Project Clay, co-founded by 19-year-olds Dyumna Madan and Shivom Sood, is a mentorship platform connecting students with university mentors using an “elder sibling” approach. With 300+ vetted mentors across 10+ countries, it has grown 65% in five months. On Shark Tank India 4, they pitched for ₹15 lakh for 10% equity, valuing the company at ₹1.5 crore. Namita Thapar was impressed and accepted their ask, praising Dyumna’s confidence and potential as a young entrepreneur. In an exclusive conversation with Times Of India TV, Dyumna got candid about her experience in the tank.
It was a surreal experience
It was honestly surreal, we couldn’t believe that we had come so far. Since we have been building it for four years, 3 and a half years went on where we saw not really any track and we were chasing after people not really knowing whether it would actually become a business. But we were passionate about it so when the Shark Tank happened, I remember when I was submitting the application with every step I felt ‘hoga thodi’ but it happened.
Sharks’ approach towards young entrepreneurs
From the sharks, they have been really supportive. Shark Tank India as a whole has been very supportive towards young entrepreneurs. The sharks gave us great constructive criticism. We really appreciated that they didn’t treat us as kids.
Peyush’s advice
Peyush mentioned partnering up with schools, we were already trying to do D2C and we are trying to act on the shark’s advice. We are trying to build a B2B relationship with the schools and moving towards bringing growth to our business.
Namita’s guidance and investment due diligence
We have been in contact with the team and the process is on with Namita. One important thing was she was one of the sharks whose child recently went through the process. As a parent, she understands what the child needs. It’s an adult perspective with a business mind. She understands the problem and in terms of execution, she could turn our 4 years struggle into 1 year by sharing where our obvious pitfalls were. And what we should avoid and strategic partnerships and get her advice on how we can 10x our business.
