Arjun Vaidya

CEO and 6th Generation Vaidya

V3 Ventures

Investing in pre series A and series A rounds across the consumer ecosystem - consumer brands (D2C), platforms, consumer technology and enablers. 

Cheque size: USD 500k - 4m
Portfolio: Kuku FM (vernacular content) Eka.care (health tech), Entri (job upskilling), Go Zero (low cal/zero sugar ice cream), Dil Foods (capex light cloud kitchens), Creme Castle (cakes and desserts using a unique back end), Ugaoo (plants and gardening), The Hosteller (budget hospitality/backpacking hostels) & more soon...

Read more on www.v3.ventures

Co-Founder

Verlinvest

Leading venture investing for Verlinvest in India (now called V3 Ventures). Verlinvest is a 20+ year old consumer sector focussed investor that has invested iconic brands like Vitamin Water, Vita Coco, Pop Chips, Oatly & Lazada. 

In India, the fund has invested in brands like Sula, Veeba, Epigamia, Wakefit, Purplle, Byjus and Heads up For Tails. 

Ventures (now called V3 Ventures) is a new strategy we participate in the early stages of growth of consumer brands (D2C), e-commerce platforms, enablers to e commerce and consumer internet opportunities. Our strategy will largely focus on pre series A and Series A rounds with a ticket size of USD 1-5m. 

Through this strategy we have already invested in Kuku FM and Eka.care in India.

Ventures Lead - India 

Dr. Vaidya's: New Age Ayurveda

Dr. Vaidya’s is a New Age Ayurvedic products company, which endeavours to bring our rich, traditional Indian science of Ayurveda to today’s modern consumer- both in India and Worldwide. Founded by the Vaidya family, who has over 150 years of Ayurvedic heritage, our formulations have been passed from generation to generation, treating thousands in the process. 

Today, the company owns 100+ FDA approved, proprietary formulations for Ayurvedic medicine all manufactured at our ISO 9001:2015 approved, GMP certified, US FDA registered, factory in Silvassa (180 km from Mumbai). 

As the founder and CEO, I scaled the brand from 0-5,000 orders a day. Dr. Vaidya's reached 2m transacting customers across 16,5000 pin codes and launched 80+ products. The brand was also featured in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia List and Business World 40 U 40 list and voted the Amazon Youth SMB of the Year. 

In June 2019, RP Sanjiv Goenka Group invested in the series A of the company. As of March 2021, the group has acquired the entire business through RPSG Ventures making it one of India's first D2C exits.

L Catterton

o	Part of the 3-member India Investing Team that assessing a number of deals through the e-commerce, food and beverage, automobile, watches and jewelry, fashion and accessories, boutique hospitality and multi-brand retail sectors through the Indian sub-continent and the Middle East 
o	Specific focus on being the deal-lead on all consumer technology and e-commerce opportunities in the region. Engaged with, analyzed and conducted due diligence on various businesses across the online fashion, furniture, jewelry, travel, lingerie and refurbished electronics spaces 
o	Actively engaged with current portfolio companies by preparing monthly reports, organizing workshops, participating in board meetings and making recommendations on key growth sectors for their businesses going forward
o	Sourced deals, prepared investment memoranda and presented live deals to the investment committee and the larger L Capital Europe and Asia teams 
o	Member of the 4 member deal team that led a USD 75m for L Capital Asia in Bateel (a UAE based luxury dates and confectionery manufacturer and retailer as well as a boutique café operator

Investment Professional

The De Beers Group of Companies

o	Worked in collaboration with the London Head Office on the branding and placement of the ‘Forevermark’ property in India 
o	Part of the team that planned the venture to move into diamonds as corporate gifting items in India

Business Development and Strategy Intern

Hublot Genève

o	Worked extensively on managing online communities and marketing through web based portals 
o	Worked in collaboration with the Managing Director, Ricardo Guadalupe on a price competitor analysis for the brand

Marketing and Business Strategy Intern

Condé Nast India

o	Planned the online strategy for the group through competitor analyses with the Digital Media Head
o	Worked extensively on the creation of the automobile and cell phone ad space for Vogue and GQ magazines

Ad Sales and Digital Marketing Intern

Hi, I’m Arjun, and I’m a D2C founder & early stage consumer investor. I built Dr. Vaidya’s to India’s largest Ayurveda brand online and took it to an acquisition. I now lead venture investing for Verlinvest through a new fund called V3 Ventures. 

