Virat Kohli ’s skill isn’t just in cricket, the former India captain is also building a comprehensive startup ecosystem,. With his wife, actor Anushka Sharma, Kohli has shares in about 13 new firms in diverse fields like health foods, health, money, style, and sports tech.
In 2025, he was in the news for putting in about ₹40 crore for a 1.94% part of a sportswear maker called Agilitas Sports. This shows his game off the field is just as smart as his game on it. This wasn’t Kohli’s first move in startups; he started putting money in as early as 2014 and has kept adding to many different ventures.
Early Bets and Evolving Strategy
Kohli started his investing journey with early-stage bets, even acting as an angel investor in at least half a dozen startups. One of his first known investments came in 2014 when he and Sharma invested in a London-based sports social network (Sport Convo) for fans. Over time, the cricketer has shown a willingness to back companies at various stages, from seed rounds to Series C and beyond. Notably, he and his wife have also led funding rounds in about six companies, demonstrating a hands-on approach in some deals.
The track record so far includes major wins: one of Kohli’s investee startups has achieved “unicorn” status (valuation over $1 billion), another went public, and at least two more are on track as high-growth “soonicorns” and “minicorns.” Of course, not every swing hits a six, the couple’s investment in the Indian social media app Koo was a miss, as the startup struggled and shut operations in 2023. But by and large, Kohli appears to be playing the long game in business, applying patience and calculated risk much as he does in sports.
Investing Across Sectors: From Insurance to Alternative Meats
One striking feature of Kohli’s portfolio is its breadth of sectors. He has put money into fintech via an early bet on Go Digit General Insurance, consumer products like coffee and apparel, as well as next-generation food startups. In 2020, Kohli and Sharma jointly invested about ₹2.5 crore in Digit Insurance, an online insurer. That stake turned out to be prescient, when Digit listed on the stock exchanges in 2024, the value of Kohli’s shares jumped more than three-fold, with the company’s market capitalization reaching roughly ₹31,000 crore.
Another tech-driven win is Mobile Premier League (MPL), an e-sports and gaming platform. Kohli took a modest ₹33 lakh position in MPL’s parent company in 2019 (through convertible debentures), a stake that will convert to equity and has grown in value as MPL became a unicorn valued around $2.3 billion. These bets underscore Kohli’s eye for high-growth tech and finance startups.
On the other end of the spectrum, Kohli has also focused on sustainable and health-oriented consumer brands. The couple, both advocates of healthy living and a meat-free diet, invested in plant-based protein startup Blue Tribe Foods in 2022. Blue Tribe, based in Mumbai, specializes in vegetarian alternatives to meat (from mock chicken nuggets to sausages) and aligns with the duo’s personal values of sustainability and wellness. Kohli’s interest in nutrition doesn’t stop there.
He has backed health food brands like Slurrp Farm, which makes millet-based snacks for children, and Mille, a millet-focused breakfast cereal startup. These early-stage investments reflect a theme: supporting better-for-you products in India’s booming consumer market.
Consumer Brands Brewed with Star Power
Kohli’s portfolio also extends into the food and beverage sector, where his strategy often blends investment with brand endorsement. A prime example is Rage Coffee, a New Delhi-based craft coffee brand. Kohli invested an undisclosed sum in Rage Coffee in March 2022 and simultaneously signed on as its brand ambassador. This dual role gave the fast-growing FMCG startup a credibility and marketing boost.
“Apart from being a world-class athlete, Virat is also a fitness enthusiast committed to a healthy lifestyle, it aligns with the ethos that Rage Coffee promotes,” noted founder Bharat Sethi at the time of the deal. The partnership appears to have paid off: by 2024 Rage Coffee attracted major institutional funding, and industry observers estimate Kohli’s stake has appreciated in value. Another beverage venture in Kohli’s stable is O’cean Beverages, an energy drinks company focusing on plant-based ingredients.
Kohli’s involvement in O’cean, a brand he also endorses, highlights how he is tapping into India’s growing demand for functional, sustainable drinks.
Sports, Fitness and Fashion Ventures
Unsurprisingly for a sports icon, Virat Kohli has made significant investments in the sports and fitness domain. He is an “athlete investor” and global ambassador for Hyperice, a U.S.-based sports technology startup known for its high-performance recovery and fitness devices. By joining a roster of Hyperice athlete-investors that includes Naomi Osaka and Erling Haaland, Kohli not only invested but also became the face of Hyperice’s expansion into India.
