Cricket star, cancer survivor, and backer of 11 startups: meet the VC in Team India

Photo credit: Chubby Chandru

He’s had his ups and downs after battling cancer in 2012. But the hero of India’s triumph in the 2011 Cricket World Cup is back with a bang.

Yuvraj Singh or Yuvi, as he’s popularly known, has another passion – YouWeCan Ventures, which he launched last year with former PricewaterhouseCoopers financial consultant Nishanth Singhal as co-founder. And his strike rate as an investor so far has been almost on par with his exploits on the field. Within a year of its launch last April, YouWeCan has built up a portfolio of 10 startups – that’s one startup a month on average.

It’s the third C in his life, after cricket and cancer, he quipped in his book In Different Form. He meant the C in VC.

So, who does Yuvi the VC like to bat for? Here’s a quick rundown of the 10 startups he’s backed.

Infographics by Tech in Asia’s Andre Gunawan.

Besides those 10 startups, Yuvi has also made an undisclosed amount of investment in former Housing CEO and co-founder Rahul Yadav’s start-up Intelligent Interfaces. The startup is still under wraps.

11 startups and their Yuvi connection

• Beauty and wellness app Vyomo was a natural choice as one of his first investments. Yuvi knows a thing or two about fitness.
• The next one on his portfolio, Uber for trucks Moovo, also has a personal connect. Yuvi hails from the state of Punjab, as do a large proportion of India’s truckers.
• Another automotive startup he’s backed is Bangalore-based Cartisan, which helps in booking maintenance services for cars.
• Health is paramount for Yuvi. So Healthians, an aggregator of diagnostic labs and facilitator of health checkups, finds a place in his portfolio.
• After health, it’s education that appeals to Yuvi. Edukart is one of the 10 top edtech startups in India and YouWeCan is one of its backers.
• Now we move to the swashbuckling side of the superstar with JetSetGo, a platform for booking private jets and helicopters. But there’s also a more personal connect in this investment – JetSetGo founder Kanika Tekriwal is also a cancer survivor.
• Yuvi apparently likes his burgers, because the next one in his portfolio is a fast food chain Carl’s Jr.
• Black White Orange Brands promotes celebrities, among other branding consultancy services. It’s familiar territory for Yuvi, who is a hot property with advertisers.
• Sports is obviously his lifeblood, so it’s not surprising to find a marketplace for sports and fitness products in his portfolio. Sports365 also has backing from Indian tennis star Mahesh Bhupathy.
• Rahul Yadav’s Intelligent Interfaces (ii) is helping the Indian government govern multiple times better with the help of technology.
• The last one is probably closest to Yuvi’s heart. SportyBeans is a platform for teaching pre-schoolers ball sports in multiple locations. Kids can sign up for classes in cricket, baseball, tennis, golf, soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, and rugby. It aims to nurture a healthy lifestyle and team spirit from an early age.

Yuvi’s YouWeCan Ventures has also launched a platform called YRal along with digital marketing agency AdLift in March 2016. YRal connects advertisers with celebrities to leverage their social media network.