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3 min readNew DelhiFeb 24, 2026 12:32 PM IST
Aman Gupta on Shark Tank India. (Photo: SonyLIV)
Shark Tank India Season 5’s latest episode saw an entrepreneur pitching her coffee brand, Upsnac, to the judges. The pitcher claimed that her product called ‘Proffee’, which is a combination of protein and coffee could be integrated into one’s daily life as a wellness, functional coffee. She came in asking for Rs 1 crore in exchange for 2 percent of her company, valuing it at Rs 50 crore. Riya Gupta, from Ludhiana, got some critical feedback from Aman Gupta, Anupam Mittal, Kunal Bahl, Mohit Yadav and Kanika Tekriwal, but could not secure any funds.
Riya claimed that her product only had monk fruit as the sweetening agent but as Kunal read the label on her packaging, he also discovered stevia in the product. When asked why she added both sweetening agents, she said that she used them because they were “trending.” Aman, upon trying one of her products, asked if there was any milk in the premix and while Riya denied it at first, she later admitted that there was a bit of skimmed milk powder in the mix.
Kunal also pointed out flaws in her packaging and as she made an excuse about problems with transit, he pointed out more flaws that must have existed even before the products were shipped. When it was revealed that this was due to lower number of quantities being manufactured, Kunal said that regardless of the number of products, the packaging needs to be top notch. Upon hearing all of this, Aman told her, “Confidence kam aa raha hai shuru se hi (I don’t have much confidence in this.)” He clearly told her, “Mujhe abhi Rs 1 crore lagane ka mann nahi kar raha (I don’t feel like putting in Rs 1 crore in your business.)”
Anupam Mittal was the only one who was mildly supportive in the beginning as he said that he liked the “concept” of the product. Kanika jumped in the conversation as well and pointed out that Riya had not done enough research in her category and she called her peanut butter’s taste “horrible” after she saw a layer of oil floating on top.
Kanika, Kunal and Mohit also withdrew from the negotiations soon after Riya revealed that the company was bootstrapped as she had put in Rs 40 lakh of her own money.
Anupam was the last to offer advice and said that her products were not meant for coffee connoisseurs and suggested that she shouldn’t raise any capital until her business reached a run rate of Rs 25-30 crore. As she described herself as a “boss kudi”, Anupam said that she should raise capital on her own terms, ideally, after she has reached a run rate of Rs 50 crore. He also got out of the negotiations.
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