West Indies cricketer Chris Gayle picks up minority stake in Bengaluru-based FlippAR app

Bengaluru: After a series of investments in businesses including startups, dashing West Indian opening batsman Chris Gayle has yet again made an investment by picking up a minority stake in city-based augmented reality venture FlippAR. “The West Indian great Chris Gayle has picked up a minority stake in our venture.. Gayle will be endorsing the brand and initiate campaigns across the world,” FlippAR Founder Vivek Jain told PTI here. The agreement was signed four days ago with the help of Dinanath Ramnarine, who is very close to Gayle. “Ramnarine was the man who backed Gayle in his standoff with the West Indies Cricket Board.. He is one of the most respected cricket administrators in West Indies,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_4037149” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Chris Gayle. AFP[/caption] Ramnarine had taken up the cause of Gayle against WICB, who were unhappy with his comments in the media in 2011, and had him axed from the West Indies squad against India. Replying to a query, he said the terms and modalities of the agreement were being worked out. In July, Gayle had invested an undisclosed amount in IONA Entertainment to bring one-stop entertainment to Indian sports fans, which includes state-of-the-art virtual gaming. Gayle has been investing in various business ventures including restaurant and real estate trade. FlippAR has been providing Augmented Reality development services through its app for over two years and developing mobile applications for over 3 years now, Jain said. FlippAR, which is run by Movingup Products Private Limited and launched in January last, has a subscription-based revenue model, he said. The startup raised Rs five lakh fund under a scheme initiated by Karnataka government this March, Jain said. The startup also plans to raise funds from private investors for expanding its business in near future, he added. Jain had previously co-founded IT services startup. The startup, which is accelerated by France-based accelerator programme NUMA, has handful of clients, Jain said.