‘Never responded to emails’: Sharks accused of ghosting start-up founder after promising funding in Shark Tank India

Indian business reality show Shark Tank India has been facing several controversies ever since the second edition aired on Sony TV in January. In a latest development, a start-up founder has accused the sharks of ghosting another co-founder after promising to fund his start-up in the first season of the show.    Akshay Shah, Founder and CEO of iWebTechno took to Twitter to share, “Met a founder yesterday who had got a deal from 2 sharks in season 1 and who never met him nor responded to his mails post #SharkTankIndia - Ab kya bolen?”   Shah went on to reveal that the founder (who has been ghosted) did not reveal the names of the sharks because “most founders fear”. He also revealed that sharks were counselled to not be rude or brash after several instances of them losing their cool surfaced in the first season.    Several people reacted to this post and said that in reality shows, this is common. One of the users wrote, “This happens in a lot of shows. Not everybody gets funding.” He also wrote, “There is a agreement done in such shows whatever they are saying will be checked for due diligence for funding . The show does not have ample resource to do that. So, sometimes it does not enter the parameter & gets rejected.   Shah, however, pointed out that promising funding and then completely ghosting the founders creates a lot of difficulties for them.   In the ongoing show, sharks have invested a total of Rs 42.93 crore till week five. Namita Thapar, Executive Director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals has made maximum investments at Rs 10.25 crore.