Bollywood’s Women Are Increasingly Investing In Indian Start-Ups

How’s your investment game doing, girls?

Women have historically overlooked such things as investments and their own finances – a result of being historically overlooked when it comes to financial matters.

Women rarely have positive examples or influences when it comes to motivating them to take control of their finances. Their familial investments and finances continue to be handled by the men in their families. Famous personalities like Ashton Kutcher, Shah Rukh Khan, and Akshay Kumar continue to be the first names that come to mind when we think of celebrities making smart investments.

Last week, however, LinkedIn News India brought to light the fact that recently, Bollywood’s female actors have been investing big in several start-up companies.

Read on to know about the start-up leads that Bollywood’s leading ladies are betting on!

Bollywood’s Women Are Writing Cheques For Indian Start-Ups

From Deepika Padukone to Priyanka Chopra, Bollywood’s female actors are not letting orthodox and oppressive notions about women keep them from engaging in financial matters.

Some of the investments being made are strategic – where they get equity stakes in the company if they promote and market it. However, most are engaging in it as a thought-out investment exercise.

Deepika Padukone

After investing in increasingly popular yogurt company Epigamia last year, Deepika Padukone has now invested in FrontRow, a learning platform. Together with two other marquee investors (Lightspeed and Elevation Capital), they have invested $3.2 million in the start-up.

The platform offers classes taught by experts and celebrities in various creative fields like music, sports, and comedy.

“Growing up, I wasn’t exactly academically inclined. My interests lay in diverse spheres and activities outside of the traditional classroom- dance, sports, music, modelling & performance arts, to name a few. And if there’s one thing I wish I had access to while growing up, it would be a platform like ‘FrontRow’ – one that gives individuals access to abundant knowledge in non-academic fields as well as connects them to a community of peers and professionals in their field of interest,” Deepika has said.

Alia Bhatt

Earlier this year, Alia Bhatt had said in an interview with Economic Times, “I still don’t understand investing, but over the years, I’ve become keen to learn more. My home in Juhu is the first property I bought. I invest in FDs and bonds. Mutual funds are good; so, I’ve been told.”

Now, Alia has made a personal investment in beauty and lifestyle retailer Nykaa. The investment of an undisclosed amount was made through a secondary transaction.  

Katrina Kaif

Nykaa had also received investment from another Bollywood star – Katrina Kaif. Katrina also has her own beauty line – ‘Kay Beauty’ – that was launched on Nykaa.

“I was familiar with the company’s growing brand equity and market leadership and becoming an investor is the next logical step in sharing the Nykaa vision,” Katrina Kaif said.

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Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan made her first investment as an angel investor in 2019, along with her mother, in Bangalore start-up Ambee. Ambee is an environmental intelligence startup, which monitors environment and air quality.

Priyanka Chopra Jonas

When social networking and dating app, Bumble, forayed into India in 2018, it quickly became popular for being backed by Priyanka Chopra. However, she’s not just the brand ambassador, but also an investor in, and advisor to, the app.

“Women want love, they want friendship, and they want to find a career, and that’s the uniqueness of what Bumble delivers — a digital community that encompasses all that, while empowering women to take charge of their lives,” Chopra has said about the app.

Bumble’s parent company MagicLabs has since been acquired by US-based Blackstone. It is unclear whether Chopra’s stake was bought out, but she continues to engage in endorsing the app.

Malaika Arora

Malaika Arora has been a member of the start-up investors club since 2012. She has been an investor in the premium online retail start-up – The Label Life. In 2019, Malaika Arora invested in a Mumbai-based fitness start-up called Sarva. The start-up’s other investors include celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez.

Shilpa Shetty Kundra

Shilpa Shetty invested in the FMCG start-up Mamaearth, that produces skincare, haircare and babycare products.

In her statement about the investment in 2018, Shilpa Shetty said that the fact that the brand uses only natural and chemical-free ingredients in their products, contributed to her decision to invest in the start-up.

We love to see women taking charge of their finances, and setting an example for other women around them!

Let this be the inspiration you need to start taking control of your financial knowledge and engagement. It’s time to invest in yourself, by working towards financial independence!  

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