Committed And Ghosted: Why Young Founders Are Losing Faith In Shark Tank India?

Committed And Ghosted: Why Young Founders Are Losing Faith In Shark Tank India?

SUMMARY

Many participants of Shark Tank India told Inc42 that the Sharks have deliberately delayed investments under various pretexts

Founders have alleged the Sharks of being impolite in person and deriding their business models after promising investments on air

In the absence of documentation or agreements of the deals, the troubled participants may find it difficult to seek a legal recourse

Shraddha and Mohit (names changed) always had a penchant for building startups. The couple from a tier II city had experimented with a few ideas before zeroing in on the beauty industry in 2021. Their idea was to introduce reasonably priced beauty tools for the price-sensitive Indian customer.Interestingly, one year down the line, there’s no funding, and all they have is an unmet, on-air commitment from Sharks to invest in their business. Months of preparation for Shark Tank India and the subsequent wait for funding have cost them dearly, the duo told Inc42.In the past few weeks, many Shark Tank India Season 1 and 2 participants told us that the Sharks have been deliberately delaying investments under various pretexts. A WhatsApp group made by these participants, which Inc42 was also given access to, testifies their sorry state.“We did understand that we may have to pitch our business model and financials, and the Sharks would conduct due diligence. We also shared all the documents requested by one of the Sharks who has an office in Mumbai. After months of dilly-dallying, we were finally called to meet the Shark in Mumbai who outrightly called our business model flawed and said there was no market for the services we offer,” the contestant, who appeared on Shark Tank Season 2, said.“My venture was at the minimum viable product stage, and I needed some early funding to test the product in a few markets. Almost all the Sharks present on the show liked my idea, and I was able to bag a funding commitment from one of the sharks,” Jain told Inc42.“Before we appear on TV, we are trained for months to look interesting on TV. The participants who lack flamboyance do not get aired,” the founders said.“They won’t even react to your questions after the broadcast because they work closely with the Sharks,” one Shark Tank India winner quoted above said.“It is either a Yes or a No. No in-betweens or prolonged delays like India,” he added.“If the Sharks have not followed up on their words, why would an average investor be confident about our business? The least we expect from the Sharks is mentorship and network opportunities, even if they have failed to keep their promises,” she said.

In 2022, the duo found the perfect platform to pitch this business idea — Shark Tank India. Their goal was to raise more than INR 50 Lakh for a certain percentage of equity in their startup. Their pitch showed how their venture had achieved scale after product testing and garnered promising sales on multiple ecommerce platforms. As expected, the Sharks were impressed.

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