Businessman, Investor, Marketing Expert behind several large brands

Rohan Oza | Biography

From 2017 to 2021, Oza appeared as Shark in 22 episodes of the reality television show 'Shark Tank'

• By Ojasbi
• Original : October 17, 2021

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Rohan Oza is a founding partner at CAVU Ventures, a firm that specializes in brand development.

Who is Rohan Oza?

Oza is an entrepreneur, investor, and brand marketer who founded Idea Merchants Capital, a platform for investing in and creating famous businesses. He is also a founding partner at CAVU Ventures. He also has marketing experience at The Coca-Cola Company, Powerade, and Glaceau. 

Oza is also a philanthropist who has been serving as a Special Advisor for Impact Network International since 2018.

Early Life and Education

Oza, who belongs to Indian descent, was born on 2 October 1971 in Zambia, East Africa, and was raised there. 

To gratify his parents, he moved to the United Kingdom to study manufacturing and industrial engineering at the University of Nottingham. He even did his schooling at the Harrow School in England. Unsure of his engineering options, Oza switched to an MBA program at the University of Michigan in the United States and majored in marketing and business strategy. This leap to business administration fostered his entrepreneurial career pathway.

Besides, entrepreneurial proficiency has been long-running in Oza's paternal lineage across three generations. His ancestors had left India many years ago to earn their fortune in Africa. 

Career

Oza started his professional career at Mars M&M. He was 20 years old back then when he was hired as the youngest manufacturing manager to oversee Snickers, Europe's second-biggest product portfolio.

The Coca-Cola Company

However, his breakthrough achievement was getting recruited by The Coca-Cola Company as a marketing manager. At Coca-Cola, Oza helped propel the Sprite brand to the top of the young and African-American customer rankings. He even signed basketball player Kobe Bryant for the brand.

Moreover, with the invention of groundbreaking designs, collaborations, and marketing campaigns, Oza went on to lead the then-declining Powerade business, a sports drink brand manufactured and marketed by The Coca-Cola Company, to three consecutive years of prosperity. Furthermore, he signed prominent athletes Andy Roddick, Michael Vick, and LeBron James for the line. He was named one of the 'Top Ten Marketers' in the country by Brandweek in 2002 and was highlighted on CNN among Coke's 'Fastest Rising Stars.'

After Coca-Cola

In 2002, Rohan quit Coke. And, via creative marketing initiatives, he collaborated with a young beverage business named Glaceau, where he developed the juggernaut brands Vitaminwater and SmartWater. 

"I remember when I left Coke and told them I would be working for a company that puts vitamins in the water. They looked at me like I was crazy. They laughed," Oza said in 2015, according to the Wayback Machine. He furthermore added on why he chose Glaceau over Coke. It was not just because of higher pay and stock options but also because of the company's equity. He had seen a shift in customer preferences away from refined sugar and artificial additives.

For Glacaeu, Oza managed to sign celebrities like 50 Cent, Jennifer Aniston, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Tom Brady, Venus Williams, and Alicia Keys as collaborators for the brand. Five years later, Coca-Cola bought Glaceau for $4.1 billion and named Oza as Chief Marketing Officer for all Coke's still brands.

As an Investor, Brand Builder

After that, Oza went on to establish Idea Merchants Capital, a platform for investing in and creating famous businesses. He is also a founding partner at CAVU Ventures, a firm that specializes in brand development.

In addition to Vitaminwater, Oza is also responsible for the rapid ascent of numerous food and beverage ventures, such as pop chips and vita coco. He is credited for many celebrity investment transactions for both pop chips, for which he signed artists like Ashton Kutcher, Kim Kardashian, and Heidi Klum. For vita coca, he signed Madonna and Rhianna.

Investment Portfolio and Exit

Oza seeded 9 companies as individual/angel investors, including Kiip ($300K), ecomom ($4M), ShopTap industries ($700K), Soma (two investments; seed round ($3.7M) and Series A ($2.2M)), Pledge ($4M), Gobble ($10.8M), Cue ($45M), and Roacean ($6M). Furthermore, his investment portfolio indicates five exits in the firms; Soma, Rocean, ecomom, Cue, and Kiip.

As a Philanthropist

Besides being an entrepreneur, investor, and brand builder, he is also a philanthropist who has been serving as a Special Advisor for Impact Network International since 2018. Impact Network is a non-profit organization devoted to ensuring that all children receive a good education.

TV appearances

Oza has a few TV credits. From 2017 to 2021, he appeared as Shark in 22 episodes of the reality television show Shark Tank. In addition, he got featured on the news/talk show Celebrity Page and The IMDb Show in 2018. He also starred as a celebrity competitor on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in 2019 and Good Morning America in 2020. Alongside, he appeared as a guest star in the episode 'The Tank' of the TV series Grace and Frankie in 2020.

Awards and Recognitions

Oza was selected to the '40 Under 40' list by Crain's in 2007. He was also named to the same honor by Sports Business Journal for two consecutive years, in 2008 and 2009. In 2009, he was recognized with the 'Marketing 50' award by Ad Age.

Net Worth

According to Celebrity's net worth, Oza has amassed a net worth of $200 million.

Personal Life

Oza was in a relationship previously, but that broke up. He is currently single.

He divides his time between houses in Beverly Hills, lower Manhattan's Tribeca neighborhood, and the Hamptons on Long Island during his free time.