No funding, but a job: Shark Tank India judge hires founder after pitch

In a surprising turn on Shark Tank India Season 5 Campus Special, entrepreneur and judge Pratham Mittal chose not to invest in a startup but instead offered a job to its founder, an offer that has now been accepted. Priyansh Gupta, founder of PeerX, will join the Founder’s Office at Masters’ Union, turning a missed funding deal into a new career opportunity.

Pitch that ended differently
What began as a regular funding pitch quickly took a different direction on the show. Priyansh Gupta, who built PeerX, a platform focused on peer-to-peer learning and skill exchange, did not secure investment from the panel.


However, his approach and execution caught the attention of Pratham Mittal, who decided to make an offer beyond funding. Instead of a cheque, Mittal invited Gupta to work closely with his team.

Priyansh, a graduate of Bhilai Institute of Technology, Durg, has now formally accepted the offer. He has joined the Founder’s Office at Masters’ Union, where he is working on product development and strategic initiatives.

Explaining his decision, Pratham Mittal said, “On Shark Tank, everyone comes looking for a cheque. But sometimes, what a young founder really needs is not money but the right environment. Priyansh had the hunger, the instinct and the bias for action. I felt a role where he could work closely on real products would do more for him right now than funding would.”

While the pitch didn’t end with an investment, it sparked an opportunity that could shape a founder’s trajectory in a more meaningful way. Sometimes, the biggest win isn’t funding it’s finding the right place to build.