I'm also an active angel investor and mentor to brands in India’s startup ecosystem. If you’re an early-stage founder DM me - I'm happy to chat!

Here's my story:

‘Vaidya’ my last name means Ayurvedic doctor and I come from 150 years of Ayurveda legacy. I grew up with asthma and after 14 years of treatment, I was cured. More than just being a family legacy, I became a believer in the potential of the science and so I promised him I’d take forward this legacy.

In 2009, I went to Brown University for my undergrad. I witnessed the natural and organic products revolution there. I also saw yoga become a multibillion-dollar industry with a repackaged identity for modern consumers. This made me think about the opportunity we had with Ayurveda…

In 2013, I moved back to India and joined a consumer sector focused growth private equity fund called L Catterton. Here, I spent time understanding and investing in the Indian consumer story. I was also fortunate to see the advent of e-commerce in India closely.

In this time, my grandfather passed and so, I decided to action the promise I had made him. 

In October 2016, I quit my job to take on my family’s Ayurveda legacy. Dr. Vaidya’s repackaged the ancient Indian science of Ayurveda for modern consumers and emerged as India’s largest Ayurveda brand online. In 4 years, we successfully reached 2m+ consumers across 16,500+ pin codes in India and launched 80+ products and clocked 5,000+ orders per day!

I was the first Ayurvedic Entrepreneur to be featured in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia List for and Business World 40 Under 40 List! We also won Youth SMB of the Year from Amazon and the Retail Startup Award from the Retailers Association of India. In June 2019, we partnered with the USD 4b RP Sanjiv Goenka Group and led the business to an acquisition by the group – making it one of India’s first successful D2C exits. 

Post the exit, I have become an active early stage investor. 
 
Outside work, I’m a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and a part Brown University’s Young Alumni Advisory Council. I’m also a massive sports fan (love cricket, football, Padel, pickleball and squash) and a marathon runner.

To get in touch/collaborate email me on Arjunvaidya.work@gmail.com

Ventures Lead - India

If you’re still questioning India’s startup/growth story, this is just one day last week. From the time I got to office, I met: 

• a fund that’s looking to invest heavily in startup pre IPOs. This concept didn’t exist 5 years ago. Now, every month we have 2-3 new ones. 

• an Indian founder in the US building in AI music and cracking a deal with the biggest music co in the 🌎

• a company that’s selling protein packed Chana jor, Chiwda and Khakra. Actually tasted good. 

• a liquor business trying to disrupt the global players in India by offering the same quality at a more affordable price. 

• 2 boys looking to disrupt behance/fiverr. When I told them it’s hard, they said it doesn’t matter, we will show you how! 

• a toy biz that built a 225k sft factory. Makes all in India and does 14% EBITDA 

• an Ayurveda company I’ve invested in that’s doing navel oils. They said scaling 15% MOM for the next year will be easy.

• a London based incubator looking to build celebrity brands in India 

I also closed a couple deals we’ve been negotiating and attended a d2c conference.

I took the metro home for INR 40. I’d say better experience than the London tube. 

All in a day’s work. If you ever doubted India’s consumer story, I say…. :))))

Co-Founder @ V3 Ventures I Founder @ Dr. Vaidya’s (acquired) I D2C Founder & Early Stage Investor I Forbes Asia 30U30 I Investing Titan @ Ideabaaz

This protein bar is wrapped in Gold Foil. Doesn’t taste so good. But, did USD 140m in year 1.

Most people will look at the "David" bar gold foil and see it as a gimmick. I look at it as pure genius. 

Peter Rahal was the guy who sold RXBAR for $600M. He’s disrupting the industry now with David - doing the exact opposite playbook. David is not natural or clean. But it works:

1. The Math is "Hard Tech" level In the food business. In this product macros are the new source code. David claims 150 Calories for 28g of Protein.

