Due diligence, checks integral part of investing in startups: Shark Tank India's Aman Gupta on funding controversy

New Delhi: Business reality show Shark Tank India judge and boAt co-founder Aman Gupta has asserted that due diligence is and will continue to be an integral part of funding startups amid the controversy and allegations of delayed funding even after deals are struck on the show.

Gupta said it is important for people to understand that there will not be quick money and that proper procedures and checks will be followed before actual funding.

"If someone thinks it's easy money…that rich businessmen are cutting cheques, this was a misconception that has been cleared," Gupta told PTI in an interview.

He said that he and other 'sharks' earned their money through hard work and grit, and asserted that proper procedures of checks will be followed.

"We have earned the money with hard work and we will not just give our money without due diligence," Gupta said.

Shark Tank India has done beautiful things for the country, bringing entrepreneurship and startups into dinner table conversations. Today, families come together to watch the show, he said.

Responding to charges around delayed investments and not keeping up with commitments and promises made on the show, Gupta said, "It is not delayed funding...it is a regular course of funding and for every entrepreneur it takes time".

He contended that during boAt's first capital raise, the talks were initiated in 2016 but the funding came in 2018.

"In one hour, no one gets a cheque. There is a due diligence process and when we fund companies...there are companies which are not even formed...Governance aspects have to be checked...whether whatever the founder said on the show is right or wrong...we also don't want to invest in a company where we find later that the founder is a fraud," he said.

Gupta said he is glad that the misconceptions are being cleared before the show's next season.

"It is good that this has happened because now Season 3 is starting...I start shooting next month...it is good that people understand that they will not get immediate money…boss due diligence will happen," he asserted.