Shark Tank: India TV show proves entrepreneurship isn't just for rich

Pashmi Shah, a 30-year-old senior marketing executive, received a phone call that changed her life.

The producer for Shark Tank was on the other side of the phone.

The Indian version of the show invited Ms Pashmi to pitch Get-A-Whey, a low-sugar ice cream brand she managed with her brother and mother.

The brother-sister duo was always on the lookout for healthy options. One day, their mother tried out an ice-cream with a health supplement.

Ms Pashmi said they were surprised it tasted so good.

They got a food technologist to come on board and launched Get-A-Whey in 2019.

This year, on Shark Tank India, her bother and mum pitched this ice cream, and all, to the sharks, and took home 10 million rupee in return for a 15% stake.

Get-A-Whey was one of 67 businesses that Shark Tank investors invested in. The first season of the series received more than 62,000 pitches from start-ups all over India.

After the first season of the show ended, Anupam Mittal, the founder of one of India's largest matrimonial websites, wrote that he believed the show would change India's entrepreneurial landscape forever.

He explained that of the 67 businesses that received deals on the show, 59 had one founder under the age of 25, and 29 had at least one female co- founder.

The show shined a spotlight on a new breed of risk-taking entrepreneurs and changed attitudes towards entrepreneurship in India.

Ms Pashmi and her brother quit well-paying jobs to start their own business.

She says it was difficult to convince their father.

By the end of last year, the Shahs had sold 8,000 units of their product per month and made over one million dollars in revenue.

Sales across India went through the roof after the Shark Tank episode aired. In the first quarter, they sold 65,000 units and made close to 8 million rupees.

Ankur Warikoo, internet entrepreneur and best-selling author, says that Shark Tank has done a good job of bringing people like Pashmi Shah to the forefront.

The biggest thing it has done is to make them aware that their ambitions can be a lot bigger than what they had set out to do, and if money is a problem, then here is the money.

Mr Warikoo says that India has always had an entrepreneurial drive, even though it wasn't as rich as it was in the early 90s.

There are millions of families in India where parents have worked as daily-wage labourers and now their kids are saying, "You know what, I will set up a mobile repair shop or a cloud kitchen."

He says that the show has helped a generation of parents to understand the risks of starting a business.

When it becomes prime time, their parents feel proud of the fact that their son or daughter is now anentrepreneur. Mr Warikoo says that their son or daughter could be on Shark Tank one day.

One of the sharks on the show and the founder of one of India's most prominent fintech companies credits the internet for much of the change.

Someone who is building a business is thinking of it in India. He says that they are not selling themselves as an expert in their local regions, but have bigger ambitions.

The idea of doing your own thing has moved from the fringes to the mainstream in India.

She gave an example of a start-up meeting she attended in the remote Bastar district in the central state of Chhattisgarh.

Six local entrepreneurs showed up. She says that Shark Tank reflects a new aspiration of India where you don't need a rich father or godfather to succeed.

The hunger for success seen in entrepreneurs from smaller towns and cities is the reason for this.

He says that they have a fire in their belly, and that the example of Revamp Motors which pitched a utility electric bike aimed at gig workers on the show was one.

The amount of engineering put into building that e-bike with a small amount of capital was mind-blowing. He says that this gives him the confidence that if we come down to doing hardcore engineering ourselves, it is a good sign for India.

"Shark Tank's success is that it became a dinner-table conversation," says a second-generation entrepreneur.

She and her mother-in-law pitched their business idea on the show and took home 5 million rupee in return for a 20% stake.

The idea of taking someone else's money for a piece of my company was very alien to me.

She says that taking the risk of starting your own idea is no longer taboo.

When we were growing up, terms like equity and investment were in textbooks. It is on national television. She explains that you can start your own shop on social media.

A successful deal was only one of many victories for the mother-in-law and her daughter-in-law on Shark Tank.

The co- founder of one of India's largest consumer electronics is featured in a TV soap opera.

Seeing you both here makes me very happy. Mr Gupta said that India will be inspired by the fact that a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law can go into business together.