Shark Tank India Season 2: CarDekho co-founder Amit Jain replaces Ashneer Grover

Shark Tank India is back with its second edition and has a new line-up for this season. Former BharatPe founder Ashneer Grover, who was a significant part of Season 1, has been dropped and in his place, CarDekho Group, InsuranceDekho.com co-founder and CEO Amit Jain has been roped in. The new shark was unveiled in a promo shared by Sony Entertainment Television on Tuesday.

As of now, Season 2 is scheduled to return with the first season’s popular faces: Anupam Mittal (founder and CEO of Shaadi.com – People Group), Aman Gupta (co-Founder and CMO of boAt), Namita Thapar (executive director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals), Vineeta Singh (co-founder and CEO of SUGAR Cosmetics) and Peyush Bansal (founder and CEO of Lenskart.com).  

Also read: ‘Bhai kya kar raha hai tu’: Ashneer Grover's absence from Shark Tank 2 disappoints fans

Jaipur-based Jain is the only new entrant on the show. Jain, who is an alumnus of IIT Delhi, started off with his brother in 2006, when he turned his garage into a makeshift office and launched software outsourcing company GirnarSoft.  

In 2008, both brothers visited the 2008 Auto Expo in New Delhi, following which they thought they can float a platform like CarDekho. In his own words, Jain said: “Our goal was to leverage technology and provide the best-in-class car buying or selling experience to the users. We set up a portal where people could come to find the right information and review cars before making the decision of buying.” 

They founded CarDekho in 2008 and in 7 years, turned profitable. The company secured Series-A funding of $15 million in 2013. At present, the company is valued at $1.2 billion. 

As per Jain’s profile on LinkedIn, his new auto business under CarDekho Group is a market leader, which has over 3,500 new car dealerships in India. The used auto business is also one of the fastest-growing players in the industry and is in present in 20+ markets.  

Shark Tank India became very popular overnight largely because of the friendly nature of the judges in Season 1. Their banter and hilarious one-liners ended up becoming meme moments, which went viral for months. The entrepreneurship-based reality show’s shark panel has a bunch of potential investors and business experts to whom the show contestants pitch their business ideas. If they are successful, they may get a chance to start their dream business with adequate funding.