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Anupam Mittal responds to Shark Tank- delayed funding allegations
The founder of Shaadi.com and Shark Tank India judge took to Linkedin and termed the allegations baseless
Shark Tank India judge Anupam Mittal has responded to allegations calling out the show and it's judges (sharks) for an alleged delayed funding scam. A twitter user had claimed that the show deliberately delays in funding the businesses whose pitches are aired.
Mittal in a LinkedIn post has termed these allegations to be baseless, pre-determined and ill-intentioned in nature.
"It is no surprise, then, that another flimsy controversy is doing the rounds. Again, no data, no real names. Just finger-pointing and in one case, an angry & irrelevant commentator thrown in for added masala," he says.
"Going beyond mere narratives and coming to the data & facts (yes, there is such a thing) the single most important piece of data to gauge the integrity of the show is the Completion Ratio (CR). Globally, but more specifically in US Shark Tank, ~60% of the deals go through. Shark Tank India S1 saw the completion of 2/3rds of the deals, which, afaik, is a record of sorts. S2 CR will be available in August and based on deal momentum, I am confident it too will be healthy," states Mittal.
The Twitter user had claimed that the show uses it's timeline to its advantage and delays funding businesses. To which Mittal responds and says, "Most of the businesses on the Tank are very early stage. Many are proprietorships, which first need to be registered as Companies. The founders have never seen an SHA, nor do they have readily available numbers. Our teams hand-hold them through many of these issues. As a result, deal completion can take 3 to 9 months depending on the readiness of the Company and the founders."
"Sometimes deals don’t go through because the founder changes their mind, the company fails legal, financial and/or tax diligence OR the founders do not meet the obligations agreed to while accepting a ‘conditional deal’. For better or for worse, this is just the nature of deal-making. Some founders like to renegotiate or deal-shop which can also delay completion."