PremiumShark Tank India: When Ashneer Grover called an innovation, 'khilona' and Anupam said, 'hum aapka dard samajh sakte hai'
Season one of Shark Tank India can be streamed on SonyLIV
Last Updated: 06.13 PM, Mar 31, 2022
The business reality show, Shark Tank India is etched in the minds of people not only for the great pitches that it has witnessed but also for the reactions and comments of the sharks on the show, especially Ashneer Grover. The former MD and founder of BharatPe is known for his straight-to-face talk, which appears to people sometimes mean and tough.
In one of the episodes, Grover calls an innovation 'khilona' or a toy after patiently hearing the pitch of PNT Robotics from its co-founders Pratik Tirodkar and Ashish Patil. The 24-year-olds work on IoT, robotics, virtual learning and AI. Though the sharks were impressed with their robot that can understand people's language and read their emotions, many of them refused to offer a deal. The two founders had demanded Rs 50 lakh for 4 per cent equity.
The robots, they said can be used for engagement purposes at malls, airports or hospitals. Pratik explains the product and Ashish barely speaks. So Aman Gupta, co-founder of boAt, pulls his leg and asks if he were a robot too and cannot speak. Ashish says pointing to Pratik, "Ye agar bolne de to na." Anupam Gupta, founder of Shaadi.com relates to him and says, "Mere saath bhi yahi hota hai, main tera dard samajh sakta hu."
The duo's robot was also used at hospitals in the COVID ward for sanitisation, delivering medicines, food and pick the old clothes of patients, which Aman Gupta had recognised. He said he has seen it. But despite all the work and pitch, he and other sharks refrained from making an offer as they said they are not clear about their business model.
Ashneer Grover says that the entrepreneurs have made a life out of a college project and that theirs is not a robot, but a 'khilona'. He suggested that they quit the idea, get a job and understand what is the problem that they are trying to solve.
But Peyush Bansal, CEO, Lenskart, was willing to take a risk. He offered a deal of Rs 25 lakh for 25 per cent equity and Rs 25 lakh as a loan, saying that they need to focus on one problem and create affordable robotics arms in India. Namita Thapar, CEO of Emcure Pharmaceuticals and Anupam cheered and said it is a good deal when they accepted it. Namita said they'd get good guidance about how to go about the business.
Meanwhile, Shark Tank India is a business reality show where budding entrepreneurs pitched their ideas and business models to sharks for investment in exchange for a certain per cent of stake in the company. The show is an adaptation of the US show, Shark Tank. Season one of the show, which ended earlier in February, is available to stream on SonyLIV. It was hosted by Rannvijay Singha.