Accel Partners to invest in Universal Collectabillia

MUMBAI: Facebook investor and American venture capitalist Accel Partners will make an early stage investment in Universal Collectabillia, a celebrity merchandise and brand extension firm jointly owned by Anjana Reddy, who is part of the Deccan Chronicle family, and cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar.

Accel Partners has committed about $5 million into the twoyear-old Collectabillia, which began as sourcing and auction platform of sports memorabilia. Accel will have minority ownership in the startup, in which Tendulkar holds around 26% stake, said sources directly briefed on the matter.

Collectabillia’s business model now includes helping celebrities extend their brand beyond careers and has recently struck a deal with southern movie star Rajnikanth. It has similar deals with Sachin Tendulkar and tennis player Sania Mirza, besides owning rights for any sporting memorabilia related to Tendulkar.

Anjana Reddy did not respond to calls and text messages while Accel declined to comment . World Sports Group’s Vinod Naidu, who manages Tendulkar’s commercial endorsements for more than a decade, too did not respond to calls.

Accel Partners with $9 billion in assets under management has backed over 300 successful enterprises, including Facebook, Groupon, Walmart-. com and Baidu. It has invested heavily into India’s e-commerce start-ups like Flipkart and Myntra in the past three years.

Collectabillia also combines the potential of digital economy with celebrity brands mostly in the sporting and film industry. India has a few celebrity management firms that mostly help clients strike endorsement deals for commercial brands.

Anjana Reddy’s ownership interest in Collectabillia is personal and not linked to her family’s publishing business. The 24-year-old Anjana’s business association with Tendulkar goes back a couple of years.

Not much is known about Tendulkar’s interests beyond cricket in which he is the most prolific run getter. Tendulkar, 39, has not hinted about retirement after more than two decades of international cricket and a collection of world records behind him.