Wow! Momo backs Bengal’s first startup reality show with Rs 48.98 crore in play

Bengal’s startup scene is about to get its own stage, and the stakes are eye-watering. Wow! Momo has partnered with the Rajiva Sinha Foundation to launch Tigers’ Pitch, billed as the region’s first large-scale startup reality show, with a whopping Rs 48.98 crore in expected investment on the table, the biggest such commitment any entrepreneurial reality show has seen in its debut season.

The show airs every Saturday and Sunday on Zee 24 Ghanta starting 25th July, and its ambitions run well beyond television ratings. At a moment when India’s startup economy is sprinting ahead, Tigers’ Pitch is built to solve a specific problem: founders from Bengal often struggle for visibility, mentorship and capital compared with peers in India’s bigger startup hubs. By putting entrepreneurs, investors and industry heavyweights on one platform, the show wants to put Bengal firmly on the national startup map.

The numbers behind the selection process are just as telling. From 248 applications, only 27 startups made the cut across a rigorous, multi-stage process involving IIM Kolkata, spanning application screening, business assessment, mentor interactions, boot camps and pitch auditions. Over 10 episodes, these founders will pitch, defend their business models and compete not just for cheques, but for mentorship and national exposure in front of an expert panel.

Wow! Momo’s involvement as presenting partner is no coincidence. The company itself started as a single Kolkata kiosk before growing into one of India’s leading homegrown QSR chains, now running over 900 stores across more than 100 cities under the Wow! Momo, Wow! China, Wow! Chicken and Wow! Kulfi brands. As part of the tie-up, the company will also hand out the Best Pitch Award to the startup judged strongest on innovation, scalability and market potential.

Sagar Daryani, co-founder & CEO of Wow! Momo Foods, framed the partnership as personal. Every great business, he said, begins as a bold idea backed by the courage to chase it, adding that Wow! Momo’s own journey from kiosk to national brand is proof entrepreneurs can emerge from anywhere.

Tigers’ Pitch is betting that Bengal’s next big business idea is already out there, waiting for its shot. With crores on the line and a national audience watching, the region’s founders just got the spotlight they’ve been chasing.