Meet the sharks: Founders of Mamaearth, BharatPe, Shaadi.com bet on India’s growing startup ecosystem

Sony Pictures Networks India, which has acquired the rights for the Indian adaptation of the global business reality show Shark Tank, has brought on board founders of many successful startups to invest in the growing startup ecosystem in India.

Ashneer Grover, Founder and Managing Director of BharatPe; Anupam Mittal, Founder and CEO of Shaadi.com; and Ghazal Alagh, Co-founder and Chief Mama of Mamaearth, talked to Moneycontrol about the pitches they assessed on the show and what Shark Tank means for the Indian market.

Mamaearth's Alagh, mentor and shark at the show believes the startup conversation is moving from boardrooms to drawing rooms. "We will see a lot more diversity in the new breed of Indian startup founders," she said.

BharatPe's Grover noted that the show will instill a lot of confidence in budding entrepreneurs by taking the "awe factor" away and normalising the risk that a lot of people perceive in entrepreneurship.

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According to Mittal of Shaadi.com, the show could not have been launched at a better time considering the slew of tech IPOs this year. "IPO of startups catch the imagination of the broader population. This year has been inspirational for most people from an entrepreneurial stand point just because of these tech IPOs. The other thing is that COVID made lot of people focus on what they actually wanted to do. I call them "covidpreneurs" because from husband and wife to mom and son, people got time to sit around and have conversations regarding what they want to do in life."

Grover agrees that India is seeing an "entrepreneurship wave" and the timing for the show ensures this wave is acknowledged and nudged towards the right direction. "This show will also give an avenue to entrepreneurs to vicariously learn from others - both what to do and not what to do," he said.

The sharks also shared what they looked for in the pitches they received.

Alagh pointed out three parameters--i) Team: Quality and commitment of the founding team, ii) Total Addressable Market (TAM ): How large is the market/problem they are solving, and iii) Traction: How have they done till now.

Also read: Almost 2 lakh jobs generated by Indian start-ups in 2021, a four-year high: Govt

Mittal elaborated his view on similar parameters, calling it a T5 model, with the most important factor being the Team. "Because ultimately it's the team that you are betting on in the early stage," he said.

"Then comes TAM, for which I see whether the market size is large enough because a large market is forgiving. The third is "timing" for the product and service because acceptance is important. Sometimes, the market is not ready to accept the product and service just because of the timing."

Next, he looks at the technology angle, since everything is driven by technology. "And finally comes traction. Do you have enough numbers or traction that points in the right direction?" he said.

He added that the T5 model is a more luxurious model because it was very competitive on the show since they had to decide in real time. "We had 30-45 minutes to decide whether we were making the right investment," said Mittal.

For the sharks as well, the show was a turning point, said Alagh and Mittal.

"I have already started receiving 10X the deal flow than earlier," said Alagh.

Mittal said that the show compelled him to rethink a lot of things. "It has forced me to up my game; forced me to make decisions faster. It has been a game changer," he added.