Shark Tank India season 1 courts controversy, Ashneer Grover says invested Rs 3 crore

After a report claimed that some prominent investors at the inaugural season of Shark Tank India fell short of their pledges, prominent VCs and entrepreneurs on Wednesday defended the show, saying the report findings are "inaccurate".

An analysis by market intelligence firm PrivateCircle claimed that the key investors overall invested in only 27 of the 65 pledges shown on the TV show, reports TechCrunch.

"The 'sharks' committed $4.87 million to the startups, but had only invested about $2 million as of last week," according to the report, citing PrivateCircle analysis.

Sony Network India, the broadcaster of Shark Tank in the country, was yet to comment on the report.

However, investors including former BharatPe Co-founder Ashneer Grover who was the Shark Tank India judge/investor in season 1, came out on social media to defend themselves.

"I, Ashneer Grover, invested Rs 2.95 crore in 11 deals in Shark Tank Season 1. This makes me the second highest deployer, only after Namita Thapar (executive director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals)," Grover said in a tweet.

Thapar was highest both in terms of "absolute and percentage closure", he mentioned.

"No surprises, Namita is a great paymaster! Both Namita and I are the top 2 in terms of absolute, percentage deals completed and percentage commitment invested," Grover further said.

According to PrivateCircle, Thapar completed the most number of deals as a shark in the first season of the TV show.

Anupam Mittal, the founder of Shaadi.com and as one of the investors on Shark Tank India, recently posted on LinkedIn that 66 per cent of the deals presented during the show's inaugural season were successfully executed.

Aman Gupta, co-founder of consumer electronics brand Boat and also an investor on the TV show, has also defended the programme.