Namita Thapar // Shark Tank

Namita Thapar

she invested ₹10 crore in 25 companies during Shark Tank India, reveals her ‘biggest regrets’

Namita Thapar, who was one of the titular sharks on Shark Tank India, talked about the investments she made and the regrets she has.

Namita Thapar, the executive director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals, talked about about investments she made during Shark Tank India and the regrets she has after the show ended. In a new write-up, Namita talked about ‘missed opportunities’ and being ‘vulnerable’ as a business leader.

Namita revealed she evaluated as many as 170 pitches on the show and made investments worth ₹10 crore in 25 businesses: “I saw around 170 pitches and invested ₹10 crore in 25 companies that touched my heart. I invested ₹7 crore during the show and ₹3 crore post the show in deals I had lost out on and in a few existing deals to increase my stake.”

In her piece published on YourStory, she went on to talk about her ‘biggest regrets’ about not backing certain business ideas. “As future leaders we need to champion not just founders who can scale and make money for us but also those who have tremendous potential, are working on a real problem but don’t have the right mentorship to gain traction in their business. Jugaadu Kamlesh and Pandurang of Agro Tourism were both Maharashtrian farmers out to solve real problems but due to lack of right guidance hadn’t made sales,” wrote Namita

In her piece, she continued: “Leaders like me need to be bold, back such founders and ensure they become a success so that entrepreneurship doesn’t just become the dream of the ones with the right education and resources but even of the common man. This is one of our core responsibilities as business leaders who have been blessed with power and privilege, who people look up to... and not investing in Kamlesh and Pandurang remain my biggest regrets at Shark Tank India.”

On Shark Tank India, budding entrepreneurs pitched their business ideas to a panel of tycoons aka sharks, who offered their investment and expertise in exchange for equity.

Namita's fellow sharks on the show included Ashneer Grover (co-founder and managing director of BharatPe), Lenskart co-founder and CEO Peyush Bansal, Aman Gupta (co-founder and chief marketing officer at boAt), Vineeta Singh (CEO and co-founder of SUGAR Cosmetics), Ghazal Alagh (co-founder of Mamaearth) and Anupam Mittal (founder and CEO of People Group and Shaadi.com).

Shark Tank India, which began airing in December, concluded recently.

Namita Thapar was born on Monday, 21 March 1977 (age 45 years; as of 2022) in Pune, Maharashtra. Her zodiac sign is Aries. She completed her primary and secondary education at a school in Pune. While in school, Namita gave up all the extracurricular activities and put her entire focus on academics. She was a bright student and always stood first in her class (school days). After completing her schooling, Namita enrolled herself at Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, to pursue B. Com. Meanwhile, she also pursued Chartered Accountancy from ICAI. Thereafter, she pursued an MBA from Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 5′ 5″

Hair Colour: Dark Brown

Eye Colour: Black

Family

Namita belongs to a Gujarati family.

Parents & Siblings

Namita’s father, Satish Mehta, is an Indian businessman. He is the founder of Emcure Pharmaceuticals. Her mother’s name is Bhavana Mehta. She has a younger brother, Samit Mehta, who is the President R& D of Emcure Pharmaceuticals.