Do the math: 75% of the calories come purely from protein. That is an insane ratio. Most "healthy" bars are 40% protein and 60% fillers/sugar alcohol. David isn't competing with the Kind Bar. It is competing with a chicken breast.

2. The "Gold" Psychology Why the gold wrapper? This one is a bit more nuanced. 

Fitness is no longer a chore. It is a Luxury Belief. By wrapping it in gold:

- It justifies the premium price point ($3+).

- It signals status (You don't eat this; you invest in this).

- It stands out on a shelf drowning in matte-finish "minimalist" wrappers.

David went against the grain. And, it worked. It seems to be sold out everywhere! 

The question keep asking myself - is India ready for this? 

We have seen the revolution of health and nutrition. We’ve also seen the rise of The Whole Truth Foods, MuscleBlaze and most recently SuperYou. We know the demand is there.

But are we ready for "Luxury Performance" food? Are Indian consumers ready to pay a premium not just for "taste," but for "biological efficiency"?

I think the top 0.1% is ready. But, at scale there isnt yet a large enough market. 

Thoughts? 

Anyone building the David of India?

Farah Khan made more money from YouTube last year than from some of her biggest films.

Remember Farah made Main Hoon Na and Om Shanti Om. She’s also one of the biggest choreographers in Bollywood. 

When you look at the math though, it isn’t surprising. A ₹400 crore film looks huge, but most of that value never reaches the creator:

• GST takes 18–28%
• Multiplexes keep 50%+
• Distributors take their cut
• Producers get whatever remains
• Directors get a fixed fee with zero upside

A box-office success doesn’t translate into creator upside. The long tail doesn’t belong to them but YouTube flips that.

She started putting out simple home-style videos in April 2024. Today, her channel sits at ~2.5M subscribers. She must be making ₹10-15 maybe even 20 lakh a month just from ads and brand deals on top. With this, her annual income is more than a few crores just from YT.

For a long time, creators weren’t looked at as serious. There was a distinction between an ‘artist’ and a ‘creator’. That line seems to be blurring. Bill Gates and Elon Musk now create content. And, creators are getting the respect they deserve. 

But the part that stayed with me wasn’t Farah. It was her cook, Dilip.

The man went from earning ₹20k/mo to becoming a mini-celebrity on his own. People recognise him, brands send him hampers, and even Manish Malhotra has gifted him outfits.

He literally changed his life because he got access to the distribution. Traditional industries rarely create that kind of mobility but open platforms do. 

And with 850M+ internet users in India, it creates an infinite surface area creating a mass-creator economy.

All you need is a phone. Whether you’re vlogging what you’re cooking or your gully cricket match, your interactions with your kid or what it’s like to be a pilot - everything has a market. 

I see this shift personally as well. Being active on social had opened a lot of doors for me. My role running V3 Ventures or the acquisition of Dr. Vaidya's by RPSG Group all started from a LinkedIn DM. 

None of it was planned. It just compounded.

Owning your own distribution and audience is now as mainstream as it gets.  

If you don’t believe me, ask Farah :) 

Am I right? Or is this just a fad? 

I’ve been reading the opposite as well with the new Gen Z zero positing trend…

“I made this product for my girlfriend.” This was my 2nd investment on Ideabaaz and I loved this pitch from the first line.

The founders took a taboo yet important topic and somehow made the whole room laugh while still feeling the problem deeply. That’s not easy to do.

The founder Sourav started RAHATO for a reason most founders never admit. Rahato didn’t start as a “startup idea”. It started one night when Sourav’s girlfriend was in unbearable pain. He sat next to her and couldn’t do anything. He watched her suffer the entire night.

The next morning they discussed all the products available in the market - none were portable, wearable or discreet. And the ones available were low quality and stopped working often. 

He said something very simple: “इसका solution चाहिए ही चाहिए.”
So Sourav did what an engineer with intent and no resources does, he built it himself.

His first prototype - RAHATO, The Power of Relief - was put together in a small Kolkata room, late at night, with his girlfriend as a tester giving real feedback and scolding him at 3 AM if it didn’t work. (If that isn’t real-world testing, I don’t know what is 😂)

Later, two of his closest friends, Sudip Pradhan and Gajanan Rokade, joined him and the 3 of them built the entire thing on pure bootstrapped grit. A product that usually takes crores to develop, they built for ₹1.5 Lakh.

