Srikanth Bolla, the CEO and co-founder of Bollant Industries, has joined the judges’ panel in Season 4 of the popular Indian business reality television series Shark Tank India.

In a recent Instagram post, the entrepreneur confirmed his participation in the reality show as a judge with a picture featuring Bolla posing with the other judges (commonly known as Sharks), including Aman Gupta, Namita Thapar, Anupam Mittal, Jeet Adani, and Piyush Bansal.

Bolla wrote, “To survive a pool of sharks, you need to become one yourself. So yes, I got an opportunity to become a shark on Shark Tank India. Being on the set made me realise that dreams aren’t just for thinkers— they’re for the doers! It was a blast meeting all these accomplished entrepreneurs in the panel and the pitches made were very inspiring — smelled innovation in the air.”

Here’s everything you need to know about the new ‘Shark’ of Shark Tank India.

Who is Srikanth Bolla?

Srikanth Bolla was born on July 7, 1991, in a Telugu family in Seetharamapuram, Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh. His parents had no formal education. Bolla was born visually impaired. His family primarily relied on farming for their livelihood.

His early years were challenging, marked by a lack of electricity, scarce educational resources, and family income that barely met basic needs. Due to his visual impairment, accessing educational opportunities proved to be a challenge, as few institutions were willing to accommodate him.

However, after a long journey of struggles, Srikanth became the first visually impaired student of Management Science at the Sloan School of Management of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, according to his website.

Srikanth confronted numerous obstacles on his way to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and overcame all with his grit and determination. After he returned to India, he decided to create job opportunities for visually impaired people like himself. This led him to establish Bollant Industries, a company that produces areca-based products and provides employment to hundreds of individuals with disabilities.

Bolla got married in 2022 to Veera Swathi, after dating for nearly a decade. In 2024, the couple had a daughter, Nayana.

Srikanth, the 2024 film based on the life of Shrikanth Bolla

In 2024, the biopic Srikanth, starring Rajkummar Rao in the titular role of the entrepreneur, was released. The film tells the story of Srikanth Bolla and was shot at various locations in India and the United States from November 2022 to January 2023.

Produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishna Kumar and Nidhi Pamar Hiranandani, the film also stars Jyotika, Sharad Kelkar and Alaya F in key roles.

The Rajkummar Rao-starrer film grossed Rs 62.92 crore at the box office worldwide, with Rs 59.58 crore collected in India and Rs 3.34 crore overseas.