Shark Tank India 2’s Namita Thapar on not investing in a pitch for friendship’s sake: I am entitled to my independent values

Shark Tank India rang in the new year with a bang, premiering the first episode of its latest season on Monday. As with the last season, this season too saw the return of the much beloved sharks, including Emcure Pharmaceuticals executive director Namita Thapar, Lenskart CEO and co-founder Peyush Bansal, boAt CMO and co-founder Aman Gupta, Shaadi.com founder and CEO Anupam Mittal, and SUGAR Cosmetics CEO and co-founder Vineeta Singh. The entrepreneurs looking to strike a deal with the sharks were also fired up and ready to take the show by storm. But despite it all, not all netizens were pleased with the show, especially the way Aman and Namita said no to a promising contestant.

For the uninitiated, the last pitch of the first episode of season 2 featured the founders of the makeup brand Recode, and both Aman and Namita declared themselves ‘out’ as they did not want to invest in a brand that would give competition to the business of one of their friends, referring to Vineeta’s makeup brand SUGAR Cosmetics.

This move invited criticism from netizens, who took to social media to express their displeasure. Namita recently reacted to the criticisms through a post on Twitter.

In her tweet, the businesswoman said that sharks were entitled to their independent values and could speak candidly. She spoke about how she had no regrets about what she did and would continue to call out toxicity. She also added that she would not ‘join the ignorant’ that ‘celebrate people who lack integrity’ either.

Check out Namita’s tweet below:

Many netizens were also unhappy with Ashneer Grover’s absence from the new season as well. The BharatPe founder was replaced by CarDekho Group CEO and co-founder Amit Jain.

Watch all new episodes of Shark Tank India season2, every Monday to Friday at 10 PM, on Sony Television and SonyLIV.