The startup ecosystem has been growing up rapidly, due to a surge of entrepreneurs creating innovative solutions for everyday problems. Recently, many Bollywood investors have contributed to fuel this growth. Many startup companies got funded copiously by these celebrities. We would discuss in this article a closer look at what is the driving force of the celebrities to invest in such a large amount in these startups and how it impacted the startup India scene.
First of all, the biggest superstar Shahrukh Khan has been actively contributing to startup companies like Byju’s, Furlenco, and BigBasket for a while. He has invested in an EdTech startup, which has become a unicorn, valued over $16 billion.
Next, Deepika Padukone also made her mark in startups like Furlenco, Epigamia, and Nua ( at $44.8 BN). She has also co-founded a mental health awareness platform called The Live Love Laugh Foundation.
Ranveer Singh, another popular Bollywood Star has also shown interest by investing in Sugar ($500 MN). He has also co-founded a music label called Inclnk, which focuses on promoting independent music.
Suniel Shetty, a veteran Bollywood actor, has also jumped into the bandwagon by investing in startups like Sasta Sundar, and Flickstree. He has also co-founded Meraesa Ventures, which supports startups in the wellness and lifestyle space.
Alia Bhatt, also a well-known actor, invested in phool, a D2C startup for fragrance at 23.2 Mn.
Apart from that, Sara Ali Khan invested in The Souled Store ($104bn) and Akshay Kumar invested in Social Swag with a value of $19.3 Mn.
To conclude, it is clear that Bollywood celebrities want to scale up the Indian standup system by being a financial back and support. With their immense popularity and financial clout, they not only provided the capital but also helped create awareness and drive more investments to the Indian startups.
Source: Inc42, Tracxn