But what stood out wasn’t the jugaad. It was how thoughtful the product actually is.

Rahato is:

- a soft velvet heating pad that feels comforting, not medical
- wearable and saree-friendly
- fully app-controlled
- low-power (1.5 MHz)
- something women can actually walk out of the house wearing
 
And it genuinely gets better with every use and very much born for India. Their ask was pretty straightforward - ₹60 lakhs for 20% (convertible).

But the pitch wasn’t “startup style”. It was 3 boys standing on stage, nervous and smiling, giving their first pitch ever. You could see the sincerity. So, what happened next was interesting to watch.

Almost every titan wanted in for completely different reasons.

Priyanka from The Sleep Company jumped in with her manufacturing resource and a
Jimmy Dietz decided to help them with category storytelling
Pratik Gandhi became a titan too because the originality of the idea stood out. And, I backed it because the founder is the best boyfriend in the world :) 

The whole room wanted them to win!

Sourav said one more thing that stayed with me: “कोई भी idea छोटा नहीं होता। छोटा पड़ता है हिम्मत.”

Rahato started because one woman was in pain. If they get this right, it will bring comfort to millions who go through this silently every month.

Like the founders of Kuku FM I saw simplicity and a deep passion for the mission. 

Rooting for these boys :) 

What did you think of their pitch?

PS: this ep of Ideabaaz is now live on ZEE5. Go watch it if you haven’t already.

This is wild! Netflix is buying Warner Bros. Discovery for $82.7B. David is buying Goliath. 

Yesterday, I was intrigued seeing the news. I began tracking what this actually means:

• Netflix offering $27.75 a share for WBD. A $72B equity value with a premium baked in.

• A studio that did $39.3B revenue, $9.0B EBITDA and still carries $40B debt.

- the deal is done at 2x sales and 9x EBITDA. Pretty low if you think of Indian standards. They also get 100 years of IP from the best storytellers in the world. 

• A breakup fee of $5.8B that shows how serious both sides are.

• Netflix will own Harry Potter, DC, Game of Thrones, Friends and everything HBO ever shaped.

• A split structure allows Netflix only buys the good half. The linear TV networks stay behind.
This is a pattern we’re seeing. Disney bought Fox. Amazon bought MGM. Microsoft bought Activision.

Every tech-led company has to eventually go upstream to own the stories.

The question is: can a tech led startup company like Netflix manage so much IP? Will they integrate well or will it so Netflix down?

I love Europe and grew up aspiring for a European life. But now, the sheen is fading and I’m happier when I fly back home. 

I just spent time in Belgium and Portugal. The streets are clean. The traffic isn’t crazy. The air is breathable. And, the quality of life seems at its peak.

But I also noticed something terrifyingly quiet: The Consumption.

9 PM in Brussels felt like 2 AM in India. 

As someone I met there told me, Europe is a "Replacement Market." People there buy a new car because the lease on the previous one expired. They buy a new washing machine because the old one broke. They buy clothes to update a wardrobe that is already full.

Demand there is predictable. It is "Maintenance Mode."

When I landed Mumbai, the chaos hit me. But this time, I saw the pattern in the noise.

India isn't replacing. India is Acquiring. We are a "First-Buying Market."

So many people are buying their ‘first’. First home, first car, first luxury watch and first pickleball racket. 

That family in Tier 2 isn't upgrading their AC; they are buying their first cooling system. That teenager isn't swapping sneakers; they are buying their first branded pair. That founder isn't optimizing; they are building the first solution.

This also leads to a change in attitude towards business. There’s a hunger here that seems lost there. If the store shuts at 6 PM, they start putting the shutter at 5:45. Even if 5 customers are trying to walk in - no one cares.

Similarly, we had a strange experience at a restaurant. We got there for a table of 10. 2 people were late so, they wouldn’t seat us. Finally, when everyone came - they said we couldn’t order from the main menu. Its too large a table and so, we had only 4 options for appetizers and mains as the kitchen would get too confused.

