Exclusive: Shark Tank India's Vineeta Singh opens up on facing discrimination

Vineeta Singh, the CEO of Sugar Cosmetics, is one of the top female business entrepreneurs of the country. She became a household name with her appearance on the Sony TV show Shark Tank India. Being a female entrepreneur, Vineeta has been an inspiration for many individuals but her journey had never been an easy one.

Recently during an interview with Pinkvilla, Vineeta shared an incident where a Venture Capitalist (VC) told her that she will only get funds if her husband puts an equal time in the company.

"No, it didnt hamper my confidence as people rarely make sexist comments these days as they really watch out before saying anything. Sexist remarks are called out in last 5-6 years."

"The conversation with the VC was around 10 years back and that time sexists remarks or comments didn't strike people. When you are struggling, either you can back off if you hear something like this or make a opportunity out of this. You normally hang into whatever you get when you don't have option of backing out. Today 2% capital goes to women run companies which was 0% 10 years back. If there is a male and female co-founders, then the capital is 10-12% which is still very low. On other hand 85-90% capital goes to solo male founders, two or three male founders," she added.

She also stated, "The real access to capital is yet to improve. It has improved but it will need more time. Nowadays a lot of VCs are ready to fund the women entruprenuers and another decade might be taken for the 2% capital to move to 10% capital. The problem is even in venture capitals firms, the decision makers are male and 1-2% females. I feel there is a long way to go where 10-15% capital will be given fully to women run companies which will be quite a improvement."

About Shark Tank India

Shark Tank is one of most popular shows. The first seaon was aired on Sony Tv from 20th December 2021 to 4th February 2022. The judges of this season were Aman Gupta, Anupam Mittal, Ashneer Grover, Ghazal Alagh, Namita Thapar, Peyush Bansal, Vineeta Singh.

The second season was aired from 2nd Jan 2023 and the judges of this season are Aman Gupta, Anupam Mittal, Namita Thapar, Peyush Bansal, Vineeta Singh and Amit Jain

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