{"id":51778,"date":"2026-05-12T16:51:59","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T11:21:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/?p=51778"},"modified":"2026-05-12T11:54:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T06:24:07","slug":"inside-shikhar-dhawans-strategic-shift-from-cricketer-to-serious-business-builder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/cricket\/inside-shikhar-dhawans-strategic-shift-from-cricketer-to-serious-business-builder\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Shikhar Dhawan\u2019s strategic shift from cricketer to serious business builder"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"articles\">\n<div id=\"art-5\" class=\"article visible\">\n<div class=\"article-body\">\n<h2>Why Da One Group is not just a brand wrapper<\/h2>\n<p>Most retired cricketers launch a brand or two and call it a portfolio. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/news\/topic\/shikhar-dhawan\/\">Shikhar Dhawan<\/a> is building something structurally different: a proper conglomerate backed by a formal venture capital vehicle, with physical infrastructure to match the equity on paper. At the center is Da One Group \u2014 a holding entity spanning the Shikhar Dhawan Foundation, Da One Sports, and celebrity investments. In early May 2026, ET reported the launch of a High Performance Centre under Da One Sports in Gwalior, marking the shift from concept to concrete infrastructure.<\/p>\n<h2>Yashaa Global Capital: entering VC as a General Partner<\/h2>\n<p>Alongside the operating side sits Yashaa Global Capital, positioned as a formal fund with Dhawan in a General Partner-level founder role \u2014 giving him credibility in VC conversations that most cricketer-investors simply don\u2019t have. VCCircle\u2019s 2025 coverage framed this as his entry into structured venture capital, with a stated focus on sports, consumer, health, and fitness startups. The distinction between \u201ccelebrity who invests\u201d and \u201cGP who runs a fund\u201d is significant, and Dhawan is clearly trying to claim the latter identity.<\/p>\n<h2>QUE eyewear and the consumer brand play<\/h2>\n<p>On the consumer brand side, QUE Universe, the eyewear label, lists Dhawan as co-owner and partner \u2014 a more committed position than a typical brand ambassador role. Earlier, he backed SARVA, the yoga and wellness platform, as an investor. Each bet aligns with the health, sports, and lifestyle themes his fund targets.<\/p>\n<h2>What makes his model different from the rest<\/h2>\n<p>His off-field image is building coherently: someone who wants to be taken seriously as a business builder, not just a cricket legend lending his face to other people\u2019s companies. The Gwalior High Performance Centre is the clearest proof \u2014 bricks, mortar, and a real programme, not a press release. At this pace, that reputation is being earned on the ground.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pull-quote\">\u201cDhawan is positioning himself as a founder, General Partner, and sports-business builder \u2014 not just another cricketer with a startup cheque.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"nav-arrows\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why Da One Group is not just a brand wrapper Most retired cricketers launch a brand or two and call\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":437,"featured_media":42235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[102,5472,5473],"class_list":["post-51778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cricket","tag-shikhar-dhawan","tag-shikhar-dhawan-brands","tag-shikhar-dhawan-net-worth"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/437"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51778"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51780,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51778\/revisions\/51780"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}