From actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt to former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, all are turning into angel investors by investing in start-ups, seeing a good return in future. The latest in the league is actor Arjun Kapoor who has recently invested in an emerging food delivery start-up.
Kapoor invested in foodcloud.in which is looking to reach out to outstanding stay-at-home women cooks and empower them as entrepreneurs through the platform. While Kapoor attributed the reason to social cause, there is an excellent business proposition to it, which is luring many celebrities to invest in start-ups.
For instance, actress Priyanka Chopra has invested into a US-based dating application Bumble. She is investor, partner and an adviser for the start-up.
Amitabh Bachchan has invested around $250,000 in a Singapore-based blockchain research start-up, Ziddu.com and Tendulkar has invested in a Bangalore-based Internet of Things start-up Smartron.Another cricketer Yuvraj Singh has invested in Healthians, a health-tech start-up. Apart from that he has also invested in wellness applications Vyomo, and Moovo, a technology-based booking platform for mini-trucks.
Further, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan with her mother Vrinda KR has invested about `1crore in a Bangalore-based environmental intelligence start-up Ambee. The start-up provides hyper local air quality data to developers, consumers, health researchers, and media companies.
Similarly, actor and director Farhan Akhtar has invested in Flickbay, a film discovery application. The trend is not new in Hollywood. Many celebrities have been the first choice as angel investors globally. For instance, PLUS Capital has got 35 celebrity clients including Tyra Banks and snowboarder Shaun White to invest in start-ups.
“Many celebrities approach us to get in touch with start-ups with good business prospects. It include TV stars, cricketers, Bollywood actors. Technology, fashion and lifestyle remain their favourite pick,” an executive from a wealth management firm said, who did not wish to be named.
This is a win-win situation for both as an association with celebrities and the help start-ups get in the form of funds, while celebrities are getting an alternative business source, which promises them to reap return. Alia Bhatt-backed fashion start-up StyleCracker has recently tapped US-based investor AMJ Ventures, investing $2 million into it. It has now grown rapidly since inception at a CAGR of over 150 percent.