Indian celebrities who have invested in startups in the year 2022

There is a common thread between Bollywood and Indian startups: they serve the masses at large. The latter with their well thought out products and services. Bringing two fraternities together on the same platform is therefore a no-brainer.
Over the years, Indian startups have attracted people from different walks of life. From investors to corporations to Bollywood celebrities, everyone has been privy to the country's growing startup ecosystem. Popular Bollywood stars have followed in the footsteps of investors, with a select few launching a company or two at the same time. There are enough examples!

Bollywood actors invest in Indian startups

      Sarah Ali Khan
Sara Ali Khan made an undisclosed investment in pop culture and casual wear startup D2C The Souled Store in March 2022. She also became an equity partner in startup D2C. "I am delighted to partner with The Souled Store. In a short time, the brand has carved a niche for itself in the casual wear segment. As a passionate lover of pop culture and convinced that originality and comfort are as important as fashion I see the brand as a perfect asset to invest in. I look forward to being a part of the TSS family," said Sara Ali Khan. Founded in 2013 by Vedang Patel, Harsh Lal, Aditya Sharma and Rohin Samtaney, The Souled Store offers pop culture and casual wear for men and women.It claims to have more than 180 licenses such as Disney, Warner Bros, WWE, IPL and Viacom18.

Samantha Prabhu
Known in the South Indian film industry and Bollywood, Samantha Prabhu made her first investment in an Indian startup in March 2022. She invested an undisclosed amount in Hyderabad-based SustainKart, an e-commerce marketplace for sustainable products, partial financing. “We plan to launch SustainKart's first offline store in April. We started working with entrepreneurs who believe in sustainability to open our franchise experiential stores across India. Our goal is to open 30 stores in the first year and a total of 100 stores in two years,” said Shilpa Reddy, co-founder of SustainKart. Founded in 2021 by Shilpa Reddy and Kanthi Dutt, SustainKart offers sustainable and eco-friendly products ranging from fashion to home décor, beauty and wellness, home furnishings to gifts, nutrition and snacks, child and pet care, and more.

Rana Daggubati
Rana Daggubati, who often plays antagonistic roles in Bollywood movies, also takes a business approach. In March 2022, his startup Ikonz raised undisclosed seed funding from venture capital firm Village Global and tech investment firm Woodstock. Funds raised would be used to nurture artistic talent around the world and hire top tech talent to build their metaverse and eliminate non-fungible tokens (NFTs) from their IP partners. In January 2022, Socialswag, launched by Daggubati and Akshay Kumar, raised nearly $3.5 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by IMEF and Unicorn India Ventures.

Athiya Shetty
Having set foot in the Indian film industry, Athiya Shetty is now embarking on her investment journey. She invested an undisclosed amount in Delhi-based social commerce startup NCR Stage3 in March 2022. Additionally, she will join Stage3 as creative director. The Indian startup plans to capitalize on Athiya's notoriety and fashion sense and strengthen her position in the creative economy. Founded in 2016 by Sabena Puri, Sanchit Baweja and Rina Dhaka, Stage3 is a fashion and lifestyle social commerce marketplace. Athiya's backing follows Stage3's $2.65 million Series A pre-round in December 2021, led by Inflection Point Ventures and LC Nueva Investment Partners, among others. With the funds, the startup aimed to improve technology infrastructure, hire talent, and develop data science skills.

Suniel Shetty
In addition to a successful acting career, Suniel Shetty is active in the Indian startup ecosystem. In February 2022, he injected an undisclosed amount into fitness company Aquatein. He also became an Aquatein brand ambassador. According to the startup, its products meet daily nutritional needs. "Good hydration is key to a healthy life. Combining that with a macronutrient you need creates a simple solution for everyone that's accessible, easy to consume, low in calories, and fuss-free," the startup said. based in Mumbai. Founded in 2019 by Ananta Prabhala, Aquatein is a ketogenic, gluten-free, lactose-free and 100% vegetarian drink that consists essentially of water with added protein. In early 2021, the actor expressed interest in the NFT space and joined an NFT marketplace on the Polygon Colexion network.He joined Colexion as an investor and advisor.

Pankaj Tripathi
Pankaj Tripathi, famous for his antagonistic roles in films, has shown his faith in Indian startups by making an undisclosed investment in agricultural technology company Krishi Network. With this investment, Krishi Network plans to rapidly scale and scale its AI-based technology platform across India. The deal is seen as Tripathi's first investment in India's start-up sector.

Anushka Sharma
Over the years, Anushka Sharma has backed a number of local startups and also founded her D2C clothing line, Nush. In February 2022, she made an undisclosed investment in plant-based meat startup Blue Tribe with her husband Virat Kohli. Founded in 2017 by Sandeep Singh and Nikki Arora Singh, Blue Tribe is a meat alternative start-up offering plant-based meat products like frozen ground beef, chicken nuggets, keema, chicken rolls sausage and momos, which taste, look, feel and cook. meat, but are plant-based. Earlier in 2020, Anushka Sharma and her husband invested $340,000 in unicorn Digit Insurance fintech funding round. Digit Insurance raised nearly $84 million in this funding round.

Tiger Schroff
Known for his action films, Tiger Shroff also has an entrepreneurial spirit. In January 2022, he won an undisclosed amount in English learning company Freadom's fundraising round for children aged 3-12. Freadom has raised $2.5 million in a new funding round led by Capital A and other individual investors. The funding would be used for product development and distribution, as well as to further strengthen the startup's vertical footprint. Founded in 2016 by Kavish Gadia and Nikhil Saraf, the startup uses artificial intelligence and data science to advance English learning. It enables children to learn to read in English in any country where English is an aspirational second language. In early 2016, Tiger Shroff launched his clothing line, Prowl, which sells clothing on his website and online marketplace, Amazon.