Shark Tank India: Know the Secrets of the Sharks

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Shark Tank India is back with its 2nd season and people seem to love it even more. The Indian franchise of the American show, Shark Tank, has been a hit because of its uniqueness. 

So, what is Shark Tank India?

If you don’t know already, Shark tank India is a business reality show that promotes homegrown startups. New entrepreneurs pitch their business idea to the 5 judges, if interested the judges invest in their ventures in exchange for a certain amount of equity. In the second season, the biggest change is in the Shark panel. Businessperson and last year’s Shark Ashneer Grover is not a part of the latest season. Amit Jain, the founder of Car Dekho has replaced Grover as the 5th Shark. Veterans like Vineeta Singh (of Sugar Cosmetics), Anupam Mittal (of Shaadi.com), Ghazal Alagh (of Mamaearth), Namita Thapar (of Emcure Pharma), Aman Gupta (of Boat), and Piyush Bansal (of Lenskart) complete the Shark panel for the 2nd season. 

Like in the first season, the show’s second season has gone viral because the ultra-wealthy judges are entrepreneurs themselves. However, recently a LinkedIn user put some light on how the Sharks are running in losses. Ankit Uttam, a successful and popular author recently took to LinkedIn to talk about how this show did not work for him. Additionally, his viral blog post pointed out that the Indian sharks do not have profitable businesses, unlike the US counterpart, which has all the judges working for themselves. 

“In the US version of the show, every judge (Barbara Corcoran, Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec, Daymond John, and Kevin O’Leary) is running businesses that actually turn a profit instead of riding on VC money or drowning in huge losses.”- wrote the 10 times Amazon best-selling author. Several users commented on Ankit’s claims in his post, so he provided the sources for the data he used in his research. So, let’s dive into the details a little deeper, shall we? 

According to reports, Sugar Cosmetics, the beauty brand by shark Vineeta Singh, faced Rs. 75 Cr in FY22. Her company similarly reported a loss of Rs. 21.1 Cr in FY21. Ashneer Grover, the former shark, lost his job after BharatPe suffered a total loss of Rs 5,594 crores in FY 2022 under his leadership! “Vineeta Singh’s SUGAR Cosmetics reported a loss of Rs. 75 Cr in FY22 up from Rs. 21.1 Cr in the fiscal year FY21. Ghazal Alagh’s Mamaearth for the first time since inception posted a profit for FY22 at Rs. 14.44 Cr after suffering losses of Rs. 1,332 crores in FY21 and ₹428 crores in FY20. So the company has just lately begun turning profitable.”- said Ankit in his blog post. It’s hard to believe the numbers, but they’re true!

Anupam Mittal is the owner of brands like Shaadi. com, Makaan.com, Mauj Mobile. However, apart from Shaadi.com, none of the companies are making enough profit or have gone obsolete. In fact, even Shaadi’s financials are unknown to the general public, except for the one regarding its potential IPO in 2009 that may or may not happen. Did you know, Namita Thapar did not start Emcure Pharma but her father did?  Shocking, right? Her story even reminded Ankit of that of Bollywood’s Ananya Pandey, a story probably tinged with nepotism?

Lenskart, the eyewear brand by another shark Peyush Bansal, reported a loss of a whopping R.s 102.3 Cr in FY22! Co-founder of CarDekho, Amit Jain is the latest addition to the shark panel. His car-service business reportedly faced a loss of ₹246.5 crores in the FY 2021-22. Ankit helped the audience to see the true potential of the sharks with his elaborated research. Despite taking digs at sharks with significantly questionable financial reports, the author gave credit where it is due. “Aman Gupta’s Boat is the only company that has been profitable since its inception.”- wrote Ankit. 

Conclusion-

Shark Tank India is an unique tv-show that inspires people to follow their passion and start their ventures. The concept of the show is really motivational. However, after Ankit’s LinkedIn post went viral, the question remains, are these sharks really capable of helping other businesses? When their own companies suffer enormous losses, do they have the capability to launch another startup? Sony TV airs Shark Tank India’s second season from Monday to Friday at 9 pm, hosted by comedian Rahul Dua. For more information on Shark Tank India season 2, keep watching!

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