From Youtube to Entrepreneurial Ventures: Know all about Tanmay Bhat’s Work, Investments & More

Whether you know him for his ‘Meme Review’ videos on his YouTube channel or as the OG creator and brains behind AIB, Tanmay Bhat is no stranger to the Indian audience. His comic timing, the ability to churn out the funniest ads with Cred and a cult following that keeps on growing are a testimony to his talents. And these talents exceed far beyond just content creation. He is an investor in several ventures and is passionate about talking finance. On his birthday today, we take a look at his creative journey and some of his financial investments.

Roots in Comedy

Tanmay Bhat entered the comedy scene in 2008 and frequently performed at an influential open-mic show called Hamateur Night. He, along with Rohan Joshi, worked at Vir Das's Weirdass Comedy company on award show scripts for Filmfare, MTV and Channel V. Remember the famous 2012 Filmfare Awards with Shah Rukh Khan and Ranbir Kapoor dancing in drag? Tanmay was part of the team that wrote the script for that show.

Tanmay Bhat made his debut in writing with UTV Bindass' flagship show, Hass Ley India. He then went on to write for MTV India's Wassup and Nachle Ve with Saroj Khan. Next came story, screenplay and dialogue writing. He wrote for Disney India's daily comedies Kya Mast Hai Life and NDTV Imagine's Oye! It's Friday! with Farhan Akhtar.

AIB

Tanmay Bhat, Rohan Joshi, Ashish Shakya and Gursimran Khamba founded AIB, a YouTube channel and comedy company in 2012. It began as a humour and pop-culture podcast with Bhat and Khamba and in 2013, they were joined by Joshi and Shakya. And the journey of sketch comedy began.

The AIB roast, though controversial, was and still is the epitome of new-age comedy in India according to several fans, critics and consumers of global comedy. The fame grew and so did the comedy scene in India. AIB reached new heights and formed a digital agency and produced sketches, live comedy and TV shows. The company shut down in 2019 due to controversies.

Finance Matters

After AIB dissolved, Tanmay Bhat returned to YouTube in November 2019. He started streaming video games and also began a second channel, 'Honestly by Tanmay Bhat'. Here, he hosts 'learning streams' and videos featuring experts in various topics. His main channel quickly became a hub for collaborations with other YouTubers and fellow content creators. Today, his channel has 4.74M subscribers and 1,513M views, according to Social Blade. He also hosts a show on Netflix titled, ‘Tanmay Reacts’, has been a judge on Amazon's Comicstaan and has made multiple appearances on Karan Johar's show, Koffee with Karan.

Moonshot Inc

The former head writer at AIB, Devaiah Bopanna, and Bhat co-founded Moonshot Inc., a content studio. Launched in July 2023, they offer advertising services. Having worked together on several advertising projects with big brands and celebrities and delivered memorable, relatable work, this seemed like the natural next step.

But even someone at his stage of success knows the value of financial diversification and has invested in a bunch of companies and ventures. Here’s a list of some of them.

The Mainstreet Marketplace

The Mainstreet Marketplace is a sneaker resale platform. On June 26, 2023, it raised 2 million dollars in seed funding. Tanmay Bhat, with the likes of Deepinder Goyal, the founder of Zomato, and renowned singer Badshah, invested in the company at the time. The company was valued at 9.88M dollars as of June 15, 2023.

Ultrahuman

Ultrahuman is a Bengaluru-based health-related company. It is a longevity and health-monitoring platform that designs, manufactures and sells various products and services. Those include the Ultrahuman Ring Air health tracker, Ultrahuman M1 Continuous glucose monitor, pre-release Ultrahuman Home health monitor and related blood testing services like Blood vision. In May 2022, Bhat joined the likes of Nikhil Kamath, founder of Zerodha, by investing in the brand. The firm aims to reach an annual revenue run rate (ARR) of 100M dollars by the end of calendar 2024.

Rigi

Rigi is a broadcasting platform that enables creators and influencers to monetize their community across all platforms. This includes WhatsApp, Telegram and Instagram. In April 2022, it raised 10M dollars in its Series A funding round. Tanmay Bhat, along with angel investors like Anupam Mittal, founder of Shaadi.com, invested in the company. Currently, it is valued at 39.5 million dollars.

HYPD

It is a creator-owned marketplace startup. HYPD raised 1.5M dollars in seed funding in January 2022. Tanmay Bhat, along with influencers Bhuvan Bam, Ranveer Allahbadia, and Dhvani Bhanushali invested in the round as angel investors. As of September 20, 2023, the company was valued at 17.6M dollars.

Wint Wealth

Wint Wealth is a debt investment aggregator platform. In January 2022, the company raised an undisclosed round from celebrities and influencers including Tanmay Bhat, Ankur Warikoo, Pranjal Kamra and CA Rachna Ranade. As of May 24, 2022, this company was valued at 69.1M dollars.

GrowthSchool 

A global platform for upskilling, GrowthSchool is an Ed-tech startup. In January 2022, it raised a 5M dollars seed round. Bhat, along with reputed entrepreneurs like Kunal Shah, Nikhil Kamath, and Ritesh Agarwal invested in the firm as angel investors. It aims to achieve a 1M dollars monthly run rate by the end of fiscal 2024.