Vineeta Singh says she was judged for her age, gender when she started: ‘It was hard to get investment without a male co-founder’

Singh further added that today, the youth doesn’t just buy products but also wants to know about the story behind every brand. “It’s about the story. It also adds transparency and authenticity that brings to the genesis of a brand, it adds depth. And through the show, we managed to bridge that gap,” she added.

An advocate for women in business, the former IIT-IIM graduate also spoke about surviving in a man’s world. Sharing that things are getting better but there’s still a long way to go, she said, “Less than 2 percent of funding goes to women-founded companies, and there are just 19% of women in the workplace. It’s grim but the good thing is that conversations are happening in the right direction. Only that will drive the change, money of course will follow. The shift may be coming slower than expected but I think in the next decade, the industry will belong to women entrepreneurs.”

Sharing that she too had to face tough times, where she was told it was hard to raise funding unless one had a male co-founder. She said the angel investors would even question women about how they deprioritise work when they have a family or baby. Talking about the time she launched her first start-up, Vineeta Singh shared, “They would judge me for my age and gender. It was tough to get contracts. Also, not to forget the entire harassment angle. I would feel unsafe at many networking events. At the moment, the awareness is high and things are much better for women. They are no longer scared to raise their voice. Today’s generation doesn’t take things lying down. They are not okay with any kind of discrimination or unfairness. The power of social media and the ability to call people out has also given so much power to women.”

Getting back to discussing Shark Tank India, Vineeta shared the biggest learning she got as an investor. “One should focus on good founders. In season 1, I didn’t take a few risky bets as I didn’t understand the market and business. However, I later regretted the same. This time my mantra was to think bigger and bolder and take risks,” she shared. The SUGAR co-founder also said that she’s found a family in other sharks as they are now even part of each others’ big moments. She added, “As an entrepreneur, it’s hard to make friends but as we ended up spending so much time together, we saw each others’ real side. I feel fortunate that at this age, I managed to find a new set of friends. Today, we attend the other’s kids’ birthday parties also. That has been my biggest takeaway from the show.”

On a final note, Vineeta Singh had some useful tips for budding entrepreneurs that could help them in the long run. “Firstly, know your consumer really well. One has to have a deep understanding of their problems. Secondly, don’t create your business for valuation but to solve the issues of your consumers. Thirdly, build a great team. We are used to the mentality of holding on to all the power. But you can only build a great organisation when you give up power and delegate the work.” Shark Tank India 2 also had Amit Jain, Peyush Bansal, Anupam Mittal, Namita Thapar and Aman Gupta as judges.