Is Indian skipper Virat Kohli hinting at yet another venture?
If having a fitness chain, sports franchises and a youth fashion brand under his belt weren't enough, newly appointed Indian cricket skipper Virat Kohli may have just hinted at another business venture–an audio equipment company, Muve Acoustics–on Twitter.
Over the weekend, he tweeted the following:
That tweet was followed by another one:
According to Muve Acoustics' official page, the firm is essentially an audio solution company selling an array of equipment including headphones, earphones and Bluetooth speakers.
In the past, it has been reported that Virat has gifted Muve Acoustic headphones to several other Royal Challenger teammates, including AB de Villiers, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, during the 2016 edition of the Indian Premier League.
But that is not all to this powerhouse's business imprint. It is reported that Virat currently endorses 17 brands.
Last Tuesday, he reportedly launched mobile games Stick Cricket and Virat Super Cricket with Mumbai-based games publisher Nazara Technologies, expected to go live in February and March respectively.
Further, over the past three years, Virat has ventured into six diverse businesses. In the past, Virat’s friend and manager Bunty Sajdeh, Founder and CEO, Cornerstone Sport and Entertainment, had mentioned that they were exploring 8-10 business ideas, of which 2-3 will work out for investments.
In a recent telephonic interview, Virat had told LiveMint,
“Investments in startups and trying to get into the business side of things also really excites me and it pushes me to learn more about it, so I can be actively involved in more projects in the future. And that’s one thing I’m learning on a daily basis and something I will continue after I’m done with the game as well.”
With a varying portfolio, Virat is said to invest in businesses he understands. Following are the seven businesses that he has invested in over the years:
- Wrogn – Launched in November 2014, Wrogn is a youth aspirational merchandise brand. Co-owned by Universal Sportsbiz and Virat, the brand currently sells across 73 Shoppers Stop stores, (shop-in-shop), and retails in e-commerce sites like Myntra. With six offline stores currently owned by Universal Sportsbiz, the brand is on its way to launch at least 100 more stores.
- Chisel: Launched in April 2015, Chisel is Virat’s own chain of gyms and fitness centres. The brand is jointly owned by Virat, Chisel Fitness, and CSE, the sister concern of Cornerstone Sport & Entertainment, which is the agency that manages Kohli. Virat is said to have invested Rs 90 crore in the chain, which plans to add 100 more centres in the next two years.
- Sports Convo: Virat is also a brand ambassador and investor in London-based social networking startup Sport Convo. The platform allows fans to connect and interact with their favourite sports stars.
- Stepathlon Kids: Launched in last week of June 2016, Stepathlon Kids plans to tackle fitness issues affecting kids by taking them through to a 30-day pedometer-based virtual race.The new venture plans to reach 50,000 children in the first year of operations.
Sport franchises
- FC Goa: While announcing his investment in September 2014 in the Indian Super League (ISL) team FC Goa Virat had said he was excited about football as a sport. With football being his favourite sport after cricket when he realised there was an opportunity to be associated with the FC Goa team he had taken it up, he said. Industry sources claim Kohli’s investment in the franchise is at under Rs 1 crore a year, owning less than 25 percent stake.
- UAE Royals: Led by Tennis giant Roger Federer, Virat became the co-owner of the UAE Royals in September 2015, marking his entry in the Indian Premier Tennis League.
- Bengaluru Yodhas: This is the third franchisee co-ownership in Virat’s business portfolio. He became the co-owner of the Pro Wrestling League’s franchise Bengaluru Yodhas in December 2015.
With already so much in place there might be just more in line for this cricketer on his way to becoming an inspiring icon in his own right.
