Shark Tank India Season 3: A man from Chennai has claimed that he was not allowed to pitch on Shark Tank India because he is not fluent in Hindi. Karthik Manikonda, a Chennai-based entrepreneur, said that although he was selected for the show, he was not allowed to pitch in front of the Sharks (judges) on the show.
Karthik Manikonda is the founder of The Mind and Company, a mental health startup. In a LinkedIn post, he claimed that Shark Tank India only allows participants who are fluent in Hindi, and that his request to pitch in English was rejected by the show's producers.
“Mind & Company was selected for Shark Tank India but was not allowed to pitch for the Sharks. Reason: I am not fluent in Hindi. This is a Hindi show. “I heard a big NO. If they think – you're not big enough, or – this industry is too niche, or – you're not ready to invest.” If you had given me any other reason, such as not being able to do it, I would have accepted.”
“But it was disappointing not being able to pitch in languages other than Hindi. I don't blame Shark Tank. There's a format. They have to stick to it. But I think it's a shame that regional startups can't pitch in languages other than Hindi. We shouldn’t lose out because of the wall,” he added.
He called for a solution to the problem and said startups in the region should not lose out because of the language barrier. He also suggested that real-time translation using AI could be a solution.
“Disappointed, but not disappointed,” he concluded his post by asserting.
Shark Tank India is currently in its third season and its investors include Anupam Mittal, Peyush Bansal, Namita Thapar and others.
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