Bengaluru|HL
Actor Hrithik Roshan signed as brand ambassador for Health and wellness startup Cure.fit . It is touted as one of the largest endorsement deal signed by an Indian startup.
The five-year association, valued at Rs 100 crore, includes the actor’s equity stake in the company in lieu of cash investment, promotions and royalty from his personal brand HRX’s specialised workout plan. This plan will be introduced across Cult fitness centres operated by Cure.fit.
HRX Workout offering, available at Cult fitness centres run by Cure.fit and soon to be launched on the mobile app, is expected to rake in Rs 250-crore annual business in the coming years. “The idea behind this workout is to help people move better, faster and feel athletic by progressing gradually.
We are delighted with this initial response and it also gives us great confidence to look at reaching out to newer markets and further the HRX vision through this partnership,” said Hrithik Roshan, founder HRX in an emailed response to ET’s queries.
Roshan’s deal with Cure.fit is the latest among startups signing on celebrities for brand recall and positioning. Online grocery platform BigBasket signed on Shah Rukh Khan in 2015 while Aamir Khan was signed on in 2015 by Snapdeal for a yearlong contract. Recently, online jewellery brand BlueStone on-boarded Alia Bhatt.
“His involvement with Cure.fit will be multi-fold and we will soon launch do-it- yourself format for the HRX workout. He will also be promoting Cure.fit’s philosophy of a healthy lifestyle,” said Mukesh Bansal, co-founder of Cure.fit. Flipkart senior executive Ankit Nagori started the fitness platform in 2016.
Bansal, who sold Myntra to Flipkart in 2014 for $350 million, has worked with Roshan before at the fashion etailer. In 2013, Roshan started selling fashion products under HRX brand exclusively on Myntra which also acquired a 51% stake in the brand. Analysts tracking the space said a typical one-year contract, including one personal appearance by the celebrity, is valued at Rs 15 crore. The cost of promoting the company on social media can range from Rs 2.5 lakh per tweet to as high as Rs 2.5 crore depending on the popularity of the actor.
Usually these deals have a 30% of cash component and 70% stock,” said Harish Bijoor, brand and business strategy consultant.
He added that startups gain tremendous value from these endorsements due to the visibility and image associated with the celebrity. “The value of the company goes up and it is viewed as a durable company due to the association.”