This wouldn’t happen in India. 

Europe has better air, stability and an arguably better quality of life.

We may not have this. But, we have growth, ambition and the animal spirits in the economy. 

Which one would you choose?

Flipkart's biggest addition to the Indian startup ecosystem is not the Flipkart mafia.  

For decades, our ecosystem has talked about the “Flipkart Mafia” like the PayPal mafia. 

To their credit, there’s a. long list of former-employees (Flipsters) who went on to found and fund dozens of India’s fastest growing startups. By some counts, former Flipkart employees have launched over 200 startups - some massively successful, listed and household names.

But here’s what’s more interesting. Despite that legacy of spawning external startups, Flipkart is doubling down on building entrepreneurial leadership from within.

This isn’t easy for a company operating at the scale of Flipkart and especially without someone who consistently champions this from within. 

As I was talking to the team, these stories of intrapreneurs came up. 

	•	Hemant Badri - transforming supply chain into a massive, scalable asset and launching Flipkart Minutes - the qcomm platform now live across multiple locations.

	•	Manjari Singhal -  driving growth as CBO at Cleartrip, growing 3- 4X faster than the travel category in a brutally competitive business. 

	•	Nandita Sinha - who I’ve met many times. She’s leading Myntra  as a fashion powerhouse. The platform is synonymous with the category and on track for ~200 million annual active users by end-2025.

	•	Prakash Sikaria - spearheading SuperMoney (and earlier leading growth at Shopsy). He is aiming to shift how Indians experience UPI and e-commerce.

These aren’t just leaders executing directives. They’re  empowered and trusted to build new businesses decisively and entrepreneurially- a mindset that typically flows from the cultural tone at the top.

It’s easy to think that after the “Mafia wave,” the culture, hunger, leadership would age or scatter. But this isn’t the case. 

Unlike many, Flipkart has invested internally. They have preserved the founder like spirit in a large organization. That’s v impressive.

This is something new age companies and people at the top need to ask themselves (no right answers of course:

Are we building just for exits and valuations or are we building to nurture entrepreneurial talent, inside and out? Are we building businesses or are we building people who can build businesses?

In a world chasing unicorns, the real asset is not valuation it’s loyal, empowered talent that builds again and again.
 
I am proud to see all that the FK group has nurtured externally. But, even more proud to see what they’ve been able to do internally as a large org that is growing fast.

This is an example for all of our startups :)

Hi, I’m Arjun, and I’m a D2C founder & investor. I built Dr. Vaidya’s to India’s largest Ayurveda brand online and took it to an acquisition. I now lead venture investing for Verlinvest through a new fund called V3 Ventures. 

I'm also an active angel investor and mentor to brands in India’s startup ecosystem. If you’re an early-stage founder DM me - I'm happy to chat!

Here's my story:

‘Vaidya’ my last name means Ayurvedic doctor and I come from 150 years of Ayurveda legacy. I grew up with asthma and after 14 years of treatment, I was cured. More than just being a family legacy, I became a believer in the potential of the science and so I promised him I’d take forward this legacy.

In 2009, I went to Brown University for my undergrad. I witnessed the natural and organic products revolution there. I also saw yoga become a multibillion-dollar industry with a repackaged identity for modern consumers. This made me think about the opportunity we had with Ayurveda…

In 2013, I moved back to India and joined a consumer sector focused growth private equity fund called L Catterton. Here, I spent time understanding and investing in the Indian consumer story. I was also fortunate to see the advent of e-commerce in India closely.

In this time, my grandfather passed and so, I decided to action the promise I had made him. 

In October 2016, I quit my job to take on my family’s Ayurveda legacy. Dr. Vaidya’s repackaged the ancient Indian science of Ayurveda for modern consumers and emerged as India’s largest Ayurveda brand online. In 4 years, we successfully reached 2m+ consumers across 16,500+ pin codes in India and launched 80+ products and clocked 5,000+ orders per day!

I was the first Ayurvedic Entrepreneur to be featured in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia List for and Business World 40 Under 40 List! We also won Youth SMB of the Year from Amazon and the Retail Startup Award from the Retailers Association of India. In June 2019, we partnered with the USD 4b RP Sanjiv Goenka Group and led the business to an acquisition by the group – making it one of India’s first successful D2C exits. 

