Does Shark Tank India really not pay its contestants? What is this Delayed Funding scam?

Ashneer Grover might have long left Shark Tank India but the so-called “doglapan” continues. A viral Twitter thread by entrepreneur Anmol Sharma (whose first achievement on his Twitter bio is “500k+ followers on Instagram” for some reason) claims to reveal the dark side of Shark Tank. 

ALSO READ: 10 brands from Shark Tank India 1 that made it big after the show

Basically, Sharma claims that many of the companies that seem to get funding on the show actually end up not getting any financial support due to a few contractual loopholes. 

First things first, what is Anmol Sharma’s source?

At first glance, it might seem like Sharma’s source is “trust me bro” but he claims that he can make these claims after he got connected to “one such startup” although he hasn’t named the startup yet. He adds that after listening to this startup’s sob story, he could access the case study of at least 10 more startups that had a similar story to tell. He adds in his tweets that he can’t reveal the names of his sources yet. 

But how are the Shark Tank judges delaying funding? 

The gist of Sharma’s claims is that some promising contestants on Shark Tank are promised funding on national TV (as the core concept of any edition of Shark Tank goes) but then they don’t receive a penny from their respective “Sharks” because the Sharks eventually back out from their agreements. 

Understanding the timeline of events is crucial.

• June-July is the period when Sony accepts registrations for the next season of Shark Tank. So, the registrations for the third season are still live at the moment. 

• When it comes to the actual physical pitches, August-November is the period when this takes place.
• Then comes the period from December to January when the Sony teams wrap up post-production and the show is ready to air. 

Sharma claims that if a start-up is promised funding anytime from August to November, they should receive funding within two months “because the due diligence and the legal proceedings can’t go longer than that”. 

Now, Sharma adds that the Sharks deliberately delay funding because they wish to wait until the show airs so that they can show the “Shark Tank effect” on the startups’ website traffic and sales. 

The startups that apparently don’t comply with this agreement are deliberately “moved around in circles” so that the Sharks can delay the investment further and eventually get them out of the agreement. 

Have the Sharks responded?

None of the judges on the current season of Shark Tank have responded to this thread. Otherwise, Shaadi.com founder Anupam Mittal is quite vocal on Twitter when it comes to responding to any criticism towards his show or any of its judges. The last time Mittal broke his silence was when entrepreneur Harsh Vardhan Goenka alleged that most of the Shark Tank India judges were running in losses. 

ALSO READ: Are Shark Tank judges actually running in losses? Doglapan much?

Is Sharma’s Twitter thread blowing things out of proportion? 

As long as Sharma’s sources aren’t revealed and no other Shark Tank India contestant/judge responds, his claims can seem exaggerated to an extent. Sharma, after all, goes on to claim that these tactics to withdraw funding are only benefiting the Sharks and the Sony network.

But that seems obvious given how every reality judge’s popularity and branding improves after the reality show. Sharma argues that Lenskart CEO and co-founder Peyush Bensal is now getting ads with Karan Johar after Shark Tank; and similarly, ex-judge Ashneer Grover has managed to market his controversies pretty well with a best-selling book and a judging stint on the latest season of Roadies. 

Then again, the reasons behind their increased popularity in recent years might also stem from reasons other than delaying contestants their money. After all, the judges on the original American version of Shark Tank like Mark Cuban, Kevin O’Leary and Barbara Corcoran have become TV personalities after their net worth increased with the business reality show. 

While many are responding to Sharma’s Twitter thread subscribing to this theory that there is a dark side to Shark Tank India, there is also a consensus among the Twitterati that some contestants and startups don’t even seek funding, but just a memorable appearance on the show. This appearance can be used in their website and Instagram ads, a strategy that might end up boosting their popularity and sales.