Shark Tank India’s Ashneer Grover reveals he made pitches to Anupam Mittal back in the day: ‘Never took his money’

12-02-2022, 06:25PM, INDIA

Shark Tank India's Ashneer Grover attempted to explain the reason behind his perceived crude behaviour on the show, and revealed that he'd made pitches to Anupam Mittal back in the day.

Divisive Shark Tank India judge Ashneer Grover attempted to explain why he comes across as ‘crude’ and ‘uncultured’ on the reality show. In a new interview, the BharatPe co-founder spoke about how he joined the panel of Shark Tank India investors, and revealed that he and Anupam Mittal go back a long way, as Ashneer had gone to Anupam with the BharatPe pitch not once, but twice.

In an appearance on Raj Shamani’s Figuring Out podcast, Ashneer said that the reason he might come across as rude on the show is because he speaks in Hindi, and that he never knew how to ‘behave’ on the show. He said that unlike English, which has a ‘musical tone’, Hindi is ‘dhande ki bhasha’ and has nuances that help the speaker get straight to the point.

He said that even in his office, he asks that everyone speak in Hindi, because he feels English isn’t direct enough. He said that he’s met countless investors in his time, and he used to get annoyed when they used to beat around the bush and ask for more ‘metrics’ instead of simply turning him down.

Ashneer said that after a couple of ‘auditions’ that included mock pitches and an interview, he was finalised as a ‘shark’ on the show. But before signing on, he wanted to know who his co-panelists would be. He said that Vineeta Singh was his junior in college, and that he knew Anupam Mittal (of Shaadi.com) from back when he was raising investment for BharatPe.

He said in Hindi, “I knew Anupam from before. I’d once tried to raise money for BharatPe from him. I got the money from elsewhere, so I never ended up taking his money. In fact, I had made a pitch to him, not once but twice.”

Ashneer has been among the most controversial Shark Tank India judges, both because of his behaviour on the show, and the allegations made against him off it. The show concluded its first season last week, and some sharks, excluding Ashneer, got together for a special reunion episode this weekend.

SOURCE : indianexpress