Previously, the Bollywood buzz was all about actors and their latest releases. But the headlines seem to match the investments of these actors, especially in startups
India, considered the third ecosystem of start-up companies in the world, has attracted the attention of Bollywood stars in recent years. Amitabh Bachchan Aamir Khan Khan Salman Madhuri Dixit Shilpa Shetty John Abraham and Jacqueline Fernandez .
And the most recent actress to join the club is Deepika Padukone who made her first investment in a consumer brand.
Bollywood celebrities, with their star power, are now looking to make a difference outside of the entertainment industry. YourStory is interested in some personalities and their investments.
Deepika Padukone
Deepika Padukone became a start-up investor by making an undisclosed investment in Drums Food International, the parent company of the flavored Greek brand Yoghurt Epigamia . This investment is part of Epigamia's recent round of financing, Series C, and was conducted through the intermediary of KA Enterprises LLP, a 100% owned company of Deepika Padukone.
Commenting on the badociation with the brand, Deepika said, [19659009] "Not only do I like their products, but I'm also very in touch with the brand's philosophy. The team has big plans for expansion and I am excited to be closely involved in launching new products and entering new cities. "
Launched in 2015 by Rohan Mirchandani, Uday Thakker, Ganesh Krishnamoorthy and Rahul Jain, based Mumbai Epigamia extended its product to 21 SKU .It is sold in 10,000 contact points, including in modern commercial channels such as Godrej Nature's Reliance Fresh, Basketball, Foodhall, Big Bazaar and Hypercity.
It is also available on e-commerce platforms, including Bigbasket and Amazon.
Arjun Kapoor
More Earlier this month, actor Arjun Kapoor announced his investment in the Delhi-based food-based home food distribution company, Foodcloud.in, which aims to empower women.
Speaking of the same thing at the time, the actor said:
"My goal to invest in Foodcloud.in is to serve a broader societal goal of allowing caregivers to contribute to the income of their family. "
[19659002] Founded in 2014, FoodCloud is led by Vedant Kanoi and his co-founder, Sanjhi Rajgarhia.
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Suniel Shetty
Suniel Shetty, Bollywood Actor, Invested an Undisclosed Amount in the Startup SQUATS, a health and wellness company based in Pune, in May. With the actor, the start-up will launch a move to adapt 50 million people and create a lakh job in the fitness space.
In his press release, Suniel Shetty stated:
The types of false information about fitness are common. Companies such as SQUATS, which address the issue of trust and credibility in the Indian fitness space, have a critical need, focusing on "balancing quantified nutrition with strength training" and delivering exceptional results . 19659010] Founded in 2016 by Jitendra Chouksey, SQUATS currently has five lakh members and claims to have recorded 70,000 transformations from his physical condition to the present. His mobile application FITTR has received more than two lakh downloads since September 2018.
Malaika Arora
Bollywood star Malaika Arora also supported a Mumbai-based fitness start-up, SARVA , last month. The actress took part in raising $ 6 to $ 8 million with other famous investors, including pop icon Jennifer Lopez former American baseball player Alex Rodriguez and a branded fitness platform Zumba ].
SARVA was founded in 2016 by Sarvesh Shashi, a yogi turned entrepreneur and currently has 91 studios in the following neighborhoods: Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru . By 2022, he plans to create 500 brick and mortar workshops in 15 cities across the country and simultaneously wants to create a global community of more than 100 million people on his digital platform. SARVA is also looking for opportunities in global markets such as the United States, the United Kingdom and the Middle East.
Priyanka Chopra
In 2018, when the US-based Bumble Dating App announced its entry into India, Priyanka Chopra not only invested in the application, but also became her ambbadador of the brand. She is also a women-centered application advisor, available in both English and Hindi on iOS and Android.
"Women want love, they want friendship and they want to find a career, and that's what's unique Bumble provides – a digital community that encompbades all of that, while allowing women to take charge of their lives, "she said.
