Cricketer Virat Kohli Invests In D2C Brand Rage Coffee

Delhi-based food and beverage D2C brand Rage Coffee has got investment from Indian cricketer Virat Kohli. The startup has also roped in Kohli as its brand ambassador. 

The F&B D2C startup will deploy funds to expand its online presence and offline footprint across India. It will utilise capital for marketing and distribution purposes, scale production, launch innovative new products and add senior management talent.

Bharat Sethi, founder and CEO of Rage Coffee said, “Our association with Virat Kohli sets us on a journey where we envision perfection through our constant efforts directed at being the best in our segment. Rage Coffee and Virat both share a mutual objective – to strive for excellence.” 

Founded in 2018 by Bharat Sethi, Rage Coffee manufactures and distributes coffee products across India. The startup claims to be the first plant-based vitamins coffee brand globally. 

It further asserts to have more than 2500 touch points offline pan India through a network of four CFAs and over 30 distributors.

As per the website, Rage Coffee’s products are US FDA, FSSAI, ISO registered and manufactured at a GMP compliant facility. In addition to that, the startup claims to have a customer base of 210K and developed 85 prototypes of coffee products to date. 

In 2021, Rage coffee raised around $5 Mn in its Series A funding round led by Sixth Sense Ventures. Then, the startup deployed funds to expand its online and offline footprint, invested in marketing and distribution purposes. 

In 2020, Rage Coffee raised undisclosed amount  in a round led by Refex Capital. Angel network Keiretsu Forum Chennai and some other prominent investors also participated in this round. 

The list of participants included T.D Mohan, former joint MD of CavinKare; Dr Rajan Srikanth, co-president of Keiretsu Forum Chennai and Singapore; Prakash Katama, former CEO of TVS Electronics, among others. Then, Harminder Sahni, founder and MD of Wazir Advisors, joined the startup’s board of advisors for the fundraise.

Investments That Spurred Growth In Coffee Brands

In December 2021, coffee quick-service restaurant startup Third Wave Coffee raised $6 Mn in Series A funding round from Sujeet Kumar (cofounder, Udaan), Arpan Sheth (Bain & Company) and Ayyappan Rajagopal (CEO, Cleartrip), and others. The startup sealed the Pre Series A funding round in April after investments from Sujeet Kumar, Nikhil Kamath (Zerodha), Neelesh Bhatnagar (NB Ventures) and Ayyappan Rajagopal (Myntra, Cleartrip). 

It then planned to utilise the fresh infusion of funds towards expanding across the country and hiring a leadership team. 

Further, in August 2021, Delhi-based online speciality coffee retailer Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters raised $2.28 Mn in a Pre-series B bridge round led by Anicut Angel Fund (equity arm of Anicut Capital) with participation from other new and existing investors. 

Then, it used the funding to launch new products, execute farm-level interventions to improve quality, expand internationally among other initiatives. 

Kohli As A Startup Investor

Over the years, Virat Kohli has infused money in several startups. This year, he along with his wife Anushka Sharma made an undisclosed investment in plant-based meat startup Blue Tribe. 

In 2020, Kohli invested $2.6 Mn in fashion startup Universal Sportsbiz. Then, sports talent management firm Cornerstone Sport LLP, which represents Kohli, also participated in the round. 

Besides this, Kohli invested $340K in insurtech startup Digit Insurance in 2020, along with his wife Anushka Sharma and Cornerstone Sport LLP. 

He also invested in social media startup Sport Convo in 2014.

Other Prominent Cricketers As Investors

In 2020, Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh invested an undisclosed amount in Wellversed’s pre-Series A funding round. Then, the investment from Singh’s YWC Ventures valued Wellversed at INR 100 Cr. In addition to this, Singh had earlier launched YouWeCan Ventures in 2015 and also invested in several other startups–Healthians, EazyDiner, Cartisan, Buddy, JetSetGo and salon chain Naturals.

In 2020, Indian cricketer MS Dhoni invested an undisclosed amount in Bengaluru-based business ledger app Khatabook. Besides investing in that startup, he became its brand ambassador.In 2019, he invested an undisclosed amount in Gurugram-based auto marketplace unicorn Cars24.