Youth icon Prince Narulatakes a stake in health supplement chain

Youth icon, TV actor and winner of several reality shows in India including MTV Roadies, MTV Splitsvilla and Big Boss, Prince Narula, has taken a stake in health supplement retail start-upMuscle and Strength India.

The financial terms were not disclosed due to Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) signed between the parties.

Muscle and Strength India will expand aggressively and plans to open retail outlets through franchisee route in the next 12 months with an investment of Rs 20 crore. The investment would be funded by internal accruals including investments by franchisee owners.

Mr. Narula would now be the face of the brand and play a key role in strategic expansion plans of the company including marketing and promotion.

“Not just Indian youth but even senior citizens are now quite serious in maintaining a healthy lifestyle by exercising regularly and getting supplemented by top quality supplements. For me, this is the right business to be in as being healthy is very close to my heart. Our supplement chain would become the gold standard in this sector to provide genuine, rightly priced and latest supplements for people across age groups and exercise routines,” Mr. Prince Narula said.

According to industry data, Indian dietary supplement market is expected to grow more than 15% (CAGR) in by 2022. The health supplements and nutraceuticals market in India is currently pegged at over $4 billion.

"We are very happy to have Prince Narula with us in this exciting venture. We are looking to become market leader in the organized retail supplement chain stores in the next 2-3 years. Apart from metros, we believe the real demand is in the tier 2-3 cities where availability of latest, genuine and economically priced supplements is still a challenge,” Muscle and Strength India Founder Mr. Praveen Chirania said.

Mr. Chirania added that supplements such as protein powders, BCAAs, multivitamins, fat-burners and pre-workout formulations were most popular amongst both male and female consumers.

The company has the widest range of fitness supplements and sports nutrition products in India, with over 1000 products from 42 + brands. It also plans to enter into Manufacturing of its white label product across various supplement categories which will widen its portfolio.