When Croffle Guys walked onto the Shark Tank India stage and closed a deal at a ₹100 crore valuation, it wasn’t just a funding moment,it was a cultural one. The brand, which introduced croffles to a largely unfamiliar Indian audience, opened the season with confidence, clarity, and a product that had already begun winning hearts long before television cameras turned on.

For Rahul Vinod Vohra, Annanya Agarwal, Amay Thakkar, and Veer Pinto, the journey began thousands of kilometres away in Thailand. A single bite of a croffle, crispy on the outside, buttery and flaky within, sparked an idea. To Indian palates, the texture felt instantly familiar, reminiscent of a well-made paratha. That familiarity, combined with the versatility of the product, convinced the founders that croffles could evolve into an entirely new bread category in India.

Back home, experimentation took over. Croffles were tested endlessly, with curries, desserts, chocolate, savoury toppings, and fusion flavours. The team ate their way through months of trials, gaining not just product insights but absolute conviction. What stood out was the croffle’s adaptability. It worked equally well as a dessert, a snack, or a meal companion. That flexibility became the foundation of the brand.

Cracking the Product: Trials, Dough Innovation & Shark Tank Confidence

Interestingly, none of the founders came from a traditional food background. Their collective experience spanned film, finance, consulting, and entrepreneurship. The food expertise came from within the team through Veer Pinto, the Chief Product Officer and a passionate home chef, supported in the early days by consulting chef Reshma Sanghi. Together, they cracked what would become Croffle Guys’ biggest differentiator, perfecting a dough that stayed crispy for hours while retaining its flaky, buttery layers, even during delivery.

Achieving that balance was no small feat. Countless machines, recipes, and processes were tested before the team locked the final product. In a category that sits between bread and pastry, precision mattered. Thousands of trials later, Croffle Guys found the sweet spot, and never looked back.

That confidence carried into Shark Tank India. The ₹100 crore valuation raised eyebrows, but it was rooted in revenue performance, growth projections, and industry benchmarks. Post-show, the brand’s revenue doubled, further validating the founders’ conviction. More importantly, the Sharks saw potential beyond numbers. Rahul and his team ultimately chose to partner with Kunal Bahl and Mohit Yadav, valuing their experience in scaling consumer brands and building data-driven expansion strategies through cloud kitchens.

Building a Brand, Not Just a Snack

While the product turned heads, it was the brand that truly set Croffle Guys apart. From vibrant café interiors to thoughtfully designed packaging, every touchpoint reflected intention. The cafés were designed as social spaces, places to linger, laugh, and connect. Music playlists were curated personally, colours were chosen to feel playful yet premium, and even the packaging carried brand personality through clever copy. For the founders, every surface was an opportunity to communicate who they were.

The brand’s first outlet launched in Santacruz, Mumbai, in May 2025, right next to established waffle brands. On day one, nobody knew what a Croffle was. That became the brand’s biggest challenge and its biggest opportunity. Instead of traditional education, Croffle Guys chose entertainment. By involving school students, building community-led content, and creating relatable social media storytelling, the brand turned curiosity into loyalty. Today, that early community remains one of its strongest growth engines.

Social media became a natural extension of the founders’ creative backgrounds. Rahul and Veer, both veterans of the film industry, applied storytelling principles to marketing. Their content didn’t just sell food—it sparked intrigue. As curiosity grew, so did searches on delivery platforms, pushing Croffle Guys into top discovery results on Swiggy and Zomato.

Scaling Happiness: Expansion Plans and the Road Ahead

Despite popular flavours like Nutella croffles gaining traction, the founders are clear that the hero product is not a flavour—it’s the croffle itself. The entire brand, from its name to its menu philosophy, revolves around that single product.

With two outlets already in Mumbai and a second launch completed in September 2025, Croffle Guys is now gearing up for national expansion. February will see the brand enter Delhi and Bengaluru through cloud kitchens, followed by physical outlets informed by data and demand. Over the next 12 to 18 months, the team aims to scale to over 50 outlets across India.

For now, the brand is sticking to company-owned stores to preserve quality, culture, and consistency. Franchise models may be explored later, but the focus remains on building a strong foundation.

At its core, Croffle Guys is driven by a simple goal, happiness. Whether it’s through a perfectly crisp bite or a reel that makes someone smile, the brand measures success in moments of joy. As Rahul puts it, Croffle Guys exists to make people happy—and that clarity may be its strongest ingredient yet.

Interview By : Arushi Agarwal