Sony Corp. is planning to setup an India-focused venture capital arm that will act as a co-investor in startups along with celebrities that will include movie stars and sports personalities. The aim is to tap into the funding boom that has given rise to several unicorns over the past 12 months, according to reports.
The $81-billion global media conglomerate, with businesses as diverse as gaming, film and music production and electronics manufacturing, will commit $200 million to the VC arm to begin with, the sources said.
Sony has roped in former Fox Star Studios chief executive officer Vijay Singh to lead the new venture. In his previous assignment, Singh spent 13 years with Fox Star and helped build the film studio in the country.
In 2016, Sony started an innovation fund with a global focus. However, the new VC arm is a first-of-its kind initiative within the conglomerate that will aim to leverage Sony’s celebrity networks in India to create an India-specific pool of investments that could have long term ‘strategic value’ for the group, sources said.
Successful investments of cricketer Virat Kohli and film star Deepika Padukone would serve as a template for Sony’s upcoming VC bets, the sources said.
Previous year, there were 4.28 billion mobile internet users on the planet, meaning that more than 90% of people who accessed the internet did so using a mobile device. But this increasingly wireless world we live in is an illusion.
Kolhi has generated multifold returns from his investment in online general insurance startup Digit Insurance, which was the first unicorn of this year and has received two rounds of funding since January with its valuation touching $3.5 billion after VC investor Sequoia Capital invested in its latest round in July. Kohli and his wife, Bollywood actor Anushka Sharma, had
invested Rs 5 crore in the company in February 2020.
