Shark Tank India: Meet Anoushka Jolly, 13-Year-Old To Win Rs 50 Lakh Funding For Anti-Bullying App

Anoushka Jolly, a Class 8 student of the Pathways School, pitch for anti-bullying app called 'Kavach that allows students and parents to report incidents of bullying anonymously

Instagram | Pathways.Gurgaon

New Delhi: The judges of the popular business reality show Shark Tank India found the pitch of a 13-year-old entrepreneur Anoushka Jolly that intriguing that she managed to win Rs 50 lakh funding on the show.

She has emerged as the youngest entrepreneur on the reality show to win funding for her idea.

Who’s Anoushka Jolly?

Anoushka Jolly is a Class 8 student who appeared on the show to pitch her anti-bullying app called 'Kavach'. The mobile application allows students and parents to report incidents of bullying anonymously, giving an opportunity to schools and counsellors to tactfully intervene and take action.

The app is aimed at spreading awareness on the importance of anti-bullying. It will also hold webinars and one-on-one talks across the country against bullying.

Jolly, who is a student of the Pathways School in Gurugram, wants to build a strong network of anti-bullying ambassadors for tracking the progress of those impacted directly or indirectly through the platform and application.

What prompted her to develop this app?

The idea of this app was seeded years ago after she witnessed incidents of bullying. For the first time when she was mocked by her friends, she ended up crying,  told the young entrepreneur on 'Shark Tank India' while pitching her idea.

This incident was followed by another episode of bullying when she witnessed her fellow students mocking a six-year-old girl during a school function.

These bitter experiences forced her to form 'Anti Bullying Squad (ABS)' with the help of educational institutions, social organisations, and experts.

So far, the app has reached out to over 2,000 students from more than 100 schools and universities. Jolly has been spearheading the ABS digital platform for over three years now.

The platform also allows people to better understand bullying and its consequences, along with taking a pledge to prevent the menace. It also sells anti-bullying merchandise, Jolly told PTI in an interview.

"However, during the process, I realised that most of these incidents do not get reported and hence, do not get resolved. So, I came up with the idea of creating a bullying reporting mobile app 'Kavach' to anonymously report incidents," Jolly told PTI.

She is a daughter of a chartered accountant and an entrepreneur. She intends to take her entrepreneurial journey ahead.

"The idea was well-received by judges of (Shark Tank), two of whom even stepped forward to invest in my app at Rs 50 lakh in valuation to help me widen its scale and reach," she added.

Sharks Anupam Mittal, founder, and CEO of People Group (Shaadi.com), and Aman Gupta, co-founder of boAt came forward to invest in the venture. 'Shark Tank India' is the indigenous version of the global entrepreneurial reality show that first aired in Japan.

The show just concluded its first season and selected 198 candidates out of 50,000 applications.