Virat Kohli Retreats From Lucrative Puma Deal For Local Start-Up 

Indian cricketing icon Virat Kohli has reportedly walked away from a lucrative extension worth US$35m with Puma, to sign with homegrown athleisure start-up Agilitas.

The 36-year-old batsman has been associated with Puma since 2017 with a major endorsement deal in the US$15m range, which even included developing his own product line One8.  He is poised to make the leap to Agilitas as both co-creator, investor and brand ambassador as he moves into the twilight of his career. The exit will also see him reposition his One8 collaboration with Puma into a standalone brand. 

The move has parallels to Roger Federer’s move to ON, and clearly shows how iconic sporting personalities are seeking highly personalised endorsement deals, equity stakes, as well as a larger say in product development and brand messaging, instead of merely being a brand ambassador. 

Agilitas led by cofounder and chief executive Abhishek Ganguly, the former managing director of Puma India and South East Asia, is poised to expand its retail presence through Virat Kohli’s One8 stores in the upcoming months as a formal announcement is ironed out. There is also talk of One8 expanding to the US and UK. 

“It was a wonderful association with him spanning over several years, many outstanding campaigns and path-breaking product collaborations,” Puma said in a statement earlier this week, confirming the end of their partnership and wishing Kohli success in his new ventures.  

The moves comes as Puma Group’s global CEO Arne Freundt will exit the company on 30 April 2025 while Agilitas has raised US$70m in its first year from Convergent Finance and Nexus Venture Partners, as an additional US$3.5m from individual investor as it sets it ambitions on becoming India’s fastest growing consumer-centric sportswear company.  

According to ASN data, Puma (23%, ~US$25.2m+) is the 2^nd largest investor for its category in the Indian sponsorship market since Q322, with an average quarterly investment of US$2.2m+ during this period. While the forecast for Q225 is tipped to hit almost US$3.4m, the famous sports brand is certain to have a dent in its overall sponsorship investment there with Virat Kohli’s exit.