Sharks invest in 27 out of 65 committed deals; Namita Thapar leads, Anupam Mittal lags

Of the total 65 investment commitments made during Shark Tank India Season 1, only 27 deals were ultimately honoured, according to a recent analysis by PrivateCircle Research. 

As of July 12, 2023, the updated data reveals that among the seven sharks, Namita Thapar, Executive Director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals, has fulfilled the highest percentage of investment commitments at 59 per cent. In Season 1, she made a commitment to invest in 22 companies, and 13 of those companies have made investment filings. Anupam Mittal, founder and CEO of People Group, had the lowest investment percentage among the Sharks, having invested in only seven out of 24 committed deals, resulting in a fulfilment rate of 29 percent. 

The findings have brought attention to a mounting concern, with numerous entrepreneurs accusing the Sharks of delaying the fulfilment of agreed-upon transactions.  

Apart from Thapar and Mittal, Sharks or judges in Season 1 of the entrepreneurial reality show included Ashneer Grover (Co-founder of BharatPe), Peyush Bansal (Founder of Lenskart), Aman Gupta (Co-founder of boAt Lifestyle), Ghazal Alagh (Co-founder of Mamaearth), Vineeta Singh (Co-founder of SUGAR Cosmetics).    

Alagh came second in the list, fulfilling 57 per cent of commitments. Gupta fulfilled 43 per cent of his commitments, Singh invested in 40 per cent of the bets she made on the show, Grover fulfilled 38 per cent of his commitments, and Bansal honoured 33 per cent.  

In value terms, sharks collectively made commitments of Rs 40 crore in 65 companies during Season 1. Of this, a total of Rs 17 crore was invested across 27 start-ups till July 12. Individually, Thapar invested the highest amount of Rs 7 crore, whereas Ghazal made the lowest investment of Rs 40 lakh. It should be noted that Ghazal’s participation in the show was limited to only a couple of episodes.  

Thapar surpassed her initial commitment by investing around Rs 7 crore in 13 start-ups, exceeding her overall commitment of about Rs 6 crore for 22 start-ups during the first season.  

Gupta of boAt Lifestyle invested Rs 3 crore while Mittal, Grover, and Bansal invested Rs 2 crore each. Singh invested Rs 1 crore across the six companies she committed to, the report said.   

However, Grover contested these numbers on Twitter and said he has invested Rs 2.95 crore across 11 deals, placing him second in terms of the value or amount of investments. He has also published the data on the companies and investment amounts.

The private market intelligence firm arrived at these conclusions by analysing the Ministry of Corporate Affair filings made by the Shark Tank companies.

“Our findings show that some deals committed on the show may have fallen through because of concerns in company due diligence. Also, some start-ups seem to have passed on the Shark Tank deal to raise funding at higher valuations from other investors,” Sumanjan Kumar, Lead Financial Analyst at PrivateCircle, said.    

Out of a total of 117 start-ups that participated in Shark Tank Season 1, 65 start-ups received deal commitments during the show. Notably, two rejected companies (Agri Tourism and Jhaji Achaar) got investments from Sharks after the show.

In Season 2, which concluded in March 2023, a total of 166 companies pitched on the show, of which 115 secured deal commitments. However, as of now, only one start-up has made investment filings. As per the report, it is likely that due diligence is still pending for the Season 2 companies, and it is anticipated that more start-ups will receive committed funding in the upcoming months.    

The report also found that six start-ups that have declined offered deals on the show have raised funding at a higher valuation from other investors. Similarly, 10 companies that did not get a deal from Sharks in Season 1 raised fresh funding at higher valuations than their original ask on the show.