Shikhar Dhawan joins Jennifer Lopez, Shahid Kapoor and others in Malaika Arora-backed yoga startup SARVA

• The chennai-based startup has earlier raised investments from Malaika Arora, Jennifer Lopez, Alex Rodriguez, Aishwaryaa R. Dhanush, Shahid and Mira Kapoor.
• The startup Sarva has a chain of yoga and fitness studios, along with a digital community.
• The startup had also launched an app recently due to the coronavirus lockdown and claims to have a reach of 200 million.

Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan has joined the starry panel of investors of yoga startup SARVA. The chennai-based startup has earlier raised investments from Malaika Arora, Jennifer Lopez, Alex Rodriguez, Shahid and Mira Kapoor, Aishwaryaa R. Dhanush and also the newly formed Mantra Capital.

“SARVA is doing great work towards empowering people with tools to lead better lives and I am thrilled to join their mission of connecting seven billion breaths. My personal journey with fitness and wellness began when I entered the world of cricket. I have first-hand benefited from yoga, be it while recovering from an injury, getting back into shape, building stamina or staying focused before a game,” said the cricketer.

Sarvesh Shashi, Founder SARVA, and Co-founder DIVA Yoga, said, “Sports and fitness go hand in hand and Shikhar aligned completely with SARVA’s philosophy of holistic health and well-being, which is a must for a fast-paced game like cricket. His involvement will help us rebrand yoga as authentic yet modern and inclusive yet transformative-- a positioning that yoga has never had in India”.

The startup Sarva has a chain of yoga and fitness studios, along with a digital community. The startup had also launched an app recently due to the coronavirus lockdown and claims to have a reach of 200 million.

SARVA has also been looking at an international audience mulling an entry into the UK, US and the Middle East.

Sarvesh points out that mindfulness is a big trend globally, and is an $80 billion industry. “There is a very large opportunity here. India itself is a very large consumption story. Yoga has a global play but is still fairly an unorganised sector. We are happy to initiate the process of organising it,” he had told Business Insider in an earlier interview.

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