WOW STORY OF THE DAY: She Learned Crochet From Her Grandfather With ₹1,000 and Built a Brand That 1 Lakh Customers and Two Sharks Chose to Back

She started with ₹1,000 from her grandfather and a crochet hook she had learned to use as a teenager.

• No business school. No startup incubator. No seed funding application. Just a 20-year-old from Ludhiana sitting in a college hostel, making flowers by hand, and building something she believed every person in India deserved to give and receive.
• By the time she walked onto Shark Tank India's national stage, she had 1 lakh customers, 300-plus artisan women on her team, and the kind of clarity that left one of the Sharks saying it felt far beyond a campus pitch.

The Origin — A Grandfather, a Skill, and a Dream Built One Petal at a Time

• Vanshika Mittal is the face behind Floreal. What started as a skill learned from her grandfather and small art sales at 16 has now grown into a brand working with 300-plus artisan women across India. 
• Vanshika is a student of Lovely Professional University, and Floreal is a startup building a modern crochet floral gifting brand focused on curated flower arrangements and premium bouquet experiences. 
• She launched Floreal in January 2024. The idea was both simple and radical: replace mass-produced, forgettable gifts with handcrafted crochet flowers that last forever, carry the warmth of human hands in every stitch, and tell the recipient something that a store-bought bouquet simply cannot.
• Vanshika even made the bold call to leave college and pursue her venture full-time, backed by her family's belief in her vision. That decision, to choose building over a degree at 20, with ₹1,000 as her starting capital, is the kind of founding conviction that most entrepreneurs spend years trying to find.

The Strategic Genius — 300 Artisan Women, One Purpose-Driven Supply Chain

• The boldest decision Vanshika made was the one that gave Floreal its most powerful differentiator and its most meaningful mission simultaneously: she built her entire production model around economically marginalised women artisans.
• During her Shark Tank pitch, Vanshika showcased a diverse range of products including bouquets, pots, and keychains, all meticulously crafted by a team of over 300 artisan women. Operating from a dedicated warehouse with a core team of 25, she highlighted Floreal's strong digital presence, boasting a community of over 57,800 Instagram followers and a customer base exceeding 1 lakh lifetime customers since launching sales in 2024. 
• In a gifting market dominated by fresh flowers that wilt in three days and plastic bouquets that end up in landfills, Floreal offered something that neither category could match: a handcrafted crochet flower that lasts a lifetime, carries the story of the woman who made it, and arrives with an emotional resonance that no factory-produced gift can replicate.
• Floreal experienced rapid growth through a combination of its own website and quick commerce channels. The brand also attracted a 1,000-unit Lohri order from Pratham Mittal even before the Shark Tank episode aired, a real-world validation that preceded the national broadcast.

The Shark Tank Moment — A Campus Special That Proved Age Is Irrelevant

• Started by Vanshika Mittal from Ludhiana, Floreal appeared on the Campus Special episode of Shark Tank India Season 5 Episode 52. The 20-year-old started her journey with a mere ₹1,000 from her grandfather and today has built this company all by herself, wanting it to be the only choice of customers for all occasions. 
• Entering the Tank, Vanshika initially sought ₹1 crore for 3% equity, placing the company's valuation at ₹33.33 crore. Despite the high initial valuation, the brand's strong growth trajectory and healthy margins attracted the Sharks. Investors Pratham Mittal and Mohit Yadav ultimately closed the deal, investing ₹1 crore for 8% equity, valuing Floreal at ₹12.5 crore. 
• Kunal Bahl noted during the episode that the pitch felt far beyond a campus presentation. Coming from the co-founder of Snapdeal and one of India's most experienced startup investors, that observation was more than a compliment. It was a recognition that Floreal had already crossed the threshold from college project to genuine scalable business.
• Pratham Mittal, who backed both Floreal and Two Words Away on the same episode, said: "Founders like Vanshika showed clarity and intent at an early stage, which is critical in shaping strong businesses. Backing such founders is ultimately about identifying individuals who are committed to solving real problems and can translate that into meaningful outcomes." 
• Vanshika's own reflection captured the journey perfectly: "Floreal started as a small dream with just ₹1,000 from my grandfather and a skill passed down by him, but standing on the Shark Tank India stage made me realise how far that dream can go. The experience was overwhelming yet incredibly validating, especially hearing the Sharks appreciate both our vision and execution." 

Scale and The Road Ahead

• Floreal enters its next phase with ₹1 crore in fresh capital, two of India's most commercially sharp investors on the cap table, and a production model that scales impact alongside revenue. Every new order places another handcrafted creation in the hands of a customer and another income-generating opportunity in the hands of an artisan woman.
• The Indian gifting market, estimated at over ₹1.5 lakh crore and growing at a healthy CAGR, is ripe for a brand that combines craft, purpose, and premium positioning. Floreal sits at the intersection of all three, with a founder who has already built 1 lakh customers at 20 and a mission that gives the brand a reason to exist that no competitor can copy.

The Business Lesson — When the Product Has Soul, the Market Feels It

• The sharpest lesson from Vanshika Mittal's journey is this: the most powerful products are the ones that carry something intangible alongside the tangible, a story, a hand, a memory, a purpose.
• Floreal sells crochet flowers. But what customers are actually buying is permanence in a world of perishables, human touch in a world of mass production, and the knowledge that the gift in their hands was made by a woman who was paid fairly for a skill she has spent years perfecting.
• That combination, craft plus commerce plus community, is the architecture of a brand with genuine longevity. And it was built by a 20-year-old from Ludhiana with ₹1,000 and her grandfather's hands guiding her own.
• She started with a hook and a thread. She built 1 lakh customers, 300 artisan women, and a Shark Tank deal. The thread, it turns out, was always connected to something much larger than a flower.

Source: Filmibeat, StartupTalky, Indian Retailer, Snapdeal Blog, Local Samosa