Being judged as unfeasible by Shark Binh, the “golden 4.0” startup left empty-handed

Hana Ngo said that when she was 5-6 years old, she saw the image of her grandmother, the mother who spends every little bit of money every month to buy accumulated gold at the end of the month. That made her intent on how to make it easier for Vietnamese people to accumulate gold. Therefore, HanaGold was born.

According to the introduction of the female founder, HanaGold is a jewelry store chain that applies 4.0 technology in management and business. There, customers can buy accumulated gold online (online) from only 100,000 VND and receive gold offline (directly) at HanaGold stores or franchised stores nationwide. In addition, HanaGold also built a 4.0 jewelry store model with an investment of 500 million VND. HanaGold currently has 100 models of gold jewelry products that have been copyrighted. It is expected to increase to 1,000 samples in the near future.

Explaining in more detail about her model, Hana Ngo said that this is a form of deposit to buy gold. HanaGold builds a website and mobile application for customers to recharge and buy accumulated gold from only 100,000 VND. When I have enough 1 point, I will go to HanaGold’s gold shop to receive physical gold.

In response to the question of Shark Hung and Shark Hung Anh about how when the price of gold fluctuates, Hana Ngo said that the gold price will be calculated at the time of purchase. The balance of cash flow when the gold price is different between the time of purchase and delivery of gold is the responsibility of Hana Gold.

This makes Shark Hung concerned about risks. “I bought gold from you at the moment, the price is nearly 70 million. After 7 months, when I received it, at that time, when I reached 100 million, I did not have money to buy physical gold to pay him, “Shark Hung expressed.

Answering Shark Phu’s question about the business situation, the female founder said that HanaGold was established in 2020 and currently has 3 stores. The startup currently has more than 15,000 customers using the mobile application. Of which, about 30% have purchased goods.

In response to questions from Sharks about ensuring responsibility for buyers if they go bankrupt, Hana Ngo said that HanaGold currently has a mechanism for setting up a reserve fund like banks. The problem, she said, is “in trust”.

However, this explanation did not receive the agreement of the Sharks. “In the principle of investment, especially financial investment, the new mechanism is important. Of course, there must be trust, but believing is believing in the mechanism, ie not cheating, not lying, not believing in a specific individual”, Shark Hung analyzed.

When the Sharks thought that the business model was too risky, Hana Ngo stated that if the new model had no risk, there would be no progress.

Talking about the financial picture, Hana Ngo said that the charter capital of the enterprise is 10 billion from 3 shareholders. Hana Ngo currently holds 60% of the shares. The total cost since its establishment in 2020 until now has used up 7 billion. In terms of revenue, in 2020 and 2021 alone, businesses will be “frozen”. Revenue in the first quarter of 2022 ranges from VND 500 million to VND 1 billion.

The female founder said that HanaGold is not only a tool for management, but it is also a place for many people to participate and they can make profits and make money here. Talking about the jewelry store franchise model, Hana Ngo said anyone in need can invest with a capital of only 500 million dong.

When Shark Binh wondered if the number 500 million could show a few pieces of gold, Hana Ngo said that’s what HanaGold can do while other jewelers can’t.

As the first person to close the deal, Shark Lien believes that the startup’s business model is extremely risky. That’s why she doesn’t invest in startups.

Agreeing with Shark Lien, Shark Hung Anh also refused to invest and advised the startup to review its model.

Shark Hung analyzed that the rise and fall of gold prices will affect the startup’s decision at the time of handing over gold to customers because then there may be an imbalance with the collected cash flow. Moreover, gold shop franchises add another intermediary risk when the startup delivers the gold to the franchise store and then delivers it to the customer, while the money is collected by the startup. Therefore, Shark Hung also refused to invest in startups.

Shark Binh also thinks that the franchise model offered by the startup is not feasible. In addition, the tokenization of the purchase of gold is facing legal problems. He believes that 4.0 or technology is not a magic wand and there are still businesses that cannot be changed. Because he did not believe in the successful future of the business model, he decided not to invest in the startup.

Shark Phu analyzed that the gold-selling startup has been preparing for 2 years, deploying for 3 months, but the revenue is only 1 billion is a problem. It shows that customers do not yet trust the business. “No one knew about me, I forced people to give money first for me to keep, and then I declared, ‘I have a secret to balance it, I have a backup’… For example, the State Bank makes a provision, the bank Commercial banks must be kept by the State Bank in order to have a backup meaning. But I have a backup in the safe, if I pull out the safe tomorrow, it is not a backup,” Shark Phu analyzed. Assessing that the business model of the startup is difficult to succeed, Shark Phu also decided not to invest.