Namita Thapar lashes out at those ‘from the startup ecosystem’ who criticised Shark Tank India: ‘Can we stop judging?’

Namita Thapar, who appears as one of the titular ‘sharks’ on Shark Tank India, has responded to criticism about the show from a certain section of the ‘startup ecosystem’. Namita, the executive director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals, shared her views on the same in an Instagram note.

“Last week I heard some names from the startup ecosystem criticise the show. All I would like to say is that they lost a huge opportunity to impact and influence millions of Indians to understand, respect and take up the entrepreneurial journey,” read a part of an article she wrote on Shark Tank India, snippets of which she shared in the form of an Instagram post.

“Are there some parts of the show that need improvement? Of course there are but it’s only season 1 vs other countries like the US where they are on Season 13,” Namita added. Shark Tank India is modelled on the American show, on which the business honchos or the ‘sharks’ appear as potential investors, who hear out ideas from upcoming entrepreneurs.

Namita wrapped her response to the criticism with a request to stop judging and a promise to improve: “So can we stop judging, instead get involved, and help make it better ? This was new for all of us and we learned along the way; we are still internalising and learning. As long as we did this for the right reasons and for the right cause, we will keep working on it and will keep improving.”

While Namita hasn’t made direct references in her post as to who exactly she addressed the note to, earlier this month, Paytm took a dig at the show, calling it ‘Udhaar Tank India’. Paytm tweeted a meme, incorporating some of the lines frequently spoken by the ‘sharks’ on the show. The line ‘yeh mera expertise nahi hai (this is not my area of expertise)’, which featured in Paytm’s meme, is known to be something that Namita says.

Last week, Namita also shared a post as a response to trolls and memes:

Also read: Anupam Mittal says Shark Tank India producers don’t allow him to eat: ‘Bhookha rakhte hai’

The other ‘sharks’ of Shark Tank India include Peyush Bansal (co-founder and CEO of Lenskart), Anupam Mittal (founder and CEO of Shaadi.com), Ashneer Grover (co-founder and managing director of BharatPe), Aman Gupta (co-founder and chief marketing officer at boAt), Vineeta Singh (CEO and co-founder of SUGAR Cosmetics) and Ghazal Alagh (co-founder of Mamaearth). The show airs on Sony Entertainment Television on weekdays at 9 pm.