Aman Gupta calls Shark Tank pitcher ‘delulu’, Anupam Mittal calls his product ‘ameeron ke chochle’: ‘Sharam nahi aayi’

Aman Gupta in Shark Tank India. (Photo: SonyLIV)

Shark Tank India is currently airing its Season 5 on SonyLIV and on the latest episode of the show, an entrepreneur from Vadodara presented their plant growth device with a patented technology, which he claimed has been made by NASA. The pitcher, Shubham Upadhyay, has named his company Planyt and he presented his pitch to Namita Thapar, Anupam Mittal, Aman Gupta, Amit Jain and Ritesh Agarwal.

Shubham came in seeking Rs 1.05 crore in exchange for 6.5 percent of his company, valuing it at Rs 16.15 crore. Apart from not getting a deal on the tank, Shubham was told that he was “delusional” to believe in the idea of this company. At one point in the pitch, Shubham said that he started this company with the thought of ending hunger but when he revealed that a standard family of five would have to buy products of at least Rs 7.5 lakh, Anupam was shocked. Shubham revealed that he has been running his company since 2021 but when he revealed that it was still pre-revenue, the sharks were taken aback. He also shared that he has never had a job, sold 80-100 units in the last 4 years (at a discounted price) and that he was 28 years of age.

Talking about the products being sold at Planyt, Shubham shared that he sells pods of three sizes that function on his patented ‘fogponics’ technology that provides plants a misty atmosphere so they are perfectly hydrated and get the perfect conditions at all times. When Amit asked about the biggest con of his product, Shubham revealed that his products required 24×7 electricity.

Shubham was also asked if he came up with this technology all by himself, and he revealed that this was made by NASA but “we kind of perfected it.” Namita visibly rolled her eyes as she heard this. Upon being asked about his competitors in this space, Shubham said that he only has one competitor in Canada and while that company has secured funding of $3 billion, they have only sold 500 units.

Anupam was visibly angry listening to this pitch and when he asked Shubham about the funds he had raised so far, Shubham said he had been “heavily funded” by the government, which turned out to be only Rs 10 lakh. Hearing this, Anupam was visibly furious as he questioned, “Tujhe sharam nahi aayi? (Have you no shame?)” After hearing the phrase “heavily funded”, Anupam was expecting to hear Rs 10-12 crore, so when he heard Rs 10-12 lakh, he was shocked at the Shubham’s audacity.

Anupam continued, “No one is showing you the mirror. It feels like you are delusional.” He added that this was “shaukeen” and “ameero ke chochle” and questioned again, “How will it cure hunger?” Saying this, Anupam got out of the negotiation. Namita was more polite than Anupam but she also told Shubham to “shut down this business.” Ritesh encouraged him to think why he was doing this and Amit asked him to think about ways he could use the technology in a way that could help in creating a business.

Aman called him a “delulu” and called his product a “useless machine.” To drive the point home, he added that even if Shubham were to give him 50 percent equity in his business for just Re 1, he still wouldn’t take it.

As Shubham got out of the tank, he spoke to the camera and expressed that he was offended by Anupam’s statements. He called out the “personal comments” thrown at him and said that they were “uncalled for.” Singling out Anupam’s “sharam nahi aati” comment, he said he wasn’t ashamed of his business or the money he had raised so far from grants. Overall, he called it a “good experience” and wondered if he could “come back on tank.”