We all know the hit TV show Shark Tank features the best and bravest of the tough start-up world, but this season showcased a handful of exciting entrepreneurs fully rooted in making an impact in rural India.
Nervous entrepreneurs – as well as cocky, over-confident ones – pitch their business ideas, along with their hopes and dreams, before the sharks of the start-up world on many different TV shows these days.
Sometimes a bloodbath ensues.
À la “Ye sab doglapan hai!” (this is all hypocrisy) – as one shark panelist lashed out at an entrepreneur pitching his underwear start-up.
But barbs aside, since 2021 business terminologies like capex, opex, EBITDA have become part of the average person’s lexicon, thanks to hit TV shows like Shark Tank India.
They bring versatile businesses together on one entertaining platform and give a perspective of how these ideas work on the ground.
But best of all, entrepreneurs from all walks of life come together to represent Naye Bharat ke Ubharte Chehre (Budding faces of new age India) and they become the faces of our government’s motto of making India Atma Nirbhar (self-reliant).
Many of the products that get launched on shows like Shark Tank are well and truly “made in India,” contributing to the micro as well as the macroeconomy of our country. Some are trying to solve major complex problems that exist in society.
But this season of Shark Tank has shown that good ideas aren’t just coming from urban India. Oh, no. Many are firmly rooted in rural India.
Not only are more contestants coming from small towns or indeed villages but their ideas are also aimed at helping improve the lives of rural people. Be it providing a one-stop solution for them to avail all the basic government schemes or giving job opportunities in the beverage sector or helping preserve India’s fine handloom tradition.
Village Square Youth Hub showcases five of these transformational rural businesses from Shark Tank, Season 2, which promises to revolutionize the rural economy in India.
Since she was a little girl, Slony Gambhir found the local weavers of her hometown Yeola, Maharashtra – famous for its silk industry – an inspiration. They made traditional weaving famous not just nationally but internationally as well. She firmly believed that these labour-intensive sarees were treasures for women. One authentic Paithani may take anywhere from 15 days to four months to create, depending on the intricacy of the design. So she started her business “Very Much Indian” along with the entire weaver community who were there with her since the initial days of her family’s textile business. She hopes that young people from those communities will take weaving forward and make it so financially viable that others would want to join. Otherwise she fears India’s traditional saree-weaving industry will die off.
Click here to see her pitch on Shark Tank.
Find accessing government schemes confusing, difficult or down-right frustrating at times? You’re not alone. That’s why Aniket Deogar created a unique app that makes government schemes easily accessible to more than 90 crore Indians trying to access government schemes worth up to Rs 20 lakh crores. Hoping to bridge the gap his start-up Haqdarshak also has thousands of employees working tirelessly on the online application to make schemes reach to the last mile – yes, village India – in a very affordable and transparent way.
See his presentation for Shark Tank.
STAGE is India’s first OTT platform which not only gives people access to movies and TV series in their own dialect but also gives a platform to thousands of local artists to showcase their talent for film making, acting, singing and videography.
STAGE opens up a powerful space for Indian communities to feel proud of their own local identities and not get carried away by the pressure of following national or international trends. Currently, the content on STAGE is available in Haryanvi and Rajasthani.
It reemphasizes the power of uniqueness and the diversity which India as a country upholds. “We envisage that after STAGE when anyone in India speaks in their own dialect, they will not feel ashamed,” Vinay Singhal said in the STAGE pitch, as you can see here.
(https://www.jhajistore.com/)
Sisters-in-law Kalpana and Uma came to Shark Tank India straight from Darbhanga, Bihar with their exceptional pitch to the Sharks for their local pickle-making business, Jhaji Store. Not coming from business backgrounds, the women in their early fifties failed to raise the money last time, but before even starting off Season 2, Women Sharks Namita Thapar and Vineeta Singh decided to award this duo with more than what they asked – Rs 85 lakh funds. Quite a bump since they had only asked for 50 lakhs in the previous season. They hoped this would empower more local women to come up with small enterprises and persevere like Kalpana and Uma, who not only ran their businesses with sheer hard work and gusto, but also employed other local women in their micro pickle industry.
Their pitch can be watched here.
Sparsh Agarwal left his job to revive his family’s heritage plantation Selim Hill Tea Garden in Darjeeling by making high-quality organic Darjeeling tea available, affordable and accessible for Indians in every season. He says each season brings a different, special flavor. Offering fresh seasonal tea is the USP of Dorje Teas. This is not only good for their business, but the community – many of whom rely solely on work from tea plantations. He and his business partner Ishaan are working day and night to make sure that their community can earn a livelihood from their endeavors as well as help Darjeeling stand out from the crowded tea industry.
So turn the kettle on and have a look at their pitch here.
Village Square’s Youth Hub is both a platform showcasing India’s young change-makers who are working towards building a better nation as well as a facilitator in creating spaces for India’s urban and rural youth to mix and share ideas towards this endeavor.
We want to show what young people can do in order to transform the lives of millions.
The lead image reflects that the young entrepreneurs on TV show Shark Tank India promote rural India (Photo by Gustavo Frazao, Canva)
Sanjana Kaushik is the Manager – Youth Hub at Village Square.
