Most founders spend months trying to secure a meeting with an investor. At Scaler School of Business, one such interaction ended with Shaadi.com Founder and Shark Tank India judge Anupam Mittal asking a student founder, “50 Lakh Mein Kitna Equity Dega?” During a recent visit to the Scaler School of Business campus in Bengaluru, Mittal interacted with multiple student-led startups across consumer brands, AI and education, evaluating their business models, questioning founders and sharing candid advice on building companies.
The visit’s biggest highlight came when Mittal offered to back one of the student ventures. Impressed by Hummusapiens, a healthy snacking startup founded by student entrepreneur and Dr Charles Chacko Porathoor, Mittal offered to invest INR 50 lakh in the venture.
In the reel surfaced online, Mittal is seen interacting with student founders in his trademark no-filter style, sharing candid insights on entrepreneurship. From saying, “Dar ke aage aur dar hai” while speaking about the realities of building a business, to questioning the relevance of conventional MBA pathways and encouraging students to build companies instead of chasing salaries, the session offered an unfiltered glimpse into his approach to entrepreneurship.
Beyond Hummusapiens, Mittal also reviewed ventures including Gredo, a healthy vending machine startup, Grade Sense, an AI-powered paper evaluation platform, and Dream Kit, a science-learning venture. Throughout the interaction, he challenged founders on their business models, go-to-market strategies and long-term vision, while encouraging them to think bigger.
Vidit Jain, SVP & Head, Scaler Schools, said, “We built the Scaler School of Business to prepare builders for tomorrow. From day one, our students are expected to identify problems worth solving, build products, acquire customers and learn from the realities of running a business, not just simulations of one. That’s why our classrooms regularly extend beyond faculty to include founders, operators and investors who bring real-world perspectives, ask difficult questions and challenge students to sharpen their thinking. The outcome we aim for isn’t just better business education, but graduates who have already experienced what it takes to build something of value.”
The visit reflects Scaler School of Business’s approach to entrepreneurship-led management education, where students work on building real businesses with regular access to founders, operators and investors. For several founders, the session became an opportunity to receive direct feedback from one of India’s most prominent entrepreneurs and for one startup, it culminated in a funding commitment.
About Scaler School of Business (SSB)
Scaler School of Business (SSB) was founded by IIIT Hyderabad alumni Anshuman Singh and Abhimanyu Saxena in 2024. The curriculum is built and taught by practitioners who’ve worked at companies like Uber, McKinsey, Meta, and Google, bringing real operating experience into the classroom.
Its flagship offering, the Post Graduate Program in Management & Technology (PGP-MT), is an 18-month, full-time, on-campus program based in Bengaluru. The program combines AI-enabled learning, entrepreneurship labs, and company-led projects across product, marketing, finance, and strategy. Backed by leaders from India’s startup ecosystem and experienced operators, SSB offers students a learning experience shaped by the realities of today’s business landscape.
For more information, visit https://www.scaler.com/school-of-business
