

Shark Tank India: Turning TV exposure into startup growth
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. BENGALURU: When a startup walks into Shark Tank India, the cheque is often the smallest part of the prize. What founders say they are really buying is national visibility, one that can compress years of brand-building into a single broadcast.
Whether that exposure compounds into durable brand equity, or fades once the television spotlight moves on, remains harder to measure. Now in its fifth season on SonyLIV, Shark Tank India has increasingly positioned itself as a marketing accelerator rather than a pure capital-raising platform. Several startup founders interviewed for this story said the show’s biggest impact lies in how it reduces customer acquisition friction and shortens distribution timelines.
Smylo, a direct-to-consumer cat food startup that raised ₹75 lakh on the latest season, illustrates the immediate post-telecast effect. Kartikeya Gupta, co-founder of Smylo, said the brand saw a five- to six-fold jump in organic followers after the episode aired, while customer acquisition costs declined as national television exposure built instant trust with first-time buyers. To achieve the same sales volumes today, Smylo’s spending on Meta is nearly 30% lower than before the telecast, he said, adding that the impact was most visible in improved discovery and demand from Tier II and III markets.
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