Jennifer Lopez & Malaika Arora Invest in Yoga & Wellness brand SARVA
The global pop icon is just one of the high-calibre investors to put their names behind SARVA – a brainchild of a yogi turned entrepreneur, Sarvesh Shashi. In a first-of-its-kind move, Hollywood star Jennifer Lopez, American baseball legend Alex Rodriguez, Bollywood diva Malaika Arora, and branded fitness program Zumba®, have come together to invest in an Indian yoga and wellness start-up. They join an illustrious list of global investors in a recently concluded Friends & family round – David Giampaolo (Chairman of the company and Chief Executive Pi Capital), Mark Mastrov (Founder, 24 Hour Fitness Worldwide, Inc.), and Bill Roedy (Former Chairman & CEO, MTV Networks Int’l) are some of the other eminent investors. With this, SARVA claims to be the first-ever Indian start-up to attract global investors that span Hollywood, Bollywood, Sports, and Business.
Started in March 2016, SARVA focusses on the 600 million people in India living under the age group of 35. SARVA wants to drive a cultural change in society, making yoga-based wellness a part of the modern lifestyle, to combat global epidemics like stress, anxiety, depression, sleeplessness, and obesity. The brand currently has 91 studios across India, clustering Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru. Its next cluster will include other metros, while in a bid to create its international footprint, over the next few years, it will continue to evaluate market opportunities in USA, UK, and the Middle East, once it has penetrated the Indian market. In the last quarter of 2019, the company’s growth expected to be largely driven by digital offerings in the mindfulness music, guided meditation, and interactive fitness space. By 2022, SARVA aims to have 500 brick and mortar studios across the country in about 15 cities and simultaneously build a global community of over 100 million on their digital platform.
Commenting on her investment in SARVA, Jennifer Lopez, singer, dancer, actor, and global icon shared, “I have personally benefited from my regular practice of yoga and believe that it has made a difference to my life both physically and mindfully. The enthusiasm that Sarvesh brings to SARVA is promising and infectious. I believe in the vision of SARVA and view it as a great common ground for a brilliant investment opportunity along with co-creating and serving a global community.”
Bollywood diva Malaika Arora said “I am happy to look beyond and invest in SARVA, becoming a part of the overall company that comes with a vision of connecting seven billion breaths globally, using finesse and a hi-tech approach. In particular, I look forward to working more closely with Sarvesh Shashi, the charismatic founder of SARVA whose ability to curate content and present it with special inspiration urges me to be more closely associated with this project. Besides its bright financial prospects, SARVA will quite significantly change the lives of those drawn to it.”
Alberto Perlman, CEO, Zumba® Fitness LLC said, “We invested in SARVA because we believe that yoga and mindfulness can offer similar benefits to people. We also believe that India, being the birthplace of yoga, is the logical place from which a global yoga powerhouse could emerge. Most importantly, we believe in Sarvesh and his ability to create just such a company.”
Baseball legend Alex Rodriguez shared, “I have made several investments in highly successful companies over the years. My investment in SARVA is for 3 basic factors – Yoga with its high level of global acceptance and demand, the increasing need for tools for people to combat stress, anxiety, depression etc and Sarvesh the founder who is charismatic and has a great sense of how to curate content to make it accessible to a wide range of people. “
Speaking on this development, Sarvesh Shashi, Founder & CEO of SARVA said, “We are really excited by the faith shown in us and our mission by some of the brightest and most successful people in the world. We welcome them all to the SARVA family. Stress, anxiety, sleeplessness, depression and obesity have become a global epidemic for people of all ages and we are trying to curate physical and digital offerings and services for different needs, ages and geographies to help people empower themselves with the tools to lead better lives”
