‘Shark Tank’ business show to kick off in Bangladesh on 12 Feb

The globally acclaimed business show, "Shark Tank", which has been aired in more than 40 countries over the last 15 years, is making its debut in the country as Shark Tank Bangladesh.

Shooting for the much-anticipated show is scheduled to kick off on 12 February, following a screening process that involved evaluating over 2,000 companies to select the best businesses.

Bangladesh's leading OTT platform, Bongo, signed a deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment to bring the world's number-one business show to the country.

During a press conference at Hotel Intercontinental today (10 February), the organiser, Bongo, unveiled the identities of the country's top five investor sharks in the show.

Shark Tank Bangladesh Season 1 will have the Sharks Sami Ahmed, managing director and CEO of Startup Bangladesh Limited (SBL); Nazim Farhan Choudhury, managing director of Adcomm; Golam Murshed, managing director of Majesto Limited; Kazi M Hassan, CEO of Robi's digital ventures arm R Ventures PLC; Samanzar Khan, managing director of AKS Khan Holdings Ltd; Fahim Mashroor, managing director of Bdjobs.com; Ahmed R Ali, founder and chairman of TISTA Science and Technology Corporation.

In addition to these Sharks, several other high-profile female entrepreneurs will be joining the Tank. Their names are yet to be shared by the organisers.

"Shark Tank" provides entrepreneurs with the opportunity to pitch their business ideas to a panel of investors, known as "Sharks," who may offer cash for a deal if they find the opportunity promising. Whether it is a prototype of a new product, an existing product or service, or a company seeking financial support for growth, entrepreneurs must persuade the five "Sharks" to invest in their idea and contribute to transforming their life's work into a household name.

Producers from Sony, Arch Dyson, and Kevin Hyland, who have helped supervise and produce versions of the show around the world, will be present in Dhaka to unveil the Sharks and oversee the first few days of the shoot.

Robi is the "Title Sponsor," Startup Bangladesh is the "Powered By Sponsor," and Prime Bank is the "Banking Partner" pf the show. Deepto TV will broadcast the inaugural season of the show while it will be streamed on Bongo.

Since launching in 2001 as "Money Tigers" on Nippon TV in Japan, the format has become a phenomenal worldwide success. It is produced in territories on every continent under a variety of names including "Dragon's Den", "Lion's Den," and of course "Shark Tank." 

The format has seen Dragons, Lions, and Sharks, all hugely successful entrepreneurs themselves, invest nearly $1 billion through all versions of the franchise across the globe, enabling dozens of companies to grow significantly. 

Entrepreneurs who have been on boarded into the "Shark" ecosystem have seen massive growth and generated billions of dollars in sales after receiving deals and being featured on the show.