Shark Tank India falls brief on funding pledges

Over a 12 months following the inaugural season of the Indian version of Shark Tank, the seven esteemed traders made good on lower than half of their funding pledges, in line with a brand new evaluation, the newest in a series of criticisms for the present.

The “sharks” general invested in solely 27 of the 65 funding pledges proven on the TV present, market intelligence agency PrivateCircle mentioned. The sharks dedicated $4.87 million to the startups, however had solely invested about $2 million as of final week, PrivateCircle mentioned. The agency reached its conclusion by combing via company filings, it mentioned. The evaluation didn’t embody debt investments.

The outlook seems much more precarious for the second season of Shark Tank India, which concluded in March of this present 12 months. Regardless of the panel of sharks promising 115 offers, solely a single funding has been disclosed to the native ministry.

A few {qualifications} are essential, to make certain. There’s a distinct chance that a number of investments should still be present process the due diligence course of. Moreover, ongoing technical glitches on the ministry’s web site could possibly be a believable clarification for the sparse disclosure figures.

Sony Community India, the broadcaster of Shark Tank in India, declined to remark Tuesday.

“Our findings present that some offers dedicated on the present might have fallen via due to considerations in firm due diligence. Additionally some startups appear to have handed on the Shark Tank deal to lift funding at larger valuations from different traders,” mentioned Sumanjan Kumar, Lead Monetary Analyst at PrivateCircle, in an announcement.

The brand new evaluation is the newest criticism for the present, which Sony estimates has reached over 250 million folks. Some startups that appeared on the India model Shark Tank have criticized the present in latest months, saying many traders ghosted them after promising a deal on the TV.

Anupam Mittal, who based Shaadi.com and serves as one of many traders on Shark Tank India, defended the present in a latest LinkedIn submit, saying that 66% of the offers offered through the present’s inaugural season had been efficiently executed, a determine he claimed surpasses that of its U.S. counterpart. Most offers take three to 6 months to materialize, he mentioned.

Aman Gupta, co-founder of the buyer electronics model Boat and in addition an investor on Shark Tank India, additionally defended the present, saying that many entrepreneurs desire to both negotiate the funding deal or decline it completely after the telecast.

PrivateCircle’s evaluation corroborated the declare, noting that at the least six startups handed on their Shark Tank offers and pursued funding from completely different set of traders at larger valuations.