Post the exit, I have become an active early stage investor (through V3 Ventures and as an angel). 
 
Outside work, I’m a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and a part Brown University’s Young Alumni Advisory Council. I also run a podcast called Direct to a Billion Consumers on navigating India’s complex and exciting FMCG ecosystem. Check it out here: https://campsite.bio/d2bc

Flipkart

Cleartrip

Myntra

Chiranjeevi .

If I were building a subscription startup today, here are 5 models that actually work in India..

Subscription businesses haven’t worked in India because of the regulatory guardrails. With UPI autopay, this dead industry suddenly woke up.  

Indian consumers now like  subscriptions because the experience is clean. And, we are paying for convenience. 

So, the 5 spaces:

1) Fitness & wellness subscriptions

India is going to a health and fitness renaissance. Every conversation I have starts with a discussion on padel, being sugar free or when the next Hyrox race is. People underestimate how much India spends on health now.

Historically, fitness subscriptions have failed in India. 

But today, I think cult fit, FITPASS, Ultrahuman, even local yoga studios - this is one category where monthly renewal actually makes the product better. 

When motivation is unstable, people pay for structure.

And with more people joining running clubs, pilates studios filling up, and padel/pickleball courts booked out, this category has real depth.

The challenge is to get the customer to keep renewing. Drop off rates in this category are high. 

2) Food & essentials subscriptions

This is the closest India has come to “true” subscription behaviour. Milk, bread, eggs, fruits, vegetables, meats, if it goes bad in 3–5 days, subscription works.

bigbasket used this to scale BB Daily, Licious used it to increase weekly repeat rates. And, Country Delight is of course the best example. 

Premium versions of these subscriptions is still an open opportunity 

3) Hobby subscriptions

This entire layer didn’t exist a decade ago. With disposable income it’s now a real category: Indians paying monthly for a passion. 

Mahjong, guitar lessons, chess clubs and Korean classes (the new gen Z trend)

The new middle class is open to spending ₹2,000–₹8,000 a month on “growth hobbies”

4) Kids/education subscriptions: 

Parents are irrational in ways no spreadsheet can model. I’ve seen it first hand. 

Whether it’s coding, gymnastics, math clubs, reading apps, premium toys or skill-based classes - the LTV in this category is one of the highest in India.

You don’t buy for value, you buy for “confidence your child isn’t missing out”. That’s why this category has near-default renewal.

5) Convenience & infrastructure subscriptions: 

Water purifiers with AMC, home-cleaning plans, laundry subscriptions, pet-care subscriptions - these are invisible but high-retention layers.

Urban Company Company cracked this. Once you trust someone inside your home, you don’t churn.

These are 5 physical product categories. There’s an even bigger market in services. Think Kuku FM, Seekho, STAGE etc.

Subscription is an addition to indian consumer market that will change the game. 

What products do you subscribe to? And, which categories did I miss?

Yesterday, I moderated a session called Commerce 3.0 with some of the top consumer-tech founders in the country. What Amit Lakhotia said on the auto sector stayed with me… 

Amit is the founder of Park+. I’m a power user of his product. He talked about massive changes in the auto segment in India I didn’t know/think about.

Heres what he said:

• We grew up buying cars on mileage.

Today, more than 50% of new cars sold in India are SUVs or MUVs. They give 1/4 of the mileage of a hatchback and yet, that’s where India is moving.

• In 2018, FASTag had just launched. Toll collection was ₹10 crore/day.

In just 7 years, that number is up 22x and almost all digital vs cash. That’s what “adoption” looks like in this country.

• And this one made everyone look up:

We are not far from a time where petrol pumps will have tiers. Same fuel, different experiences.

→ self-service (cheaper)
→ normal service (today’s default)
→ and a premium “fuel-at-home” delivery at a higher price

The same product but convenience becomes the value.

And when I looked at my own behaviour, it matched perfectly. I buy fuel, pay challans, recharge FASTag - all on a third-party app. This wasn’t even possible 3 years ago.

That’s how fast this country is moving.

