Shark Tank India Season 3: How an entrepreneur who makes eyewear from garbage-picked chip packets got Shark Tank India deal

Shark Tank India Season 3: Creativity knows no bounds; a sculptor carves out a state-of-the-art statue from a rough stone; an ironsmith mounds a raw iron sheet into a sharp sword; and a painter paints an appealing painting on blank paper. A creation that often leaves people awestruck often comes from neglected objects. And if an artist manages to do that, it proves his genius. In the same vein, when entrepreneur Anish Kishore Malpani saw plastic-made chip packets spoiling the environment, the creativity bug caught him.

He thought about two things: how he could use them to produce something meaningful, and how he could change the lives of the ragpickers who were picking those chip packets.

His grit to do something meaningful encouraged him to start a start-up called Without (Ashaya).

He used the launchpad to manufacture eyewear.

The startup was little known till it caught the eye at a place where it mattered—Shark Tank India Seasn 3.

His creation left Shark Tank India Season 3 judges impressed, and Malpani left the stage with Rs 75 lakh cheque by selling one per cent equity to Upgrade co-founder Ronnie Screwvala and Lenskart co-founder Piyush Bansal.

The deal was a validation of his dream and hard work that began when he left a lucrative job in the US and shifted to India.

Know the story of Anish Kishore Malpani, who exchanged his American dream for Indian ambition and created a startup that made him garner attention on a grand stage.

Shark Tank India Season 3: How Ashish's idea for startup started

Anish was born in India, but he left the country at nine along with his father, who got a job in Dubai.

Anish pursued schooling there, but he knew he needed a big platform to fulfil his dream.

So, he took admission in a sports management course from Texas University, America.

From there, he moved to New York in 2016, where he became a director of a company.

The job was good, and the salary was hefty, but a 9-to-5 job was not something he was content with.

He left India at a young age, but India never left him.

In America, he wondered what meaningful he could do for the lives of poor people in India.

The country was also emerging as a land of opportunity, and entrepreneurs from the top B-schools to the slums of Mumbai were rising to prominence with their innovative products and ideas.

Amid such a backdrop, Anish decided to move to India in December 2019.

He saw pollution as a big problem and waste management as an unexplored area.

He saw that there were 40 lakh people in India who worked as garbage collectors and earned their livelihood from it.

Anish says that even today, 50-80 percent of the waste is not treated.

In such a situation, he started research on how to increase the value of waste and improve the lives of ragpickers by increasing their income.

But when he did his research on waste, he realised that there was a lack of technology in this area, due to which a lot of waste was not recycled and the value of recycled waste did not increase.

When he turned his attention to chip packets and started his research on them, he noticed that chip packets were made of MLP, i.e., multi-layer plastic, and were literally impossible to recycle.

But he wanted a solution to this problem, so in February 2021, Anish started a lab in Pune and started doing research.

In his research on chip packets, he invented a technology through which all the layers of MLP could be separated.

In his pitch to Shark Tank India 3, Anish claimed that no one else in the world was using this technology and he wanted to patent it.

Shark Tank India Season 3: The world's 'first glasses' made from packets of chips

Anish could separate layers of MLP. But what would he do with that?

He tried to sell them, but who would buy them?

What would they make out of it?

Even a diamond is just a stone until it is cut into a beautiful piece.

Reality hit him hard, and he thought the solution should have come from him alone.

So, he decided to make some products.

Anish researched about 400 products and selected 70 of them.

Then about 27 parameters were created, all of which were tested.

In the end, it was concluded that sunglasses should be made from it.

He claims that these are the world's first glasses, which are made by recycling packets of chips.

He claims that his product is high quality, durable, lightweight, and recyclable.

Shark Tank India Season 3: Invention came at a price

A startup can be a riches-to-rags story too, and till an entrepreneur gets funding, all they rely on are their own earnings.

Ashish took a risk and invested his own earnings of about Rs 1.8 crore to start his business.

For this, he created a website.

He didn't have much knowledge of chemistry, so he hired a person with a PhD in chemistry.

Anish says that on February 1, 2021, he started working in the lab in Pune with two desks, two chairs, and some packets of chips.

Under this, he himself made a reactor, through which packets of chips are recycled and plastic pallets are made from them.

Anish claims that through this technology, you can recycle up to 90–95 per cent of the waste, which no one in the world has done till now.

Shark Tank India Season 3: What is the future plan?

Anish says that the problem of waste management will not end just by making sunglasses.

More than 15 lakh garbage collectors are living in poverty; their lives can be improved by giving them respectable work.

By 2030, he wants to hire 10-15 thousand garbage collectors so that he can get them out of poverty.

He estimates that by then, the company's revenue will be around Rs 3000 crore.

At the same time, he will be able to recycle up to 20,000 tonnes of waste every day.

Anish says that his startup is an impact-first startup, that wants to make a big impact.

More than a product company, he also wants to earn money like a partner.

He says if an eyeglass brand partners with them, then the customers of that brand will buy glasses while being happy with the fact that it is also improving the environment and reducing garbage collection.

He says his idea would also help alleviate poverty for some people. 

Shark Tank India Season 3: What is the earning and price of glasses?

Anish says that 500 of his sunglasses were sold in 6 days and 1000 were sold in 1 month.

The money earned from selling these will serve as oxygen for research.

Their glasses range from Rs 1000 to Rs 2500.

To make a bigger impact in the future, Anish is building an MLP recycling plant.

Currently, he recycles about 5-10 kg of MLP every day, but in the future, he wants to recycle 50-100 kg of MLP every day.

Shark Tank India Season 3: How much funding did he get?

In Shark Tank India 3, this startup offered Rs 75 lakh in exchange for 1 percent equity.

Before this, the company also received a grant of Rs 60 lakh from Unilever.

This startup has raised funding of Rs 4.9 crore at a cap of Rs 52 crore.

At the same time, a term sheet of funding of Rs 12 crore has been received at a valuation of about Rs 64 crore.

Anish believes that business will not run through charity; change can be brought about only by earning profits.

In his startup, Screwvala and Bansal together gave Rs 75 lakh in exchange for 3 per cent equity at a valuation of Rs 25 crore.