Children to pitch biz ideas to 'Sharks' as PlanetSpark announces 'Shark Tank' spin-off

As the country awaits the release of Shark Tank India, global EdTech platform PlanetSpark has announced the first season of 'Spark Tank', a competition for young entrepreneurs across India, the USA, UAE and Europe. In this spin-off of Shark Tank, children under the age of 17 years will present their business ideas to impress the jury, in a bid to bag investment from the judges, also known as 'Sharks'.

The Spark Tank jury will comprise of business personalities including the angel investor, Vikas Kuthiala who holds leading companies like Wow Momo, Bijnis, Instasafe and Box8, among others in his investment portfolio.

"With PlanetSpark's Spark Tank, we hope to create an exciting global platform that would give young achievers an opportunity to showcase their entrepreneurial ideas to the world," noted Vikas Kuthiala.

Spark Tank's first season will span a total of 4 weeks during which kids aged 7-17 years from across India, USA, UAE and Europe will be pitching their business ideas. Students will be judged not only on the merit of their business idea but also their ability to communicate and successfully sell the idea to the jury members, explained PlanetSpark in an official statement.

Commenting on the first season of Spark Tank, Co-founder, Maneesh Dhooper said, "Introducing Spark Tank is very well-integrated with our focus on making children confident communicators and training them in vocational skills, of which Communication and Public Speaking is a huge part."

Dhooper added that the idea behind the event is to also spark children's entrepreneurial ambitions by giving them an early head start. "With so many teen business icons emerging from all over the world in the recent years, we want to deploy a holistic approach which is not only restricted to training sessions but also its practical application," added Dhooper.

Multiple children can get funding for their business ideas at the event. Apart from this, some selected ideas will also receive a grant from PlanetSpark.

The platform has stated that in order to prep the participants, all registered entrants of Spark Tank will be given proper training and grooming sessions by a dedicated team, including the mentors and specialists onboard PlanetSpark. The prep will include proper hand-holding and guidance on all aspects including ideation, presentation and communication, to make the kids investor-pitch ready.

How to Participate

To register their entry, all participants must make a video presentation of up to 3 minutes explaining the preliminary business idea and submit it by December 23, 2021.

Eligibility Criteria

The competition is open to all students of PlanetSpark above Grade 3 a.k.a "The Senior Wing", of which the top 15 entries will be shortlisted for the next round. Post the following rounds of screening, only 6 students will be given a chance to present their ideas to the jury, in the main event to be held live on YouTube, on January 10 next year.

Shark Tank India to launch in 4 days

Shark Tank India, produced by Studio NEXT, will premiere on Sony Entertainment Television on December 20. In November, Sony had unveiled the Sevens Sharks for Shark Tank India. These 'Sharks' will mentor, invest and provide a vision for the budding entrepreneurs.

The 'Sharks' are Ashneer Grover, Founder and Managing Director of BharatPe; Vineeta Singh - CEO & Co-founder of SUGAR Cosmetics; Peeyush Bansal - Founder & CEO of Lenskart.com; Namita Thapar - Executive Director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals; Anupam Mittal - Founder and CEO of Shaadi.com - People Group; Ghazal Alagh - Co-founder and Chief Mama of Mamaearth; and Aman Gupta - Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer at boAt.

Also Read: 'Shark Tank India' Season 1 to be out soon; here are the details about 'Sharks'