This show claims to do what Shark Tank does sans the drama

• A show named The BarberShop with Shantanu has released the first episode of its second season.
  
  
• The show aims to make 20 investments to the tune of ₹50 lakh to ₹2 crore per investment, over the course of one year.
  
  
• Conceptualized by Shantanu Deshpande, founder and CEO of Bombay Shaving Company, the claims to be ‘authentic sans the drama’.
  

Ahead of the release of the much awaited Shark Tank India season 2, a similar show – The BarberShop with Shantanu - Raiser’s Edge has launched its second season.

Conceptualized by Shantanu Deshpande, founder and CEO of Bombay Shaving Company, this show aims to shortlist 60 startups and make 20 investments to the tune of ₹50 lakh to ₹2 crore per investment over the course of one year.

Deshpande insisted that the show is about a group of ‘curious equity seekers and emerging founders’ who will come together to share ideas and forge partnerships. “We are not creating your typical funding-for-equity ecosystem; this is about true value creation that stands the test of the market, and in a format that’s open for everyone to witness and learn from,” he added.

Ideally, they prefer early stage startups to be a part of the show, who are post-revenue i.e. those who are making sales. The startups which will be funded by a group of “friends” who are startup founders, CEOs and businessmen who want to be angel investors. Ideally, they would want to be either the first or the second investor in the startup.

The show’s format too will be a tad different from the popular show Shark Tank which launched its first season last year. “We intend to be ‘founder-first’ in approach and language. Why shouldn’t it be an honest conversation between two equals, and not a founder standing and investor on a throne?! Authentic, and sans the drama of course,” Deshpande said in a press release.

Over the course of four episodes every month, which drops every Friday, founders will showcase their business and story, and be invited to access mentorship, advice, capital and capabilities they need to build successful businesses in India.

The first episode of the show was released last Friday, and within 48 hours, 400 startups have already applied to be part of the programme, the press release claimed. The episode featured Bhopal-based Prateek Vats and Deepesh Shrivastava, founders of Wanderloom narrating the tale of how they built a formidable business through Covid.

In addition to Shantanu Deshpande, Mandar Vaidya, CEO of OYO Europe, and Meghana Narayan, founder of Slurrp Farm were also part of the episode and sought equity worth ₹50 lakhs in Wanderloom.

In Season 1, the show featured intimate conversations with the likes of Aman Gupta, Ankur Warikoo, Vineeta Singh, Rohit Bansal and several other celebrated entrepreneurs – showcasing a founder’s and start-ups journey and myriad shades.

“Over 1.5 crore people tuned in to watch season 1. A community of over 200,000 start-up content enthusiasts have been created in just three months,” the press release said. The season is powered by Bombay Shaving Company and Bombay and is available on YouTube.