Artificial intelligence investment is expanding beyond enterprise software and chip bets into media, entertainment and sports sectors. According to reports from The Times of India, venture capital firms, private equity investors, family offices and celebrities are backing startups using AI to create content, localise it, distribute it and build intellectual property. Azim Premji's investment firm Premji Invest participated in the $315 million Series E funding of Runway, a New York headquartered firm that builds generative AI tools for video creation, editing, and world modeling.
Peak XV, an India fund, led Dashverse's $13 million Series A investment last year. As reported by The Times of India, Dashverse is headquartered in US and India, and founded by Sanidhya Narain, Lalith Gudipati, and Soumyadeep Mukherjee. The company is an AI-powered entertainment company that builds tools to create and distribute short-form mobile video dramas and digital comics. IAN Alpha Fund, another India-based fund, led SportVot's ₹33 crore investment round in April.
According to reports from The Times of India, Mumbai-headquartered SportVot, founded by Sidhhant Agarwal, Shubhangi Gupta, and Yash Bhagwatkar, is an AI-powered sports production, streaming and analytics venture. The company's AI system automatically identifies key events like goals in football or buzzer-beaters in basketball, and clips, formats, and tags the footage in real time without manual editing delays. It tracks individual player movements and generates specific player clips to help talent scouts find regional athletes.
A recent Tracxn report reveals that 10 celebrities have invested in 34 startups across 49 funding rounds worth $458 million between 2021 and 2026. Shilpa Shetty Kundra leads with 10 disclosed funding rounds, including investments in food and beverage startup WickedGud, online grocery platform KisanKonnect, and beauty unicorn Mamaearth. MS Dhoni follows with 6 rounds, showing strong interest in sustainable energy and tech sectors, while Virat Kohli participated in 5 rounds focusing on sports footwear and food tech. Alia Bhatt invested in 4 rounds with focus on sustainability and parenting companies like Phool and Ed-a-Mamma.
As reported by The Times of India, Umakanta Panigrahi, MD of valuation advisory services at Kroll, stated that artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping the entertainment and sports industries. Nandagopal P, limited partner in VC firm Arya Ventures, noted rising investor interest in AI media startups, explaining that AI directly attacks three expensive bottlenecks: content creation, localisation and distribution by reducing production cost, ad monetisation and turning sports or entertainment data into real-time fan engagement. The global AI media and entertainment market estimated at $34 billion in 2025, is projected to reach $160 billion by 2033, while AI in sports is projected to grow from $11 billion to nearly $50 billion during the same period.