Some days i feel that India is quietly becoming the most convenient place in the world.

DigiYatra, q-commerce, UPI, Doorstep everything.

Is there any country which is easier? Debate me!

The next big opportunity in India is travel. But, with more Indians traveling - there’s also more problems.

Data shows: 30% of people pack just 2 days before a trip. And, 40%+ have packing anxiety. 

Half the stress of travel starts before we leave. I just did 9 days across Brussels, Lisbon & Comporta, meetings, a conference, beach, sailing, padel, running… all with ONE suitcase.

Normally this packing list would lead to chaos. But of course, Ai came to the rescue. I used Scapia Store, India’s first destination-first travel store. 

Pick your destination + season and it gives you a smart, curated list. No scrolling, no guessing.

It suggested the right rain jacket, sunglasses, suitcase, adapter, and even sneakers that worked for dinner and padel. And, I ordered using my coins. 

What’s the one thing you ALWAYS forget to pack?

PS: check out the link to the store in the comment

Brand partnership • Co-Founder @ V3 Ventures I Founder @ Dr. Vaidya’s (acquired) I D2C Founder & Early Stage Investor I Forbes Asia 30U30 I Investing Titan @ Ideabaaz

Despite being the diabetes capital of the world, the #1 genre India searches on Google is Sports! WILD

I just came across this list of top Google Search trends and 50% of the top searches were sports related: IPL, Women’s World Cup, Asia Cup, Champions Trophy and the Pro Kabaddi League. 

This, in my opinion is a sign. 

Where attention goes → aspiration forms → spending follows. 

Just like how food content drives more Swiggy orders, AI content drives higher tool adoption. Sports content drives grounds, gear, fantasy apps, tourism, merch, streaming, fitness culture and policy. And, Indians getting fitter. 

The money flowing into this space proves it:

1. Sports spending in India has grown 7x since 2008 (₹2,376 Cr → ₹16,633 Cr in 2024)

2. Athlete endorsements are growing 32% YoY, highest in 14 years

3. Non-cricket endorsements surged 46% to ₹170 Cr, led by Neeraj Chopra, PV Sindhu & Manu Bhaker. There’s still a lot of room to grow here. 

4. Govt budget for sports is up 130% over the last decade (₹1,643 Cr → ₹3,794 Cr). Again, lots more to do here.

5. 11 Cr+ Indians now actively participate in fitness, sports, running, gyming

And my favourite part of it is that Women’s sports are compounding fast. Sponsorship in women’s leagues is growing 50% faster than men’s and 86% of brands report positive ROI from women's sports campaigns.

This isn’t just a market shift. It’s a cultural shift. I’ve felt it personally too.

I play pickleball, just hosted S2 of “Pickle and Pitch” - 1,000 founders applied in a week.

I just signed up for Hyrox in Bangalore and paid Rs. 10k. >3,000 people will pay that.

I’m running the Tata half marathon in Jan. ~70k people will run various distances and, it’s completely sold out.

And, I’m writing this post while on a Padel retreat in Phuket.

Every sports event feels more crowded than the last. 10 years ago, fitness was a hobby for the rich. Today it’s a priority, a lifestyle decision at par with career and money for many young Indians. Everyone I meet is asking which diet I’m following or which sport I’m playing. 

A fitter India is a more active India and we now have a commercially viable sports economy. 

Sport and fitness is now real business whether it’s sports nutrition, equipment or facilities. 

I’m looking to invest more in sport. I think it’s the next big thing. Who’s building?

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.css-6ytdur{background-image:linear-gradient(284deg, rgba(39, 43, 72, 1) 0%, rgba(33, 47, 183, 1) 100%);color:transparent;-webkit-background-clip:text;background-clip:text;}Arjun Vaidya's Linkedin Analytics

Arjun Vaidya

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Arjun Vaidya's LinkedIn Performance

What is Arjun talking about?

Arjun Vaidya's Best Posts .css-1emoo84{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:400;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);}(last 30 days)

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Arjun Vaidya's Linkedin Analytics

Performance ScoreArjun Vaidya's LinkedIn Performance

Arjun Vaidya's Best Posts (last 30 days)