- The Year the Investor Was Born
- From Endorser to Owner: The Opportunist Turns Architect
- The Consumer Brands Where Kohli’s Money Scores
- So, What’s Virat Actually Doing?
- The Three Golden Rules of Kohli’s Investment Game
- The Second Innings May Be the Bigger One
There comes a point in every athlete’s career when the game slows down, patterns become obvious, and decisions look effortless. For Virat Kohli, that clarity hasn’t been limited to cricket. Over the last decade, something else has been happening quietly in the background, something as intentional as his running between the wickets and as calculated as his chase masterclasses.
Virat hasn’t just been endorsing brands. He’s been building them. And more importantly, he’s been investing in the India he believes is coming.
Let’s break down with this blog how Kohli’s off-field innings turned into one of the most strategic celebrity portfolios in the country and why every category he touches suddenly feels like it’s in form.
The Year the Investor Was Born
Go back to 2016. Virat is dismantling bowling attacks for fun. But behind the scenes, another transformation is underway. His diet changes. His training becomes almost monastic. His energy, discipline, and clarity sharpen. That shift becomes the seed of his investment journey. He doesn’t open with a six. He opens with intent.
A gym chain here.
A nutrition brand there.
A recovery-tech partnership.
A quiet stake in a growing digital insurer.
These are not celebrity whims. They are moves from someone who knows two things very well:
- What the next decade of young India will want.
- What he authentically represents in that future.
From Endorser to Owner: The Opportunist Turns Architect
The first big clue of Virat’s new mindset was One8. Most celebrities launch merch. Virat built a lifestyle brand. One8 wasn’t just apparel. It wasn’t just colognes. It was an aspirational identity that was confident, sporty, youth-first. And the coolest twist? Its success wasn’t the ending. It was the beginning.
In late 2024, Kohli did something that screams true investor: He sold One8 to Agilitas Sports and turned around to invest nearly ₹40 crore in Agilitas itself.
That’s not a celebrity move. That’s a founder move. That’s someone saying, “I don’t just want a brand. I want a piece of the entire sportswear industry.”
The man isn’t just batting for boundaries. He’s playing for ownership.
The Consumer Brands Where Kohli’s Money Scores
Virat’s bets read like a cheat sheet for where India is headed:
Food & Wellness
- Blue Tribe Foods: a plant-based meat brand backed before the eco-conscious wave took off.
- Rage Coffee: a caffeine-for-the-new-age India brand perfect for young professionals and fitness-driven consumers.
Both categories exploded shortly after. Coincidence? Maybe. Pattern? Definitely.
Tech & Gaming
- Stake in Galactus Funware, the parent of MPL well before mobile gaming became mainstream.
- Early involvement in Sports Convo, a fan-engagement platform designed for digital sports communities.
This is Virat reading digital behaviour as sharply as he reads a bowler’s wrist position.
Financial Services
- Equity in Digit Insurance, which later became one of India’s fastest-scaling digital insurers and eventually went public.
Kohli didn’t just ride a wave, he caught it mid-formation.
Sports Ownership
- FC Goa (ISL)
- Team Blue Rising (E1 Series: Electric Boat Racing)
These aren’t vanity buys. They’re early entries into sporting ecosystems that will compound as leagues mature, media rights rise, and fan bases deepen.
So, What’s Virat Actually Doing?
A celebrity invests in brands that need buzz. Virat invests in brands that need alignment. A celebrity wants to appear everywhere. Virat wants to appear where he naturally amplifies value. A celebrity spreads bets wide for safety. Virat clusters around a thesis:
Young India is getting fitter, more digital, more fashion-conscious, more experimental in food, and more invested in sport.
His portfolio is basically a stitched-together story of India’s next consumer decade.
The Three Golden Rules of Kohli’s Investment Game
1. He invests in the life he actually lives.
Fitness. Nutrition. Athleisure. Performance. Recovery. These aren’t categories he visits occasionally. They’re the backbone of his daily routine. When he invests, he isn’t imagining a consumer, he is the consumer.
2. He picks brands before they peak.
Plant-based foods before they trended. Mobile gaming before it scaled. Digital insurance before fintech exploded. A homegrown sportswear challenger before the space consolidated.
This is someone who reads behavioural shifts long before they show up in market reports.
3. He doesn’t chase valuations. He chases conviction.
Almost every brand in his portfolio has cultural weight, not just commercial potential. His capital follows identity.
The Second Innings May Be the Bigger One
Virat Kohli has spent 15 years timing cricket balls with the precision of a Swiss watchmaker. But somewhere along the way, he learned to time markets too, not by reading stock charts, but by reading people.
Where they’re going. What they’ll want. How they’ll live. What they’ll aspire to. He’s not just investing in companies. He’s investing in India’s next chapter.
And this second innings? It might just turn out to be a match-winning one too.
Disclaimer:
This post is for general/educational information purpose and is no way to be considered as an advice, or recommendation for investment or otherwise. Investment in securities market are subject to market risks. Read all the related documents carefully before investing. Past performance are not indicative of future returns. The securities quoted are for illustration only and are not recommendatory.The logos above are property of respective trademark owners and by displaying it, INDmoney has no right, title, or interest over it. The numbers are on estimate basis only. Neither Company nor its affiliates provide guarantee as to accuracy, or completeness of data / information and as such disclaims all liability. Percentages are commonly rounded when presented in tables. As a result, the sum of the individual numbers may not always add up to 100%. INDstocks Private Limited (formerly known as INDmoney Private Limited) 616, Level 6, Suncity Success Tower, Sector 65, Gurugram, 122005, SEBI Stock Broking Registration No: INZ000305337, Trading and Clearing Member of NSE (90267, M70042) and BSE, BSE StarMF (6779), AMFI Registration No: ARN-254564, SEBI Depository Participant Reg. No. IN-DP-690-2022, Depository Participant ID: CDSL 12095500, Research Analyst Registration No. INH000018948 BSE RA Enlistment No. 6428.