Whether in cricket or business, Kohli continues to play the long game.
Virat Kohli might have announced his retirement from Test cricket, but he remains very much in the game -- both on and off the field.
While he continues to be a favourite among brands as an endorser, he's also actively putting his name -- and money -- behind businesses as an investor.
The latest venture to attract the cricketing great's attention is Agilitas Sports, a sportswear and athleisure company in which he has invested around Rs 40 crore.
With this investment, Kohli has acquired a 1.94 per cent stake in the company, which was founded by former Puma India boss Abhishek Ganguly.
Cricketer Yuvraj Singh is also an investor in Agilitas.
This is far from Kohli's first foray into the startup ecosystem.
Together with his wife, actor Anushka Sharma, Kohli is a serial investor, with stakes in around 13 startups spanning health and fitness products, insurance, fashion, sports, and energy drinks.
The couple began investing as early as November 2014, when they put money into London-based SportNova, a developer of social networking platforms for sports fans, as angel investors.
Kohli's business strategy can be gauged from the nature and stage of his investments.
According to data from Tracxn, he has come in as an angel investor in at least six startups, indicating a preference for entering businesses at an early stage.
However, he hasn't hesitated to back ventures in later funding rounds, participating in Series C to Series E investments.
Besides this, Kohli and Sharma are also lead investors in as many as six companies.
Their investment track record already includes visible successes.
One of their investee companies has achieved unicorn status, another is publicly listed, and two more -- according to Tracxn -- are classified as 'soonicorns' (close to attaining a $1 billion valuation) and 'minicorns' (valued below $1 billion but with strong potential to grow).
However, not every bet has paid off: Koo, the vernacular social media platform in which they invested, recently shut down operations.
While there's no official figure for the total amount Kohli has invested across his portfolio, the aggregate funds raised by these startups are estimated at $1.1 billion.
The combined valuation of 10 of these companies, for which public data is available, stands at $6.72 billion -- more than six times the amount raised.
However, data on whether the couple has divested part of their stake in any of the companies they invested in is unavailable.
Kohli has been careful to ensure his investments align with his public persona as a successful sportsman and advocate of healthy living.
Health and wellness form a key focus: He has invested in Slurrp Farm, an online brand selling millet-based foods for toddlers and children; Mille, which offers millet-based breakfast cereals, besides pancake and baking mixes; and Blue Tribe, which specialises in plant-based chicken alternatives.
Sports and fitness is his other investment plank. He has backed Hyperice, a brand that offers smart devices for physical recovery and fitness, and O'cean Beverages, an energy drink venture.
In sports businesses, besides Agilitas and SportNova, he has stakes in Sportsbiz.
He has also invested in fashionwear brand WROGN -- in which the Aditya Birla group made a substantial investment last year.
Yet the couple's biggest bonanza has come from their investment in Go Digit General Insurance, an online insurance company.
They jointly invested around Rs 2.5 crore in 2020. Following Go Digit's IPO in 2024, the value of their stake has risen dramatically, with the company's market cap currently at Rs 31,000 crore.
Another key investment is in MPL (Mobile Premier League), an online e-sports platform.
Reports indicate that in 2019, Kohli invested over Rs 3.3 million via a compulsory convertible debenture, which will convert into equity after 10 years.
Currently, MPL is valued at around $2.3 billion, making it a unicorn.
Whether in cricket or business, Kohli continues to play the long game -- and by the looks of it, he's scoring big.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff
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