Tagz Foods Update | Shark Tank India Season 1
Tagz Foods manufactures popped potato chips with 50 per cent less fat, international gourmet dips and a range of centre-filled cookies. The company was founded in 2019 by Anish Basu Roy and Sagar Bhalotia in Bengaluru with a mission to help urban Gen Z consumers eat healthy and lead a more active lifestyle. Roy realized that the Indian market was quite a few years behind the West when it comes to healthy snacks or packaged food and found it appalling that India’s consumers did not have anything fit to replace fried fatty snacks, which led to TagZ.
Tagz Foods on Shark Tank India Season 1
They appeared on the second episode of the first season in which three Sharks competed to invest in them. The sharks present were Ashneer Grover, Namita Thapar, Aman Gupta, Anupam Mittal, and Vineeta Singh.
| Ask | Valuation | Deal | Season | Sharks Present |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ₹70 lakhs for 1% equity | ₹70 crores | Yes – ₹70 lakhs for 2.75% equity from Ashneer Grover | Season 1 | Ashneer Grover, Namita Thapar, Aman Gupta, Anupam Mittal, Vineeta Singh |
The Pitch
They kick-started their pitch by urging the Sharks to consider a shift away from oil-based snacks, highlighting how many chip companies rely on this method. In 2020, they had a revenue of ₹1.25 crores with 60% sales via online channels. At the time of the pitch, they boasted a run rate of around 7 crore, a significant increase from the previous year’s 1.25 crore. They have sold about 35 lakhs packets between 2019-2021.
Before this, Tagz Foods also got funding in 2020 from 9 Unicorns, a startup incubator of Venture Catalysts. Other investors include Arjun Vaidya and Umag Bedi. $1 Million is already invested in the startup before Shark Tank. Their unique selling point is that their chips are made with 50% less oil and are compressed under high pressure, proudly sporting the tagline ‘Never Fried Never Baked.’ Tagz Foods offers a range of 6 chip flavors and 4 dip varieties available in over 2,000 retail stores and more than 30 online platforms.
What the Sharks Said
All the sharks were impressed by the taste of Tagz chips and dips. Sharks drew a comparison between Tagz Foods and Virat Kohli’s Too Yumm brand. In response, the entrepreneurs emphasized that their chips are created using a completely new method, and the machinery required isn’t even available in India. Anupam was the first to exit the negotiations, expressing concerns about scalability and valuation. Vineeta praised the product and packaging but didn’t align with the vision of going direct-to-consumer, leading her to opt out as well. Aman and Namita jointly offered 70 lakhs for a 4% stake in the company. After some deliberation, they returned with a counteroffer of 70 lakhs for a 2.5% stake. Aman and Namita countered with 3%, while Ashneer offered 70 lakhs for a 2.75% stake. Ashneer then came to their rescue! In the end, Ashneer Grover closed the deal for 2.75% equity with ₹70 lakhs funding.
What Happened After
While Grover wrote a cheque on the start-up pitching show Shark Tank India, Thapar, who is also one of the ‘Sharks’ on the show, invested in TagZ Foods immediately after the show for an undisclosed amount. TagZ Foods has raised $2 million funding in a Pre-Series A round led by 9 Unicorns, Dexter Angels, Agility Ventures, Venture Catalysts, Klub, Indifi and Rannvijay Singha. In FY23, TagZ Foods reported a 2.5X revenue jump to INR23 crore (US$2.7 million) from INR8.97 crore (US$1.08 million) in FY22. Namita Shared on her Socials that the company’s revenue has grown 8X and margins have improved to 22% and they have expanded their distribution to 12,000 Stores across country.
The D2C brand halted production a few months ago as it was struggling to scale its business. Reliance Consumer Products is acquiring D2C snacking startup TagZ Foods for INR 28 Cr ($3.5 Mn) in what seems like a distress sale. The startup reported a net loss of INR 10.7 Cr on an operating revenue of INR 9.6 Cr in FY23.
Current Status (2024)
| Revenue | Funding Raised | Website |
|---|---|---|
| ₹26.7 crore (2025) | $3.09M total | Acquired by Reliance |
Tagz Foods got acquired by Reliance Consumer Products on Nov 13, 2024 in a distress sale for ₹28 crore following operational challenges and halted production.