Mahendra Singh Dhoni is Secured VC’s global brand ambassador

NEW DELHI: Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been signed up as the global brand ambassador for Secured Venture Capital, an Australia-based VC firm led by former Australian fast bowler Craig McDermott.

Dhoni will be the face of Secured Venture Capital for Indian Subcontinent as the VC firm looks to invest in startups in the region and also scout for Indian investors for its fund. In the deal, Dhoni will also be the face of Craig McDermott International Cricket Academy (CMICA), which is a private cricket and educational sports academy based in Australia. The endorsement deal is worth between Rs 9-10 crore a year for five years.

Secured VC usually funds startups at the seed stage and also late stage tech entrepreneurs. McDermott said his firm will look at investing in startups in India and the subcontinent and Dhoni will help them get the reach into these markets. “We invest in areas such as pharma, financial investment platforms, realty, environmentally sustainable innovations and dairy.

We will like to do similar investments here,” he said. Secured VC will also look at raising a fund from Indian HNIs and have a $100-million fund here. “We have a few startups in Australia and elsewhere that we would like to bring to the Indian market. We are already talking to an Indian company to bring a built-in solutions product,” he said.