MS Dhoni, Deepika Padukone, Ashneer Grover among those who invested in troubled BluSmart

The list of prominent investors included- Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Deepika Padukone, Sanjeev Bajaj, and Ashneer Grover.

Electric ride-hailing startup BluSmart, which has suspended operations after Sebi alleged fund diversion by co-founder Anmol Jaggi, counted several big names from the world of business, entertainment and sports among its investors.

The Bengaluru-based cab, which was launched in 2018 and seeking to challenge Uber and Ola, raised more than Rs 4,100 crore from investors but now stares at an uncertain future.

"We've decided to temporarily close bookings on the BluSmart app," the company said in an email to customers on April 17.

The mail came two days after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said that it found that promoters of the startup and Gensol Engineering Anmol and Puneet Singh Jaggi, both brothers, diverted loans meant to buy cars for BluSmart towards a luxury apartment in DLF's The Camellias in  Gurugram and high-end golf equipment worth Rs 26 lakh among others.

In an interim order, Sebi barred the Jaggi brothers from holding directorship positions in the firm and accessing the market.

Gensol leased electric vehicles to BluSmart and both held close financial ties.

The investors

The ride-hailing startup’s electric and eco-friendly cars attracted many celebrity investors. Prominent among them are cricketer MS Dhoni, actor Deepika Padukone, business leader Sanjeev Bajaj and Bharat Pe co-founder Ashneer Grover.

Padukone was one of the earliest investors. The actor’s family office participated in an angel funding round with an investment of $3 million in 2019.

In the same round, Bajaj Capital’s managing director Sanjiv Bajaj backed the startup with an investment of $3 million along with JITO Angel Network and Rajat Gupta.

Last year, the company raised $24 million in pre-series B funding, which saw the participation of Dhoni’s family office, Sumant Sinha of ReNew Power and a Swiss asset management firm.

Grover has also come under the scanner again. The former Shark Tank India judge claimed he invested Rs 1.5 crore in BluSmart and another Rs 25 lakh in Matrix.

The SEBI order alleged that Rs 50 lakh was diverted to invest in Grover’s startup Third Unicorn Pvt Ltd.

Gensol took loans worth Rs 978 crore from IREDA and Power Finance Corporation (PFC) between 2021 and 2024, with a major portion meant for purchasing 6,400 electric vehicles.