Namita Thapar Success Story: The Phar’Maa’ of Shark Tank India

Namita Thapar- A woman entrepreneur who showed that in women’s too can stand out and achieve success if they want too. She is an Indian entrepreneur, business executive and an Angel investor. Namita Thapar is the Executive director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals. Let us understand her journey in detail. 

Namita Thapar-Biography

• Namita Thapar is one of India’s most successful women entrepreneur and has played a very important role in Emcure’s growth and success. She appeared on Television as one of the investor in the top rated business reality show, Shark Tank India Season 1, 2 and 3.

Namita Thapar – Early Life and Education 

• Namita Thapar was born in Gujarati family on March 21, 1977, in Pune, Maharashtra. Namita was very intelligent from the beginning of her career and her family considered education is of utmost importance in anyone’s life.
• Her family thus provided her best in class education throughout her educational career. Namita Thapar completed her Chartered Accountancy from ICAI at just 21 years and later she got her MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. She always aspired to be a business woman.
• Namita started her professional career in the United States Bay Area, where she worked for six years in the field of marketing & finance in two different companies. After that she returned to India and joined her father’s business i.e. Emcure Pharmaceuticals as the Chief Financial Officer.
• After being CFO for ten years she then thought of doing something different and take her company to new heights. She managed many portfolios in HR, domestic marketing and finance.
• She oversees over 3000 medical representatives across India, contributing over $ 1 billion in sales. Namita also serves as Board of Director of Fuqua School of Business and Finolex Cables.

Namita Thapar –Family Life

• Namita Thapar was born in Pune to Satish and Bhavna Mehta. She was raised in Pune and also did her schooling there. She is married to Vikas a key member of the Emcure Management team for the past 15 years. They have two children name Jai and Vir Thapar.
• Namita is a big fan of film star Amitabh Bachhan and so she named her sons inspired by the film Sholay where Amitabh Bachhan and Film star Dharmendra played the character of Jay and Viru.

Namita Thapar- Career

• After completing MBA, Namita Thapar got a job at Guidant Corporation as a Business Finance Lead in Financial Planning Department. Guidant Corporation is in to manufacturing of medical devices. Namita worked with the multinational for 6 years before quitting the same and moving back to India.
• Namita later on joined her father Satish Mehta’s pharmaceutical company, Emcure Pharmaceuticals as Executive Director which she still holds on. She started her own company Incredible Ventures Limited in the year 2017. Incredible ventures is an education company which is branched in Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai and Bangalore.

Namita Thapar Net Worth

• Namita Thapar’s estimated net worth is Rs 600 crore as of 2023. The majority of her income comes from Emcure Pharmaceuticals where the company itself has net worth of Rs 6000 crores.

Namita Thapar Emcure Pharmaceuticals

• Emcure Pharmaceuticals is an international pharmaceutical firm with headquarters in Pune and Maharashtra. The portfolio of Emcure’s products consists of pills, capsules and injectable. While headquartered in Pune, Maharashtra, the company has increased its global operations. It generates a yearly revenue of $750 million. It operates in 70 nations and has a workforce of more than 10000.
• Founded in 1981, the company has built a reputation for developing, manufacturing and marketing a diverse range of products worldwide. This article delves into the foundation, leadership, and financial standing of Emcure Pharmaceuticals.
• The Emcure pharmaceuticals founder is a graduate of the University of California, Mr Satish Mehta leveraged his expertise in pharmaceutical technology to launch the company. His entrepreneurial journey was inspired by a desire to make essential medicines available and affordable for patients in India and worldwide.
• Upon returning to India, Namita assumed the role of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at her father’s company Emcure Pharmaceuticals. After serving as a CFO for a decade, she embarked on new business adventures.

Namita Thapar –Shark Tank India

Namita Thapar is one of seven sharks on Shark Tank India and is among the most famous and leading businesswomen in India. Namita Thapar also encourages budding entrepreneurs by investing in their start-ups. Below mentioned are few companies where she invested money.

Young entrepreneurs have always been Namita Thapar’s focus when creating Incredible Ventures Ltd. Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Pune, Chennai, and Ahmedabad is an education company that teaches entrepreneurship to students aged 11 to 18. She actively explores new business concepts and ideas and invests in them accordingly. As a “Shark” on the show, she invests in promising startups, leveraging her experience and business insights to guide and support aspiring entrepreneurs. Her participation not only underscores her investment prowess but also highlights her passion for fostering innovation and fostering the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Namita Thapar –Awards and Recognition

Namita Thapar’s achievements extend beyond the business realm. As a participant in government initiatives like NITI Aayog’s “Women’s Entrepreneurship Platform” and the “Digital Health Task Force,” she actively contributes to societal development.

 She has received following awards

• The Economic Times ‘40 under Forty’ award.
• Barclays Hurun Next Gen Leader recognition.
• Economic Times 2017 Women Ahead List.
• World Women Leadership Congress Super Achiever award.

Lessons to Learn from Namita Thapar

1. Learn to admit when you lack the expertise

“Yeh meri expertise nahi hain, I am out”. This is perhaps one of the most popular phrases associated with the businesswoman during her appearance on the Shark Tank India show. On more than one occasion, Namita  refused to go in on a deal because she felt she lacked expertise in a particular range of business. With her words, she proved that no matter how big a name you are in your field, there might always be some areas you’re just not an expert in, and that’s okay. There is no shame in accepting that and there’s always the opportunity to get better at it.

2. Grab what you want, even if it means going back

Even though Namita invested in almost 25 start-ups on the show, she revealed that there were a few that slipped away from her. She had said that she had ‘regretted’ not investing in some start-ups on the show, such as TagZ Foods and Pandurang Taware’s start up in farming. Well, the businesswoman proved that regrets can always be rectified, as she went back to invest in the two companies after she could not get a deal with them on the show.

3. Find the potential in things, even when others cannot

Namita’s  “Yeh kachra nahi hain it has a lot of potential” dialogue was yet another line that provided meme makers with a goldmine of material to weave funny jokes around. But the line does hold true as an important lesson in business, and in life as well. Like the phrase ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’, Thapar’s phrase also teaches us that there can be a host of things that have potential in them even though most people might be blind to the same.

4. Never forget to have fun

Despite some fierce and heated moments on the show, Thapar always made sure to find fun in things whenever possible. Her “Yahi toh maza hai” line reminds viewers to do the same. Business may be tough and things may not always go your way but it does not mean we can’t find the lighter side to it whenever we can.

5. Intelligent moves

Namita is an avid investor. She identifies ideas and individuals with potential and involves herself in building brands from scratch. Her brand Incredible Ventures teaches entrepreneurship to 11 to 18-year-olds and contributes towards encouraging the next generation of entrepreneurs. She is an influential speaker at the Harvard Business School, the Indian Institute of Management (IIM A), the ET Women’s Conference and FICCI.