Short Description: Shark Tank India 5 startup Gully Labs merges Indian heritage with footwear fashion, securing a ₹1 crore deal with Aman Gupta and proving culture is a powerful global business strategy.
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Main Article: Gully Labs: Turning Indian Cultural Heritage into a Global Footwear Empire
In a standout pitch on Shark Tank India Season 5, Gully Labs demonstrated that storytelling is the new currency of branding. Founded in late 2023 by Animesh Mishra and Arjun Singh, this startup creates handcrafted sneakers and shoes that are canvases for Indian culture. Their designs feature motifs from Bharatanatyam dance bells to Olympic themes, transforming everyday footwear into vibrant, wearable art. The Shark Tank India 5 founders argued that India’s rich tapestry of stories presents a massive, untapped opportunity to build iconic global brands, moving beyond borrowing trends from the West to exporting its own narrative. This vision of a cultural startup immediately captivated the sharks.
Driven by Arjun’s experience at JP Morgan in Australia and Animesh’s consulting background, Gully Labs was born from a key realization: while Western brands monetize centuries-old heritage, India’s living culture was underleveraged in the fashion space. They started with just two artisans and a social media page, scaling to nearly 100 artisans and 50 corporate employees today. The business funding journey has been ambitious; the founders entered the tank seeking ₹1 crore for a mere 0.5% equity, implying a bold ₹200 crore valuation. After intense negotiations, they secured the investment from Aman Gupta at a slightly diluted 0.57% equity, a testament to the sharks’ belief in their model.
Financially, Gully Labs illustrates both the rapid growth and challenges of a capital-intensive, design-first brand. Revenue exploded from ~₹20 lakhs in FY 2023-24 to ₹2.9 crore the next year, albeit with a ₹1 crore loss. Sales for FY 2025-26 have already hit ₹9 crore, though losses persist at ~₹3 crore. With a quarter of sales coming from overseas and their physical stores reaching breakeven, the path to sustainable entrepreneurship is becoming clearer. The Aman Gupta investment will fuel their expansion beyond footwear into apparel and accessories, aiming to evolve from a footwear label into a full-fledged global lifestyle brand.
Short Summary:
Gully Labs’ success on Shark Tank India underscores a potent market thesis: authentic cultural narrative is a scalable business. By embedding Indian art and stories into premium, handcrafted footwear, they’ve attracted a global audience and venture capital interest. Aman Gupta’s investment validates their vision, providing capital to scale manufacturing, expand product lines, and take their unique blend of heritage and fashion worldwide.
