Virat-Anushka venture forays into motorsports & entertainment IPs

Cricketer Virat Kohli and his actress wife Anushka Sharma are set to promote events and experiences through their new business venture Nisarga.

By linking up with like-minded partners, the celebrity couple will promote events and intellectual properties (IPs). These events will be curated in existing IPs and in new ones.
 

As a first step, Nisarga has tied up with Elite Octane, a specialist motorsports and entertainment events company which holds IPs such as drag racing platform, the Valley Run, the company said in a statement.
 

A popular platform which many say is the T20 of racing, the Valley Run has been held over the past 10 years. In December, it will be held on an airstrip in Aamby Valley in Maharashtra.
 

This will be followed by two others branded as the Hyderabad Speed Fest and Aces of Speed in Bangalore.  The aim is the creation of a clean energy-focused platform within sports racing, that will concentrate on electric vehicles, including cars, scooters, and motorbikes.
 

Rongom Tagore Mukerji, founder of Elite Octane, welcomed the partnership with Nisarga. “Virat and Anushka’s focus is based on their commitment to the earth, to be nature friendly and to be socially relevant. That is why we will curate a platform within the Valley Run for electric vehicles,” said Mukerji.
 

Elite Octane is also developing other IPs such as the Pro Auto Expo in Bangalore and Hyderabad which showcases vehicles. Again, the aim here is to create a separate platform for electric vehicles.
 

Over the next year, Elite Octane and Nisarga also plan to organise concerts showcasing Indian talent either in Mumbai or in smaller cities in north and north east India.
 

“Nisarga embodies our values and vision in what we do personally and professionally,” the couple said in a joint statement. 

“Nisarga’s initiatives will promote these perspectives, the impact of which will be seen as we embark on this journey and execute these on the ground, through engaging experiences so that we leave behind more than what we were given.”  

Mukherji expects monetisation to happen in multiple ways. One, Kohli could bring in some of the auto and related brands (Audi, MRF and Hero Motocorp) which he already endorses. Given the focus on electric, Mukerji thinks many electric vehicle players could become sponsors in return for showcasing the performance of their motorbikes or cars.  

Two, given that Elite Octane’s races in Aamby Valley attract over 700 participants and as many as 9,000 spectators, auto companies could look to leveraging this power by getting involved.       

This is not Kohli’s first rodeo when it comes to green sports. He recently launched the Blue Rising team which will compete in the world’s first all-electric race boat championship – the UIM E1 World Championship  which will be held in Jeddah in Saudi  Arabia next year. The championship is based on competitive water racing based on clean technologies.

Kohli has joined celebrities such as Rafael Nadal, Tom Brady, and Sergio Perez by becoming owner of the Blue Rising team.

In many ways, Kohli is following in former cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who also forayed into motor sports. In 2012, Dhoni floated his own racing team called the Mahi Racing Team India which competed in the FIM Supersport World Championship.