Anupam Mittal, “That’s The Stupidest Thing You’ve Said” to Currently Social on Shark Tank India

Mitesh Sethwala walked into the Shark Tank India Season 5 studio wearing mismatched shoes deliberately, a quirky signal to his Gen Z audience that he doesn’t take himself too seriously. His pitch centered around a real-time activity sharing app called Currently Social, designed to make social media genuinely social again.

Instead of doom-scrolling through curated reels and polished influencer content, Currently Social wants users to share what they’re doing right now so friends nearby can instantly meet offline. The concept addresses a common complaint about modern social platforms: they’ve become entertainment channels rather than tools for actual human connection.

The ask was aggressive: ₹1.2 crore for just 1% equity, implying a valuation of ₹120 crore. That number would later become a major point of contention among the sharks.

Related: Anjani Books Pitch on Shark Tank India Season 5 Episode 29 — A Deep Dive Into the Potential, and Financials

Currently Social is not another Instagram clone. It’s built around one specific behaviour.

Real-time activity sharing for instant offline connection. Here’s how it works:

• You post what you’re doing right now (not from your gallery)
• Friends nearby get instant notifications
• They can join you immediately

Examples the founder shared:

• Your friend is drinking coffee two blocks away
• A cousin is playing pickleball nearby
• You get notified and can meet them instantly

The app enforces strict rules to keep things authentic:

• No gallery uploads allowed – only live camera posting
• Activity tagging required – users select what they’re doing (pitching, eating, traveling)
• Post-to-view model – you must share your own activity before seeing others’ posts in detail

Official Website – Currently Social

One feature caught everyone off guard during the demonstration. The founder casually mentioned that users can “stalk” others on the app, which triggers instant post notifications whenever that person shares an activity.

“Which female wants to get stalked?” shark Kunal asked immediately.

Mitesh quickly clarified: “It’s stalking with consent. You allow someone to stalk you, then they get notifications. It’s like a bell icon for your posts.”

Anupam Mittal saw the humour and potential in the naming. He pointed out that in today’s culture, having more stalkers than followers could actually be a status symbol. Namita agreed, noting that sometimes stalk value carries more weight than recall value.

The moment broke the tension, but privacy concerns lingered throughout the pitch.

Mitesh didn’t walk in as a first-time founder. His entrepreneurial journey spans over a decade with multiple exits.

He completed his IT Engineering degree in 2009, followed by an MBA in Marketing between 2010 and 2012. His first venture was an IT outsourcing business. In 2015, he started a product company focused on fashion commerce for local brands.

That company got acquired in 2019. He then worked with the acquiring company and built another Gujarat-based company called Friendly. By the end of 2020, he exited that business as well.

Following that exit, he started a service company called Hi Name, which he sold within the first year. Currently, he’s working full-time on Currently Social.

Mitesh shared detailed metrics that painted a mixed picture of the app’s performance.

The app launched in August 2023. By the time of the pitch, it had accumulated 2 lakh total downloads with 84,000 active users. Daily posts numbered around 11,000.

• Ahmedabad: 17,000 active users
• Jaipur: 40 (as per transcript)
• Rajkot: 4,000
• Surat: 6,000 to 7,000

The sharks questioned the expansion strategy and suggested focusing on fewer cities and building dense networks instead of spreading thin.

Mitesh claimed a virality coefficient of 4.5, but Kunal Bahl immediately challenged it. He clarified that virality means how many invited users actually become active.

Mitesh said each user invites four people, but only 25 to 30 percent post. Since posting is mandatory, Kunal pointed out the real virality drops sharply. With 46 percent one-month retention, the effective virality likely falls below 1.

Anupam added that the DAU over MAU ratio was also worrying, since strong social apps usually maintain 20 to 30 percent. Mitesh compared the app to WhatsApp, but the sharks felt the use case was not comparable.

The founder stated the company had raised two rounds:

1. First round:5 crore at 10 crore post-money valuation
2. Government grant: 35 lakh seed fund
3. Recent round: crossed 7 crore at 35 crore post-money valuation

The sharks reacted strongly to the cost of acquiring users and the implied burn.

Now, Mitesh was asking for ₹1.2 crore at a ₹120 crore valuation, more than 3x his last round.

Kunal reacted first: “Every user is very expensive.”

Anupam followed with the harshest line of the pitch: “You are a very smart guy, but that’s the stupidest thing you’ve said.”

The comment referred to Mitesh’s explanation around user acquisition cost and scaling logic. Anupam felt the economics didn’t add up for a social app competing against Meta and Google.

Currently Social hadn’t started monetising yet, which is normal for early-stage social apps. But the monetisation plan raised red flags.

When asked about future revenue, Mitesh outlined a straightforward ad-based model. The app knows users’ interests because they share daily activities. It has demographic data, geographic data, and lifestyle information. Therefore, ad revenue would be the highest opportunity.

Varun Alagh wasn’t buying the logic. He pointed out that many entrepreneurs assume knowing user interests automatically translates to effective ad monetisation. The reality is far more complex.

Despite respecting Mitesh’s background and appreciating the mission, all five sharks opted out. Each had distinct reasons for passing.

Varun Alagh focused on business viability. He felt the monetisation strategy was weak and competing with Meta would require unsustainable cash burn. The path to profitability seemed unclear.

Vineeta Singh questioned the core value proposition. She didn’t see proof that offline meetups were happening. Without data showing people physically connecting because of the app, the original problem wasn’t being solved.

Namita Thapar raised cultural concerns. She didn’t believe India was ready for this type of app. The country already has strong informal networks through family, neighbourhood connections, and WhatsApp groups. She doubted whether 9,000 daily active users could scale significantly within Indian culture.

Kunal Bahl acknowledged the ambition but found the pitch lacking. He gave the example of Snapchat, which succeeded not just because it was different but because it had a deep insight about Gen Z privacy concerns. Currently Social showed an interesting idea but no unique behavioural insight that would drive massive adoption.

Anupam Mittal delivered the most emotional response. He admitted his dream is to see a big social network emerge from India. He said, “My emotions are pulling me toward you. I dream of a big social network coming from India. Among all founders I’ve met, you’re probably the most likely candidate.”

However, Anupam couldn’t overlook the concerning metrics. The weak virality coefficient and troubling DAU over MAU ratio signalled that product-market fit hadn’t been achieved yet. Despite his emotional pull toward supporting the venture, the numbers forced him to opt out. He ended by telling Mitesh to stay in touch and that he’d be tracking the company’s progress.

• Remained positive despite no deal
• Believed he came very close after Anupam’s praise
• Felt rejection was due to valuation mismatch, not concept failure
• Gained validation from top investors and Shark Tank exposure
• Expects increased downloads and potential future investors

• Build dense networks in specific cities before expanding nationally
• Keep no-gallery-upload rule for authenticity
• Strengthen post-to-view engagement model
• Must prove users are actually meeting offline at scale
• Monetisation depends on targeted ads from real-time activity data