Shark Tank India Season 3 And The New Additions To The Judges’ Panel

“Shark Tank India” is a popular reality television show that follows the format of the international series, first conceived and aired in the US, “Shark Tank.” It features aspiring entrepreneurs who pitch their business ideas to a panel of prominent investors, known as “sharks.” The show provides a platform for entrepreneurs to pitch their concepts, products, or services in the hopes of securing funding and mentorship from experienced investors.

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. 

“Shark Tank India” has gained a substantial following and has become a popular platform for entrepreneurs and viewers alike. It serves as an inspiring and educational program for aspiring business owners, showcasing a wide range of innovative ideas and the intricacies of business negotiations and investments. Following two very successful seasons, the show is back with its third season now.

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The Judges Panel

The first season was graced by judges like Aman Gupta (co-founder and CMO of boAt), Anupam Mittal (founder and CEO of Shaadi.com – People Group), Ashneer Grover (former Co-founder and MD of BharatPe), Namita Thapar (Executive Director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals), Vineeta Singh (Co-Founder and CEO of SUGAR Cosmetics), Ghazal Alagh (Co-founder, CEO and Chief Innovation Officer of Mamaearth) and Peyush Bansal (founder & CEO of Lenskart.com). 

The first season ran from December 2021 to February 2022 and the second season took place from January to March 2023. In the second season, Ashneer Grover was replaced by CarDekho and InsuranceDekho’s CEO and co-founder, Amit Jain on the panel of judges. The third season comes with an interesting twist of events. The current judges will be joined by some more expert business leaders – OYO Rooms founder Ritesh Agarwal, Zomato founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal, and Inshorts CEO Azhar Iqubal.

The New Sharks

The social media handles of the show have been teasing the viewers into guessing who will be the newest shark to join this season. Until now, 3 sharks have been revealed. Let’s learn a bit more about them:

Ritesh Agarwal

Born in 1993 in Odisha, Ritesh started his entrepreneurial journey at the age of 13 by selling SIM cards after school. He is a self-made billionaire who founded OYO Rooms in 2013 when he was just 19 years old!  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, with a net worth of $2 billion (approx. Rs. 166.55 crore). At 29 years old, he has become the youngest Shark on the panel of Shark Tank India Season 3. 

Ritesh wrote about his journey and expressed gratitude in a post on X (formerly Twitter) saying, “@sharktankindia made entrepreneurship a household conversation and I am excited to be a small part of Season 3 and support more entrepreneurs emerging out of every corner of India.”

Deepinder Goyal

The mind behind Zomato, Deepinder Goyal launched the platform in 2008 and currently holds a 5.55% stake in it. A graduate from IIT Delhi, Goyal’s net worth rose to $650 million after Zomato’s IPO in 2021. By September last year, his net worth reached Rs 2,030 crore. Known for his philanthropy, Goyal donated shares worth Rs 387 crore as ESOP to the Zomato Foundation, benefiting the company’s delivery partners with a total worth of Rs 700 crore.

Additionally, Goyal has been an active angel investor and has infused capital in multiple big-ticket startups such as craft beer maker Bira91, SquadStack, Terrado, SaaS platform HyperTrack, logistics major Shiprocket, health tech startup Allo Health, enterprise tech platform Threado, among others. As per Tracxn, Goyal has participated in the investment rounds of 18 startups.

Speaking about his investment thesis last year, the Zomato CEO said, “What I learn from those founders is ROI enough to me. Any money that gets returned is an icing on the cake, and I recycle it towards more learning, thus creating even more value for Zomato’s shareholders (including me).” On joining Shark Tank Season 3, he said that he has joined the show to step outside his comfort zone and to learn from the experience. 

Azhar Iqubal

The newest shark to join the show, Iqbal said he’s here to help participants achieve their entrepreneurial dream. “On Shark Tank India Season 3, I want to tell the youth of India that where you come from and whether you have a degree or not does not matter; what matters is whether you have hunger, discipline and focus. And if you have it in you, I am here to support you in fulfilling your entrepreneurial dream,” Iqubal said. Recounting his journey, the Inshorts CEO said that he took a leap of faith and dropped out of IIT Delhi to start his venture in his 20s. 

He added that the last decade has been a ‘wild ride, full of excitement’ which helped him create a mark in the social media industry. An IIT-Delhi dropout, he, along with Deepit Purkayastha and Anunay Arunav, founded Inshorts as a Facebook page and then scaled the startup to its current size. Inshorts has so far raised more than $119 Million across multiple funding rounds. Iqbal is largely new to the angel investment space and by joining the show, the Inshorts CEO could be looking to scale up his bets in the Indian startup ecosystem and bring more eyeballs to his quick bit news platform. 

As Shark Tank India continues to offer a platform for entrepreneurs to secure investments and elevate their businesses, the inclusion of these dynamic industry leaders adds further excitement to the upcoming season.