Ace cricketer and former captain of the Indian cricket team, Virat Kohli, has joined fast moving consumer products brand Rage Coffee as an investor and brand ambassador, the company that manufactures, markets, and distributes packaged coffee products said.
Rage coffee sells a range of plain and flavoured instant coffee mixes apart from coffee in cold brew bags, liquid coffee and sachets. The move follows the brand’s $5 million fund raise in August 2021 that was led by Sixth Sense Ventures.
Rage was started in 2018 as a direct-to-consumer brand. Today it sells products online as well as offline. Its offline network consists of over 2,500 offline touch-points across India.
In 2020—the former Indian cricket team captain held the top celebrity endorser rank for the fourth consecutive year, according to a celebrity brand valuation report by Duff & Phelps. Kohli’s brand value was then estimated at $237.7 million.
Earlier this year—Kohli stepped down after more than seven years as test captain of the India cricket team.
“Virat Kohli has set some unrivalled records in the top echelon of world cricket and is rightly known as the best batsman in the world. Apart from being a world-class athlete, Virat is also a fitness enthusiast who is committed to an attitude that fosters a healthy lifestyle and it seamlessly aligns with the ethos that Rage Coffee promotes,” Bharat Sethi, Founder and CEO, Rage Coffee said.
Kohli will help the brand with new customer acquisition, the company said.
India is a large instant coffee market with companies such as Hindustan Unilever, Nestle as well as ITC selling packaged instant coffee.
Rage is planning to expand its presence both online and offline footprint. It will use the capital for marketing and distribution. Rage Coffee will also use the funds to scale production, launch innovative new products and strength senior management, the company said.
