Shark Tank: Chennai entrepreneur barred since he's 'not fluent in Hindi'

In a LinkedIn post, Chennai-based entrepreneur Karthik Manikonda alleged that despite being selected for the show, he was barred from participating in Shark Tank India since he was not proficient in Hindi.

Manikonda is the founder of The Mind and Company, a mental health start-up, aimed at promoting therapy. He wanted to present his pitch in English rather than in Hindi, which is a requirement on the show.

Language barriers

In his post, he wrote that it is a “bummer” not being able to pitch in a non-Hindi language. “I don't blame Shark Tank. They have a format. They have to protect that. But regional start-ups shouldn't lose out due to the language barriers,” he added.

Moreover, he had asked if he can pitch in English but this request was turned down, he wrote in his post.

He also argued that if they had told him his scale was not big enough or his industry was too niche or that he was not investment ready, he would have accepted it. But not being able to pitch in Hindi was clearly a sore point for him.

AI real time translation?

Manikonda also posed a question to people in his post asking them if they had any solution for this and he asked if it can it be “AI real time translation”.

"How do world political leaders communicate in their local language?" he wanted to know. He concluded his post on a positive note, however, saying, “Disappointed but not out”.

Manikonda, a CA by profession, ventured into the mental health space, realising the importance of mental health. His mission is to make going for therapy as normal as going to the gym.

Shark Tank India is a Hindu reality TV series that airs on Sony TV and is the Indian franchise of the American show Shark Tank. It has entrepreneurs presenting their business ideas to a panel of investors or 'sharks', who decide whether to invest in their company.