Suniel Shetty on Bharat Ke Super Founders clashing with Shark Tank India: ‘Our show isn't just about investors or abuse'

Bharat Ke Super Founders is the indigenous business reality show grabbing all the attention on the internet. Premiered on MX Player on 16 January, the Bharat-focused show is already giving tough competition to Shark Tank India. Talking to Livemint, actor and entrepreneur Suniel Shetty, who is hosting and mentoring the show, explained how Bharat Ke Super Founders goes beyond funding.

Bharat Ke Super Founders vs Shark Tank India

“Shark Tank India has a global appeal because it is a global brand which is brought to India. Naturally, they have great reach, great following; everything is great about them,” Shetty said about the comparison.

Interestingly, both shows are streaming online at the same time.

What makes Bharat Ke Super Founders different from other shows? The 64-year-old's description of the core strength of the show was: "What is important for us is to touch the interiors of India. Today, the belief is abuse is views. For us, content is views.

“We are the difference between the virtual and the real world. In the virtual world, the right photo with the right colour correction and the right food is used to show that you are happy. We, in the real world, are saying daal chawal kha k bhi insaan khush reh sakta ha. We are actually the real show of India, hitting the interiors of India to show the actual, real founders of successful stories. Not just by funding them, but by making sure that the strength of the tycoons is used to reach their end goal.”

“It's not the valuation, but the value of the product that will matter. It's not the presentation, but it's the person who will matter. Bharat Ke Super Founders is not just about investors,” he added.

Bharat Ke Super Founders is described as a high-stakes business reality show featuring "India's boldest founders pitch for real, pre-vetted investments with ₹100 crore committed across the season. Guided by Suniel Shetty and backed by credible tycoons, it's where conviction, execution and courage decide who builds next,” as per the official synopsis of the show.

The show features tycoons--Dr A VeluMani (Creator, Thyrocare and Director, AVMSmile), Nitish Mittersain (Founder & CEO, Nazara Technologies), Dr Aarti Gupta (Chief Investment Officer, Anikarth Ventures), Shanti Mohan (Founder & CEO, LetsVenture Trica), Aditya Singh (Co-Founder, All In Capital), and Ankur Mittal (Partner, Physis Capital and Co-Founder, Inflection Point Ventures).

Focusing on creating a bigger impact, the show has already distributed ₹138.5 crore, Shetty shared.

“It doesn't matter whether you are international or not. What matters is the impact we are creating,” he asserted about its target audience.

Tycoon Shanti Mohan commented on the competitors of Bharat Ke Super Founders.

“I don't think we should do a comparison because India needs more shows like Bharat Ke Super Founders. Ours is a very Indian contextual show. We have gone to tier 2-3 founders. The distribution platform, MX Player, is free for everyone. There's a difference in ideology here. We want to keep it an open platform. It is built for Bharat, from Bharat. This has been designed to last,” said Mohan.

“We are not here to replicate someone else's doing. When you look at it, global views will not get any benefit to the local, and if you are focused locally,probably you will miss global; covering both is not possible. As a programme, we are more into creating multi-millionaires than billionaires,” asserted Dr A VeluMani.

Tycoon Ankur Mittal shared that founders are no longer emerging only from metropolitan cities or even tier-2 and tier-3 towns. He pointed out that several businesses are being built in unheard parts of India, running successfully thanks to social media.

“Good businesses are getting funded. Their location, educational background or even language does not matter anymore. In the show, one founder was only comfortable talking in his mother tongue. The show literally continued in his language. We needed a translator,” Mittal chuckled.

Following the success of the ongoing season, applications for Bharat Ke Super Founders Season 2 are already open to founders.