6 beloved Indian athletes powering the Indian startup space

The Indian startup space is thriving. With a valuation north of $365 billion, the Indian startup industry is one of the fastest-expanding sectors of the Indian economy.

Indeed, a significant fraction of this growth is propelled by venture capitalists hoping to tap early into promising tech companies. 

More notably, elite Indian athletes are beginning to explore wealth diversification by investing in these startups. Eminent athletes, regularly featured on top bookmaker apps like 4rabet (get more information on 4rabet), are increasingly pouring money into tech startups.

This article explores six elite Indian athletes to have invested in startups.

1. MS Dhoni

Your nationality as Indian can be rightly questioned if you don’t know MS Dhoni.

Mahi, as he is fondly called, is one of the ever-pleasing Indian cricket stars who have not only shown interest in tech but have also made a strong move in investing in tech startups. 

Right after his retirement in 2019, the star Wicket-keeper batsman player went on to pour his bowl of investments into an automobile company, Cars24, where he planted his perk as a Series D investor.

Was that the end? Definitely not! MS Dhoni was ready to go for more!

Pushing further into 2020, MS Dhoni took a stake in investments at a business ledger app owned by a Bengaluru-based tech startup, somewhat in March 2020. 

Also, we watched him later become the brand ambassador for the company.

Would we be surprised to see Mahi add more startups to his fast-growing portfolio in the coming years? A big NO!

2. Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar is arguably one of the finest cricketers to emerge from India. The Top-order batsman star cricket player is one of the Indian cricket players who has delved into the business of investing in tech startups. 

Sachin Tendulkar, sometimes called the Little Master or the Blender Master, took the bite of investing in a smartphone company, Smartron, in March 2016. He later went on to become the brand ambassador. 

Unfortunately, Smartron did not do too well in the smartphone market, but the Blender Master, Sachin Tendulkar, couldn’t let it be his only source of investment. 

Moving fast past the misfortune of a wrong investment, we would see him later on investing in sports entertainment startups like Smaash, and starting up his own menswear brand.

Fingers crossed, we anticipate Sachin will get massively rewarded for boosting the tech space in India.

3. Umesh Yadav

With nicknames like Bablu and Strongman, this star Bowler strongly dashed into the investments market in 2015, hunting for tech startups. 

Loaded with money and enthusiasm, Umesh Yadav invested in a young-budding online apparel and lifestyle fashion retail company that leverages social media as its marketing source. 

While not necessarily the super techy-type startup like a robotic company, this startup is admittedly revolutionary, deploying cutting-edge algorithms to help people find the most suitable boutiques based on other users’ reviews.

Plus, they help other clothing retail brands go online too. Well, that’s how much tech it could go for Umesh Yadav.

4. Virat Kohli

Cheeku, as he might be called sometimes, has always had en eye for investing. Very early in his career, he started diversifying his wealth with a number of smart investment choices.

As we can recall, he stands as one of the youngest cricket top-order batters to have entered the investment world (at a relatively tender age of 26). 

One of his earliest investments was from a tech startup in London which created a chat app, Sport convo, designed to be a bridge for raving sports fans to interact with one another and their favorite sports stars.

From that onset, Virat Kohli went on to invest in other startups. Famed startups like Kohli, Chisel, and Zeeva count among the firms he has his wallet hanging over. 

In the following years, we expect Virat to further expand his portfolio into tech firms exploring artificial intelligence and virtual reality.

5. Mohit Sharma

This super bowler, popularly known by his nickname, Aashu, also has his game right in the investment sphere. 

Mohit Sharma also has some roots in startups, and one tech startup with his investments slabbed on it is Crossahead. 

Around March 2016, Mohit Sharma took a bold step to making an investment in an app that will foster the relationship between an artist and their work and alongside people that may hire them for work too. 

The app also acts as a gateway to speak to some of the best artists (who actually use the app, though).

6. Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar, the former opening batsman, had his eyes too on making some good investments in something that he valued. 

So, in December 2019, words spread like wildfire that Sunil Gavaskar had invested in a startup firm that is into online board games, Binca Games. 

A game designed to entertain kids and adults, Binca Games has enjoyed massive adoption in India and is fast penetrating the UK gaming market.

Although this doesn’t sound like what NASA is doing, the idea that Sunil Gavaskar is doing this out of the love he has for board games shows that he is somewhat driven by passion.

Here you go, folks! Those are the 6 Indian cricket stars who have gone of their way to invest in a tech startup. 

Although some tech investments made by some of the cricket stars could sound more serious than others, all share passion for developing tech in India and giving indigenous founders badly needed finances to push their visions. 

On the other hand, a bunch of people could wonder how people who are so invested in sports come to make investments in tech startups. 

Well, there is no definitive answer to that as we could either see it as a calculated business move or some fanciful diversion these athletes put money into.

Whatever it is, these six Indian cricket stars will always go down in the history of tech startup investments (we wouldn’t argue if you say we are a bit too hyperbolic at this point).