The business reality television series Shark Tank is under hot water after the Season 1 participant Mani made a public post alleging that the show refused to offer him investment for his business, despite multiple follow-ups and meetings.
Mani, who developed a startup Stuffez, had made a public post on his Instagram account where he revealed that he was ghosted by the investors despite persistently trying to keep communication with them.
“In mid-September, I pitched my startup on Shark Tank Pakistan and received a PKR 5 million commitment in exchange for 22% equity from three sharks. It felt like the start of a dream,” Mani wrote.
Mani added that after the reality show was over, he was added into a Whatsapp group along with other investors. After a detailed meeting in October where growth plans were discussed and Mani said he provided all of the documents and research, but instead he was ghosted by the investors.
“Soon after the shoot, I was added to a WhatsApp group with the investors. A detailed meeting followed in October, where we discussed growth plans—but funding was never mentioned. Despite completing all assigned research and sharing over 40 verified documents of due diligence ,my efforts were met with silence. Follow-ups were ignored, and key meetings lacked full attendance, stalling any real progress.
In December, one investor privately called me, claiming the other two sharks were scammers with no funds. Though he promised to proceed alone, he too eventually cut off communication.”
Mani said the experience with Shark Tank Pakistan was disheartening due to the ghosting and disrespect. “What started as a dream turned into a painful lesson. Yet, this has only fueled my resolve to build my startup with honesty, strength, and on my own terms.”
View this post on Instagram
Mani recently provided an update in another Instagram post that an investor was accusing him of defamation because his post was directly calling them out. “My intention with any of my videos was never to defame or target anyone. I simply believed that since the deal happened publicly, it should also be disclosed publicly,” he wrote in the post.
View this post on Instagram
In another post, Mani offered an explanation regarding the checks winners were provided at the end of the contest. In another post, he explained that there were dummy cheques which did not offer any legal or financial value.
View this post on Instagram
