Shark Tank India Season 3: How boredom and injury forced this entrepreneur build startup that won 4-Shark deal

Shark Tank India Season 3: Some of the best ideas strike one's mind during times of stress, and some of the best ideas fizzle out in ecstasy. It's our yearning for learning that makes us discover new things, even when the odds are against us. Prateek Kedia and Shreya Bansal were going through poor frames of mind when they were doing their articleship after completing their chartered accountancy course. Prateek says 50 hours of work a week made his life stressful, so he decided to destress himself. He found solace in yoga, which appeared to be a great source of positivity. But the experience turned sour when he purchased some yoga mats online and suffered injuries after performing yoga on them.

It was here that he and Shreya thought of starting their own yoga mat brand, WiseLife.

The product launched in a time of stress gave them a reason to be cheerful when the duo's startup, WiseLife, won the 4-Shark deal in a Shark Tank India Season 3 episode last week.

Their startup got the thumbs up from the Shark quartet of Aman Gupta, Anupam Mittal, Ritesh Aggarwal, and Namita Thapar, who were impressed after seeing the design of the yoga mat.

It was a Shark Tank India deal worth Rs 60 lakh in exchange for 2 per cent of WiseLife on a valuation of Rs 30 crore.

Read the story of the duo who devised a unique idea to fight stress and won nationwide fame through showcasing their products in Shark Tank India Season 3. 

Shark Tank India Season 3: How did the idea of WiseLife come about?

It all started with Prateek and Shreya doing their articleship at PWC after completing their CA exam. 

Stress overpowered the duo, and it was Prateek who opted to move out of a stressful life and started performing yoga. 

The experience was good initially, but it became a nightmare when he purchased some yoga mats online, and all of them had some shortcoming or other. 

Injuries to his back added to his woes, and he and Shreya thought of a solution. 

The solution came in the form of their startup, WiseLife. 

Shark Tank India Season 3: What does WiseLife produce? 

While WiseLife focuses on manufacturing yoga mats of different sizes and shapes, it also produces yoga accessories. 

The duo says that its yoga mats contain a lot of information, and the products are made using natural rubber, suede, cork, and TPE. 

The couple claims that their yoga mats are of good design, quality, affordability, and eco-friendliness. 

Till now, WiseLife has delivered its products to more than 1 lakh customers.

Shark Tank India Season 3: What are WiseLife's future plans?

The startup is set to enter the yoga apparel business. 

Speaking about their current business figures, the couple said that the price of their yoga mat starts at Rs 1000. 

While 80 per cent of WiseLife's business is online, 20 per cent is offline. 

Out of total offline business, 10 per cent comes only from those running yoga classes. 

If we talk about yoga wellness market, it is a market worth around Rs 70,000 crore. 

If we look at the market for yoga mats alone, it is worth around Rs 3000 crore. 

Since yoga apparel also has a big market, the startup wants to expand into it.

Shark Tank India Season 3: Got 4-Shark deal

WiseLife says that it generated a revenue of about Rs 12.5 lakh in 2020-21. 

In 2021-22, the company earned Rs 1.2 crore, which swelled to Rs 4 crore in 2022-23. 

The company is expecting to earn Rs 12 crore this year i.e. 2023-24. 

This startup placed a demand of Rs 60 lakh in exchange for 2 per cent equity on the valuation of Rs 30 crore in Shark Tank India. 

Ultimately, this startup received funding of Rs 1.2 crore at a valuation of Rs 30 crore. 

Aman Gupta, Anupam Mittal, Ritesh Aggarwal and Namita Thapar invested money in WestLife.