The Reality Behind Shark Tank Judges’ Businesses: In Profit Or Loss?

“Shark Tank India” is a popular reality television show that follows the format of the international series, first conceived and aired in the US. It features aspiring entrepreneurs who pitch their business ideas to a panel of prominent investors, known as “sharks.” The reality show has gained immense popularity ever since its inception. We are in the third season now.

The sharks in the Indian version of the show are established business leaders and investors who have achieved significant success in their respective industries. These sharks evaluate the presentations of the participating entrepreneurs, ask probing questions, and negotiate deals with them if they see potential in the business ventures. 

In every season of Shark Tank India, we see the judges invest crores of rupees in startups or businesses they find promising. That might often make you think that when they are sharing so much knowledge and investing so much money, their own companies must be thriving and generating substantial profits. However, the reality is quite different. In fact, most sharks are sitting deep in losses.

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From Aman Gupta’s boAt, to Vineeta Singh’s SUGAR Cosmetics, to Peyush Bansal’s Lenskart, we take you through how much profit/loss the businesses of these Shark Tank India are making.

Vineeta Singh’s SUGAR Cosmetics

Vineeta Singh, founder and current CEO of beauty and skincare company SUGAR Cosmetics, is one of the consistent judges for Shark Tank. Her company seems to be facing an unfortunate loss streak of about Rs 76 crore with a revenue of Rs 420 crore.

Aman Gupta’s boAt

The marketing maverick Aman Gupta was making profits with boAt’s speakers, headphones, and earphones but as per the figures for the previous financial year 2022-23, his company has incurred a loss of Rs 129.4 crore with a revenue of Rs 3,377 crore.

Deepinder Goyal’s Zomato

The mind behind Zomato, Deepinder Goyal launched the platform in 2008. The food delivery company made a debut on Dalal Street in July last year with its IPO launch. Yet it has faced a loss of Rs 971 crore with a revenue of Rs 7,079 crore.

Ritesh Agarwal’s OYO

Initially, a budget accommodation portal – Oravel Stays, OYO Rooms is now one of the largest hotel chains in the world, with over 1.5 million rooms in over 80 countries. Ritesh Agarwal has expanded the platform globally. At 29 years old, he has become the youngest Shark on the panel of Shark Tank India Season 3. However, his company too incurred a loss of Rs 1,287 crore with a revenue of Rs 5,464 crore.

Amit Jain’s CarDekho

CarDekho Group’s CEO and Co-founder Amit Jain made headlines for replacing the infamous Shark Tank judge Ashneer Grover on the show. He was touted as the richest shark with CarDekho valued at $1.2 billion. But his company has made a loss of Rs 562 crore with a revenue of Rs 2,331 crore.

Azhar Iqubal’s Inshorts

The newest shark to join the show, Azhar Iqubal is the founder of Inshorts, a quick bit news platform. The company has so far raised more than $119 Million across multiple funding rounds. But last financial year figures suggest it is facing a loss of Rs 309.75 crore with a revenue of Rs 180.90.

Ronnie Screwvala’s UpGrad

After embracing a private capital-driven hypergrowth strategy, the ed-tech unicorn faced a topsy-turvy phase that saw rollbacks, unmet targets, and fewer placements. Ronnie Screwvala‘s UpGrad incurred a loss amounting to about Rs 1,142 crore with a revenue of Rs 1,194 crore.

Varun Dua’s ACKO Insurance

Bengaluru-based insurtech unicorn Acko‘s net loss increased over 1.5X in the financial year ended March 31, 2023. The Amazon-backed startup of Varun Dua incurred a loss of Rs 738.5 crore approx due to a rise in its expenses. The company’s revenue came to Rs 1,758 crore.

The Shark Tank Judges In Profit

Namita Thapar’s Emcure Pharmaceuticals

Profit– Rs 160 crore

Revenue– Rs 3107 crore

Peyush Bansal’s Lenskart

Profit– Rs 260 crore 

Revenue– Rs 3,780 crore

Radhika Gupta’s Edelweiss Mutual Fund

Profit– Rs 17.7 crore

Revenue– Rs 216 crore

P.S. The loss and revenue figures are basis the figures for the previous financial year 2022-23.

As per these stats, the companies of eight of the Shark Tank India Season 3’s judges are in loss, and 3 are in profit. As far as the 12th shark Anupam Mittal’s Shaadi.com is concerned, data is not available regarding the company’s financial performance. Makes you think, doesn’t it? Not sure if we can watch the show in the same light again.