Shark Tank India, the Indian business reality TV series, was aired from December 20, 2021, to February 4, 2022, on Sony Entertainment Television India. The show has inspired entrepreneurs and start-up owners to think big and expand their canvass.

Ravi and Anuja Kabra of Skippi Ice Pops were some of the contestants on the show. Incidentally, they happen to be the first ice-pops brand in India. They say they do not use any artificial flavors and colors to ensure their products are clean, green, and healthy.

The couple says they applied for Shark Tank in early August last year and that they had to go through four-five rounds before the shoot was finalized in Mumbai. They say it was both exciting and terrifying. Of 66,000 applications, 187 got short-listed, and only 60 of them got funded. In fact, they were the first brand on Shark Tank India to have achieved investment from all five sharks. Incidentally, Peyush Bansal of LensKart invested after a few days.

For Ishmail Badri and Tasneem, it was a life-changing experience. They had been watching Shark Tank USA, and when Shark Tank India was announced, they applied and got to shoot eventually. They are founders of bike accessory start-up Guardian Gears in Secunderabad. Ishmail says Vineta Singh, co-founder of Sugar Cosmetics, was his favorite shark. He says ever since the episode was aired, their phone hasn’t stopped ringing.

On the other hand, CocoFit made the most humble impression on the show. Seeking an investment of Rs 5 from each shark, its founders left no stone unturned to make their time on the show worthwhile. Sashikant’s business is all about coconut meets fitness. He has 135 products and by-products, including slushes, shakes to ice creams. He says they were already doing brisk business, and now Shark Tank has helped them get more investors. Sashikant says it was like buying three sharks. Based on the show, they got 2,800 franchisee requests, and that’s huge, he confesses.