'Shark Tank India': What happened between Aastey CEO-Namita Thapar
Jeevika Tyagi, co-founder and CEO of Aastey, an athleisure startup, recently took to Instagram to address comments made by Shark Tank India judge Namita Thapar when she appeared on the show. Tyagi accused Sony of dishonest editing and claimed that the episode, titled Celebrating Entrepreneurial Breakthroughs, misrepresented her company. The episode in question saw Thapar—CEO of Emcure Pharmaceuticals—criticizing Aastey for spending Rs. 10cr from investors mainly on marketing.
Recap: Here's what happened in the episode
In Episode 23, Aastey found themselves facing a panel of Sharks including Aman Gupta, Vineeta Singh, Anupam Mittal, Thapar, and Peyush Bansal. Co-founders Tyagi and Kanupriya Mundhra presented their pitch, seeking Rs. 80 lakh for a 2% equity stake. In February 2022, Aastey secured Rs. 10cr in seed funding from CXXO—a Kalaari Capital initiative—as reported by Livemint. However, when the judges inquired about their bank balance, the founders revealed it was zero, sparking heated discussion.
'Where will we invest?': Aastey faced heat from Sharks
After hearing about their bank balance, co-founder of boAt, Gupta, expressed skepticism, questioning, "So, where will we invest, where is the business? Your products are also not selling." CEO and co-founder of Sugar Cosmetics, Singh, echoed concerns about the financial approach, remarking, "The financial indiscipline that you have shown is baffling me." Simultaneously, Thapar criticized the company by saying, "You took Rs. 10cr from the investors and spent the amount primarily on marketing? I am out."
Look at the promo featuring Aastey's co-founders
'Breakdown was edited out by Sony': Allegations by Tyagi
In her Instagram post, Tyagi shared a video featuring specifically Thapar's comments. She then explained how Sony selectively edited the episode: "I think Namita this is a very big 'financial indiscipline' that you could not understand a simple thing." "We spent the entire Rs. 10cr on marketing? Where did the money for our inventory come...where is the inventory stored...where is the money for the team...business operations—the entire part and its breakdown were edited out by Sony, what about that?"
Meanwhile, Tyagi's previous post detailed her experience on the show
Before her most recent video, Tyagi wrote a lengthy Instagram post about her experience on the reality show. She mentioned "filming for two hours, only to have it condensed into a 10-minute segment." Tyagi described the experience as "humiliating" and felt pressured to bring drama to the show. However, she acknowledged the positive impact of the show on Aastey's exposure but expressed mixed feelings about her personal experience.
