Outlook Business Desk
India’s travel-tech space is seeing a funding shift as celebrities move from endorsements to equity. With a stable market and initial public offering (IPO) buzz, actors and cricketers are now backing startups like Oyo, signalling rising investor confidence.
Ritesh Agarwal, Oyo’s founder, recently secured over ₹1,400 crore in its Series G funding round. Interestingly, it wasn’t just venture capital firms—celebrities, too, joined the cap table, signalling growing interest in travel-tech investments.
Gauri Khan, film producer and wife of Shah Rukh Khan, picked up nearly 2.4 million shares in Oyo’s latest fundraise, according to a Skift report—marking her entry as a high-profile investor.
Actress Madhuri Dixit and her husband Dr. Sriram Nene have invested in Oyo by acquiring shares in the company, joining a growing list of celebrity backers supporting the travel-tech platform.
Dr. Ritesh Malik, founder of co-working brand Innov8, also participated alongside the couple. Together, the trio picked up 2 million shares in Oyo, boosting interest ahead of the company’s planned IPO.
Actress Amrita Rao and her husband RJ Anmol have also invested in Innov8 via the secondary market. Earlier, actors Sidharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani also picked up shares in Oyo, signalling steady celebrity interest.
Oyo is in talks with banks to launch its much-awaited IPO soon. Early discussions suggest the online travel platform may be valued between $6–7 billion, according to sources cited by PTI.
Celebrity investment in travel startups isn’t new. In 2012, actor Salman Khan picked up under 5% stake in Yatra while also serving as its brand ambassador, marking one of the earliest such moves in India.
In 2013, cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar acquired 7.5% equity in UAE-based travel platform Musafir.com. His stake came as part of a deal to appear in the company’s advertising campaigns.