Likewise, Virat Kohli ventured into the fitness industry at home with Chisel Fitness, a Bengaluru-based gym startup. He reportedly holds a 30% equity stake in Chisel and invested roughly ₹90 crore to launch a chain of gyms across India, a substantial commitment that underscores his belief in the fitness sector’s growth.
In the sports apparel and footwear space, Virat Kohli has executed perhaps his most strategic business move yet. In 2023, as his long-term endorsement contract with global brand Puma was up for renewal, Kohli stunned industry watchers by walking away from a ₹300 crore Puma deal to instead partner with a homegrown startup.
That startup, Agilitas Sports, was founded by ex-Puma India executives and aims to build an innovative athletic wear company out of Bengaluru.
Kohli’s initial ₹40 crore investment in Agilitas is just the first tranche of a larger commitment, and he’s taking on a co-creator role in shaping the company. Crucially, Kohli is integrating his own fashion line One8 into Agilitas’s portfolio, a brand he originally co-launched with Puma, now set to expand through Agilitas’s retail network.
By leveraging One8’s brand equity and his design input, Virat Kohli is effectively blending his celebrity appeal with equity ownership in the sportswear business. It’s a hybrid model he’s mastered before: Kohli also co-owns Wrogn, a youth fashion label under Universal Sportsbiz in which he invested ₹19.3 crore in 2020. Wrogn has since become a popular men’s apparel brand, even attracting a 2024 investment from the Aditya Birla Group’s fashion arm.
These ventures illustrate how Kohli’s investments in sports and fashion aren’t passive, they are brand-building exercises that marry his personal image with the company’s success.
Virat Kohli: Blending Brand Equity with Investment
Across many of these startups, Virat Kohli deploys a distinctive playbook: he puts in capital and lends his star power. This ambassador-investor strategy creates a win-win, the startup gains marketing heft and consumer trust, while Kohli’s stake potentially gains value from the boosted growth. Industry experts note that Kohli’s backing often drives up a young brand’s sales and valuation, which in turn increases the value of his investment.
For instance, his association with Rage Coffee helped it rapidly expand distribution, and his plant-based advocacy with Blue Tribe gave that company high-profile visibility in a niche segment. Even in cases where he isn’t a public endorser, Kohli ensures his investments align with his public persona as a champion athlete and healthy lifestyle advocate.
This way he keeps his brand in line with what he is known for and the companies get the boost from his rep. And if you look closely, health and sports are a theme across his many deals, from millet food for kids to fitness gadgets and active wear, all of which fit well with Kohli’s brand.
Virat Kohli also isn’t afraid to lead rounds or double down on companies he believes in. According to startup data tracker Tracxn, the cricketer has led investments in about six of his portfolio startups, indicating strong conviction in certain deals. His recent deepening involvement with Agilitas, where he plans to invest more and actively steer product development, exemplifies this high-engagement approach.
By taking on such roles, Virat Kohli blurs the line between celebrity brand ambassador and business partner. The result is a hybrid model increasingly common among athlete-investors, but executed on a remarkable scale in Kohli’s case.
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A Growing Portfolio and Legacy
With more than a dozen startups under his belt, Virat Kohli is steadily building a parallel empire in the startup ecosystem. The companies he has backed have collectively raised over $1.1 billion in funding and are together valued at an estimated $6.7 billion (for the ten with public valuations). While exact figures of Kohli’s own investment outlay remain private, the trajectory suggests significant financial upsides.
His early bet on Digit Insurance has already paid off handsomely, and the likes of MPL and Wrogn have grown into heavyweights in their sectors. Even as some ventures falter in the volatile startup world, Kohli’s portfolio management reflects a balanced diversification across sectors and stages of growth.
In true business journalism fashion, one might say Kohli is leveraging the same discipline and foresight that made him a cricket legend to now make calculated bets in business. Each investment is chosen with a clear rationale, be it tapping rising consumer trends, amplifying brands with his influence, or furthering causes he personally believes in.
By fusing his brand equity with equity stakes, Virat Kohli has become more than just a celebrity endorser; he’s an entrepreneur-investor actively shaping the brands he backs. And much like his on-field innings, Kohli’s off-field venture into startups shows every sign of being a long-term play, one where patience, skill, and strategic thinking could continue to yield impressive returns.
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