Founded by Whitney Wolfe Herd in December 2011, Bumble had 22 million users in November 2017.
See also: After Priyanka Chopra, Serena Williams invests in social and social application Bumble
John Abraham
The actor John Bollywood had acquired a minority stake in in Guardian Healthcare (1945), based in Mumbai a chain of health, wellness and health product stores. of beauty, last year. The start-up works as a franchise partner of GNC in India, an American company specializing in health and nutrition products.
Speaking of funding granted at the time, Shadab Khan, CEO of GNC India, said:
"John is extremely pbadionate and disciplined about fitness and his relationship with the company will far exceed the registration fee. "
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
In April 2018, actress, celebrity judge and Bollywood yoga expert, Shilpa Shetty, invests in Gurugram -based Honasa Consumer Pvt. Ltd., which owns and operates the mamaearth.in childcare start-up
Founded in 2016 by husband-wife couple Varun and Ghazal Alagh, Mamaearth has already acquired more than 500,000 customers in more than 120 cities in India The start-up is present in over 500 stores across the country and is expected to reach the impressive crore of 100 rupees by 2020.
of last year's investment, Shilpa Shetty Kundra said in a statement that the free nature of the products had contributed to its decision to support mamaearth.in
In March 2019, Shilpa also invested about 10-15 Rs crore and acquired a 50% stake in the hotelier Bastian Hospitality (formerly Aallia Hospitality)).
Read also: The plan B of this start-up and his dream is to make your dream a reality
Rannvijay Singh Singha
Last year, the media platform Online Lifestyle What's Up Life has secured funding from actor and television personality Rannvijay Singh Singha, who has also joined the company as a brand ambbadador.
Rannvijay commented on the investment made at the time,
"I liked the platform and the way that What's Up Life tends to reach people with its content and its interesting events. "
Founded in 2014 by Gaurav H Luthra as What's Up Gurugram What's Up Life (WUL ) organizes engaging content on its social media pages, editorials and calendar, to keep users informed of all activities and events in all categories.
In November 2018, Rannvijay acquired 10% of capital of sports management company IT Magia Solutions for 1 crore.
He also invested in a fashion styling application, IStyleYou, in 2016. Recently, his unibad retail company, Disrupt, opened a pre-series with the help of a group of investors [19659011] Other celebrity investors
In 2017, Jacqueline Fernandez invested in the juice manufacturer and online portal Rakyan Beverages (Raw Pressery), based in Mumbai. Actor and Film Producer Aamir Khan had injected $ 300,000 into the Bangalore-based Furlenco online furniture rental platform. Alia Bhatt acquired a minority interest in the Mumbai-based fashion-technology start-up, StyleCracker, for an undisclosed amount.
Read also: Jacqueline Fernandez becomes a businesswoman with Just * F to fill the void she personally met
Among the early investors of Bollywood, let's quote Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Kapoor Karishma, Ajay Devgn and Madhuri Dixit .
Karishma Kapoor had invested in BabyOye, a portal of children's clothing and accessories based in Mumbai, in 2011. In 2012, Salman Khan acquired a in the online travel company based in Gurugram, Yatra.com. . In 2015, Amitabh Bachchan invested $ 250,000 in the Singapore-based Ziddu, alongside his son, actor Abhishek Bachchan. And, Madhuri Dixit invested in the start-up of GOQii portable and preventive health devices in 2014.
Previously, the director, actor and singer Farhan Akhtar invested in a movie discovery app, Flickbay; and Wbadeypur gang gang Manoj Bajpayee supported Muvizz, a video-on-demand startup (OTT).
In May of this year, Cure.fit, a start-up in the fitness field, supported by Hrithik Roshan and by the Piramal group, obtained $ 75 million from the Piramal group, as well as than IDG Ventures India.
Sachin Tendulkar Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni also supported startups such as Smartron, Chisel Fitness and Run Adam, respectively.
Read also: 11 Indian startups supported by Bollywood celebrities
