'They lost huge opportunity': Shark Tank India judge on 'some startup ecosystem members'

Namita Thapar, Namita Thapar is the executive director of Emcure Pharma. (Image credit: Photo Instagrammed by namitathapar)

Namita Thapar, a judge or a “shark” on Shark Tank India, the Indian adaptation of the global startup reality show, has hit out at “some names from the startup ecosystem” who have criticised the show.

“Last week I heard some names from the startup ecosystem criticise the show. All I would like to say is that they lost a huge opportunity to impact and influence millions of Indians to understand, respect and take up the entrepreneurial journey,” Namita Thapar, executive director of pharmaceutical company Emcure Pharma, wrote in a piece on YourStory.

While agreeing that some aspects of the show needed improvement, she said Shark Tank India is just one season old, while its US counterpart is on its 13th season.

“So can we stop judging, instead get involved, and help make it better? This was new for all of us and we learned along the way; we are still internalising and learning,” she said.

The other six judges on Shark Tank India are Ashneer Grover of BharatPe, Anupam Mittal of Shaadi.com, Ghazal Alagh of Mamaearth, Peyush Bansal of Lenskart, Aman Gupta of Boat and Vineeta Singh of Sugar Cosmetics.

The show received mixed reviews after its launch in December 2021, and has also attracted some criticism for mistreating entrepreneurs. Grover became fodder for memes after he made aggressive remarks on startup entrepreneurs seeking to raise funding.

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