Lickcious Appeared on Shark Tank… but one call changed everything.

Yes, you heard that right.
Lickcious had reached Shark Tank India Season 5
The pitch was done, the cameras had rolled, and even the deal had already happened with Anupam Mittal.

It was one of those moments that could have changed everything for a young brand.
But then, one call changed everything.

That call wasn’t about celebration.

It was about their episode not going live.

Instead of hearing about their air date, they were told that their segment would not be included in the final broadcast due to editorial decisions.

And just like that, a story that had already been filmed… was never fully seen.

Because what they were building was never going to be easy in the first place.

Why Building In A Taboo Market Is the Toughest Startup Decision

In India, some businesses are difficult not because the market is small, but the real challenge lies in how uncomfortable people still feel talking about them.

While many founders choose safer categories to build in, a few decide to step into spaces where awareness is still low and acceptance takes time.
People may need it, yet very few are truly comfortable talking about it openly.

This is one such story.
Not just of a brand, but of the belief, risk, and effort it takes to build in a category where most of the people would never even dare to touch.

And maybe that’s what makes this story even more interesting the way they brought it to people’s attention, not softly, but with the kind of bold, on-ground hustle that is hard to ignore.

The Kind of Promotion That Felt Less Like Marketing and More Like “We Have to Make This Work”

There are some brands you notice because of their product.
And then there are some that stay with you because of the effort behind them.

I have seen many brands market themselves.
But very few have made me stop and think,
"Yeh log sach me kitna effort daal rahe hain"

And that is exactly what happened here.

Before Valentine’s Day, the founder apparently set himself an ambitious challenge: to make 1 lakh people aware of the brand in just 14 days. He explored many ideas, but these three were the ones I liked the most.

1.Auto Campaign

With posters, a loudspeaker, and that full “nayi cheez market me aayi hai” energy.

They took the brand out on the road like an announcement people were not supposed to miss.

Almost like the way fairs are announced in small towns.

And honestly, at that time, not everyone would have reacted to it the same way.
A few aunties gave those classic confused looks.
Some people may have found it funny.
Some may have thought it was “too much.”
And some were probably just standing there thinking,
“Yeh kya naya dekh liya?”

Because in a country where even sanitary pads are still handed over wrapped in newspaper, doing this kind of open, unapologetic marketing was not a small thing at all.

Honestly, bravo. 

2.Crash The Wedding

While they were following this challenge, the wedding season had also arrived in town, and instead of ignoring that, they turned it into an opportunity.

So, one night, they stepped out with the same mission in mind.
And any wedding they spotted around the city became a place they showed up.

Not to eat, not to attend, and definitely not to be part of the guest list.

They went straight to the parking areas of wedding venues and placed their pamphlets on cars, one by one.

3.Newspaper Stunt

One morning, they did something even more unexpected. They printed 1000 pamphlets to be distributed with newspapers in the early morning.
And out of those, 50+ homes were personally covered by the founder himself.

It was a cold morning.

The streets were still sleepy, but they made sure the brand reached doorsteps before the city had even properly woken up.

This is the side of startup life that rarely gets noticed.

Everyone talks about the funding headline.
Very few talk about the founder folding pamphlets before sunrise.
And that is what made their marketing stand out. It did not feel polished; it felt personal.

Also Read

How a Purpose-Driven Brand Unlocked The Hidden Benefits Of Purified Water For Skin 

Before We Go Further, Let’s Talk About the Founder

The founder of this brand, Ishan Jindal, comes from an engineering background and graduated from IIT Delhi.

Even during his college years, he was actively building projects and experimenting with ideas.

One of the notable projects he worked on was an app called Safely Home, designed to automatically detect emergencies and help save lives. The project received a lot of attention.

Entrepreneurship, clearly, was not a sudden career choice for him. It had been a part of his journey from the very beginning.

After college, he did not jump into startup life immediately. 

Instead, he worked as an investment analyst in the angel investing ecosystem, where he got to closely see how startups are built, funded, scaled, and positioned. 

The Wobb AI Story

In 2019, Ishan spotted another growing space, influencer marketing. At that time, the industry in India was expanding quickly, but it still lacked structure.

Brands were facing trust issues, struggling to discover the right creators, dealing with unclear pricing, and managing campaigns in a very unstructured way.

In short, the space had potential, but not enough system.

Seeing that gap, he built Wobb AI.

A self-serve platform created to make influencer marketing easier, more organised, and far more scalable for brands.

Instead of relying completely on agencies, brands could use the platform to discover influencers, create campaigns, and manage collaborations much more smoothly.

One thing was becoming clear: he was someone who naturally leaned towards solving messy and overlooked problems.

And once you understand the kind of founder he was, the rest of his journey starts feeling different, too.

What This Story Taught Me

One of the most emotional parts of this journey, at least for me as a viewer, was what happened around Shark Tank. It feels deeply personal.

So many thoughts kept running through my mind.

“Was that really fair?”
“After trying this hard, it should not have ended like that.”

And for a few days, I felt a little lost in that feeling.

Because when you really see their journey, how raw it was, how real it felt, and how much effort had gone into it, it stops feeling like just another founder story.

You do not just read it.
You actually feel it.

As a Brand Story Writer, I have noticed this about myself.

I do not usually write about things just because they are trending. I write about stories that leave something behind in me.
A thought, a feeling, or a lesson.

And this story quietly did.

It made me realise that things do not always happen the way we expect.
A setback is not always the end; sometimes it is just life changing your direction.

NOTE - Image Source from LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ishanjindal/

Disclaimer: This blog is part of Passion to Progression (P2P), where we share real-life brand stories, underrated brands, and authentic business journeys based on our own research and storytelling. It does not include any paid promotions; all content is independently created to provide genuine insights into brand storytelling and startup growth. Any future collaborations will always be transparently disclosed.