NEW DELHI: Artificial intelligence investment is widening beyond enterprise software and chip bets, and one of the areas money is increasingly flowing into is media, entertainment and sports. In 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 earlier this year 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. Dashverse, headquartered in US and India, and founded by Sanidhya Narain, Lalith Gudipati, and Soumyadeep Mukherjee, 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 Rs 33 crore investment round in April. Mumbai-headquartered SportVot, founded by Sidhhant Agarwal, Shubhangi Gupta, and Yash Bhagwatkar, is an AI-powered sports production, streaming and analytics venture. Its AI system automatically identifies key events – like a goal in football or a buzzer-beater 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.“Artificial Intelligence is rapidly reshaping the entertainment and sports industries, transforming how content is created, how celebrities engage with audiences, and how brands leverage influence,” says Umakanta Panigrahi, MD of valuation advisory services at Kroll, a global financial and risk advisory firm.Nandagopal P, limited partner in VC firm Arya Ventures, says there’s rising investor interest in AI media startups. “They always had three expensive bottlenecks: content creation, localisation and distribution. AI directly attacks all three by reducing production cost, ad monetisation and turning sports or entertainment data into real-time fan engagement. The numbers explain the momentum: 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,” he said.A number of celebrities have also made investments in AI-based ventures in entertainment and sports. Shah Rukh Khan’s family office, along with a bunch of investors, has invested in Mythik, which uses advanced technologies like AI and virtual production to bring Eastern mythology, history, and folktales to worldwide audiences. Mythik was founded by Jason Kothari, former CEO of Freecharge and Housing.com. Ravi Shastri, former cricketer and cricket coach, is funding Smartan FitTech, a Chennai-based venture that uses AI and computer vision to analyse athlete movements and prevent sports injuries.Actor Bhumi Pednekar has founded Maya that focuses on using AI-enabled workflows to create music videos, advertising campaigns, and feature-length films. Actor Ajay Devgn has founded Prismix that specialises in generative AI storytelling for filmmakers, brands, and creators.Nandagopal says celebrities are entering the sector because this is not just financial investing for them; “AI can multiply their IP, likeness, voice, fandom and distribution.”
