Sharan Hegde invests in creator-building company Madhouse Mafia at $3.2M valuation
What's the deal? Sharan HegdeDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, one of India's most prominent finance creators, has invested in Madhouse Mafia, a Mumbai-based company that builds digital creators from scratch and pairs them with brands. The deal values the startup at $3.2M.
Founded by Rachit Arora, Supriya Ullengala, and Zeba Madni, Madhouse Mafia combines creator incubation with influencer marketing, performance marketing, and AI-driven advertising — all under one roof. It has a 30-person team and over 40 creators across finance, technology, and travel.
The company has worked with brands including AmazonDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, BMWDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Motilal Oswal. It aims to scale to ₹150+ crore in revenue over the next five years.
Why now? India's creator economy is maturing fast, and brands are shifting budgets from traditional advertising to creator-led campaigns. But most agencies either manage existing talent or buy media — few do both, and almost none build creators from zero before monetising them.
"Very few have demonstrated the ability to consistently build creators and communities from the ground up," Hegde said. "Madhouse Mafia has already done that across multiple channels before brand monetisation even begins."
What could go wrong? The creator economy is notoriously fickle. Building talent from scratch is capital-intensive and unpredictable — there's no guarantee any given creator will find an audience. Competing agencies with deeper pockets could replicate the model.
At a $3.2M valuation, the company is still early-stage. Scaling to ₹150+ crore in revenue is ambitious for a 30-person operation, and execution risk is high in a market where creator loyalty is fragile and platform algorithms shift constantly.
The signal: This deal reflects a broader trend of creators becoming investors and operators in the ecosystem they helped build. Hegde isn't just writing a cheque — he's one of Madhouse Mafia's own managed creators, which blurs the line between backer and client.
It also points to a shift in India's influencer marketing industry: brands want full-funnel execution, not just reach. As co-founder Supriya Ullengala put it, "Brands today don't just want reach, they want results." Companies that can own the entire pipeline — from creator development to campaign delivery — may hold a structural advantage as ad spend flows toward the creator economy.
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