Indianapolis Motor Speedway to host ‘Shark Tank’ casting call
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ABC reality TV series “Shark Tank” is planning a return visit to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where budding entrepreneurs can pitch business ideas on July 17.
Casting producers will welcome hopeful inventors and innovators at Gate 2 along 16th Street. Interviews are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., with wristbands distributed at 9 a.m. No lining up at the gate will be allowed before 6 a.m.
“Shark Tank,” which debuted in 2009, features a cast of investor “sharks,” including Indiana University alum Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec, Daymond John and Kevin O’Leary.
The IMS open casting call represents the first step toward making an on-air “Shark Tank” pitch. Attendees are encouraged to bring a completed application form available at abc.com.
The track hosted a “Shark Tank” casting call in 2019.
Indiana entrepreneurs who appeared on “Shark Tank” include:
- Brittany Hizer, a Cathedral High School and DePauw University alum who pitched self-sanitizing diaper changing table Pluie on an episode that aired in March. Although no “Shark Tank” deal materialized for Hizer and her Chicago-based business partner, Addie Gundry, Pluie forged a relationship with the Indianapolis International Airport—which is installing 50 changing tables in restrooms.
- Kweku Larbi, an Indianapolis resident who pitched single-serve coffee maker Brumachen on a 2021 episode. No deal materialized for Larbi and his Ohio-based co-founder, Ross Smith.
- Mohammed M. Mahdi, Mohammed A. Mahdi and Anthony Duncan, a trio of IU alumni who pitched their Mad Optimist soap in 2020. Cuban invested $60,000 in the company for 20% equity.
- Nathan Kondamuri, a Munster native who landed a $400,000 investment from Greiner and guest “shark” Katrina Lake in 2020 for the Pair Eyewear company he co-founded.
- Matt Griffin and Emily Griffin, a husband-and-wife team from Carmel who pitched their Baker’s Edge pan on a 2014 episode. The Griffins did not close a deal with a shark.
- Derek Pacque, an IU alum who declined Cuban’s offer in 2012 to invest in a ticketless coat check system.
- Sawyer Sparks, a Purdue University alum who landed a $300,000 investment for 51% equity in Soy-Yer Dough—a wheat-free modeling dough—on a 2009 episode.