Namita Thapar went from handling family’s Rs 20,000 crore business to running a startup: ‘Had to throw away products worth Rs 30 lakh’

Shark Tank India founders become Namita’s teachers

Namita and Vineeta Singh had together invested in a brand, Arata, which appeared on Shark Tank India in a previous season. The founders had asked for Rs 1 crore for 1.25 percent equity, and both Namita and Vineeta jointly invested Rs 1 crore for 1.33 percent of the company. Now, the founders of the Arata brand are helping Namita market products for Arth. Sharing the same, she said, “I sat with them and they have been helping me for hours. They show me the dashboards, they have introduced me to their digital marketing head. Tell me which search words work and which ones to eliminate. What campaigns to run. We think that we help our founders, but our founders have become my teacher now. So my Shark Tank guys have come through for me.”

Namita had to discard products worth Rs 30 lakh

As a new founder, Namita admitted that she has made mistakes along the way. She revealed that products worth Rs 20-30 lakh had to be discarded after they went bad. “There have been many failures. We thought there would be this one product which would be a game changer and then right before launch, the capsules started having this terrible smell and we had to literally throw away everything. That was a Rs 20-30 lakh hit. At Emcure level, I would not have bothered by Rs 25 lakhs but here with this P&L (Profit and Loss) with Rs 25 lakh gone they are going to kill me.”

She further added, “I have been a guinea pig for my brand. For instance, Brahmi tastes bad when we try to make gummies from it. I tried 12 versions before we finalised the one. I have been the guinea pig for a lot of the products.”

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What is Arth?

Namita launched Arth in 2024, initially focusing on menopause wellness. In 2025, the brand expanded into a broader range of daily wellness supplements in March 2025, entering the over-the-counter (OTC) daily supplements market. She soon appointed Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the brand ambassador.

While the valuation of Arth cannot be assessed independently at the moment as it operates under Emcure Pharmaceuticals and is still a fairly new brand, Emcure Pharmaceuticals is currently ranked as the 12th largest pharmaceutical company in India. The company operates in over 70 countries, including Europe and Canada. As per a 2024 Reuters report, Emcure’s overall market capitalisation is around Rs 20,097 crore. The company reported revenue of Rs 7,960 crore in FY 2025.