beans from the finest single estates across Asia and the world, roasting in small batches for flavour optimisation, and delivering within 48 hours of roasting to guarantee peak flavour that mass-market coffee brands cannot provide. The Whiskey Barrel Aged Coffee is the brand's most commercially distinctive product: coffee beans aged in whiskey barrels, absorbing the barrel's oak and spirit character, creating a flavour profile that exists at the intersection of coffee and whiskey culture. This product was specifically highlighted by Aman Gupta during the pitch as the flavour Toffee Coffee should focus on to capture market.

Amount Asked: ₹60 lakhs Equity Offered: 2% Implied Pre-Money Valuation: ₹30 crore

Rishabh and Nandini, founders of Toffee Coffee Roasters, presented their innovative startup idea to sharks. Toffee Coffee Roasters offers a variety of coffee flavors to their customer. Interestingly, these coffees are sourced from various coffee regions across the world. Rishabh and Nandini walked into Season 3 Episode 19 with the most aromatically immersive pitch of the episode: serving freshly roasted specialty coffee to every Shark. Every Shark who tasted the coffee complimented it, making the product quality validation the pitch's most unanimously positive moment. The founders articulated the Indian coffee market opportunity: ₹14,000 to ₹15,000 crore market split 50/50 between out-of-home (cafes) and at-home consumption, with traditional brands (Nescafe, Bru) capturing 70% of the at-home segment. Toffee Coffee's positioning: the premium alternative for the growing specialty coffee consumer who wanted cafe-quality coffee at home without visiting a Third Wave or Blue Tokai outlet.

Vineeta Singh was the first to exit, citing concerns that product prices were 1.5x to 2x higher than competitors. She believed the premium pricing would limit the addressable market size but expressed interest in becoming a personal consumer. Aman Gupta exited but gave the most commercially specific product advice of the episode. Radhika Gupta (guest Shark) loved the taste and inquired about market size and product pricing. She did not make an offer but was visibly impressed by the product quality. Peyush Bansal stepped aside from negotiations after Ritesh's offer, considering it a competitive deal that he could not improve upon without overvaluing the company at its current stage. Ritesh Agarwal was the only Shark to invest, despite being a non-coffee drinker. He was impressed by the founders' passion, the product quality, and the growth trajectory.

Ritesh made an offer of ₹30 lakhs for 2% equity along with ₹30 lakhs in debt at 10% interest for 3 years. The founders requested Ritesh to remove the debt portion and invest more in equity. Ritesh revised the offer to ₹35 lakhs for 2.33% equity along with ₹25 lakhs in debt at 10% interest for 3 years. Deal Finalized. Sharktankindiaclub Ritesh opened at ₹30 lakhs for 2% equity plus ₹30 lakhs debt at 10% for 3 years. The founders counter-requested: remove the debt and invest more in equity. Ritesh revised to ₹36 lakhs for 2.33% equity plus ₹25 lakhs debt at 10% for 3 years (total capital: ₹61 lakhs). The founders accepted, receiving slightly more total capital than their ₹60 lakh ask with a marginally higher equity dilution (2.33% vs. 2%).

Rishabh Nigam and Nandini Srivastava accepted Ritesh Agarwal's offer of ₹36 lakhs for 2.33% equity plus ₹25 lakhs debt at 10% interest for 3 years, valuing Toffee Coffee Roasters at ₹15.45 crore. The deal brought OYO's founder into a specialty coffee brand, with Ritesh's hospitality industry expertise providing the most immediately applicable strategic asset: OYO's hotel network as a potential distribution channel for premium in-room coffee experiences across thousands of properties.

Having been self-funded thus far, the startup plans to use the new investment to enhance its range of products and achieve a tenfold increase in revenue in the upcoming months. Toffee Coffee Roasters continues growing post-Shark Tank. The brand's visibility surged after the episode, and the Zomato and WhatsHot "top coffee spot" ratings continue driving both online and cafe discovery. The 48-hour freshness guarantee remains the brand's most commercially distinctive quality promise, and the Whiskey Barrel Aged Coffee (as Aman specifically recommended) continues as the most conversation-starting product in the range. The investment from Ritesh provides both capital for product expansion and the OYO hospitality network connection that could transform Toffee Coffee from a D2C brand into an institutional hospitality coffee supplier. OYO's thousands of hotel properties across India represent the largest possible B2B distribution channel for a premium in-room coffee brand, a channel that no other Shark could have provided.