Post angel round, ‘Dance with Madhuri’ in talks with PEs and VCs to raise fund

By Sunil Pol

With the motive of promoting health through Indian dance forms, Madhuri Dixit-Nene with RnM Moving Pictures Ltd., a media and content company focusing on creating and disseminating superior content across all platforms and genres, has ventured into online dance academy called ‘Dance With Madhuri’ TM Version 2.0. The launching of online dance academy was a vision and support of Madhuri’s husband Dr Shriram Nene whose technical expertise helped make this dream a reality.

Dance with Madhuri is the world’s first celebrity backed online, gamified dance initiative that allows one to learn dance in a fun and social manner, while staying fit and united with the world anywhere, anytime and on any platform. It is an e-learning platform that allows people to easily learn to dance, move to stay fit and seamlessly unite and connect with the world to create a marketplace for their skills.

This platform was built and nurtured as a lifelong dream of Madhuri Dixit - Nene, to teach the world to dance and synchronize everyone's step while bringing together people from around the world.

When asked about the fund raising plans, Dixit said, "I can’t comment on the investment part as of now because we are heading for a funding round. Return on Investment (RoI) depends upon on the revenue model. Our first source of finance was angel funding and now we are moving to VCs and PEs." 

So far DWM has been followed by over 2 lakh dance lovers from more than 200 countries. It has now collaborated with the best dancing talent in India, the technology providers in Robosoft, and the production houses like BBC and 120MC to take the portal to the next level.

”It has been very humbling to see how fans and dance enthusiasts have accepted our online dance offering. I am amazed by the talent we are discovering and nurturing on the platform. It is clear that everyone has a spark of genius. The key is giving everyone access. It’s been an exciting journey and I am glad that I am being able to share the joy of dancing with lakhs of dance enthusiasts across the world.

With growing number of the users, we were encouraged to scale up the content and have now introduced more dance forms, and introduced new gurus to offer a more robust learning experience. At the same time, we have introduced new ways to use dance to stay fit with dancercise, body conditioning, dance pilates, dance yoga, tabata and more. 

People can learn dance and stay fit by accessing the DWM any time anywhere on any platform”, said Madhuri Dixit-Nene.

People, irrespective of gender, age, location, background can learn to dance from the dance diva, herself, as well as a host of renowned gurus and choreographers in all genres.  There are lesson that have been crafted with great attention to detail by gurus like Pt. Birju Maharaj, Saroj ji, Terrence Lewis, Remo D’Souza and a host of renowned choreographers from all the popular dance shows. There are now over 93 classes, 50+ hours of content and 1800 lessons.

"The beauty of the dance initiative is that you can learn dancing at your own convenience in your own comfort zone without having to physically go to a studio. Instead of replacing physical academies, it actually allows dance institutes to scale and reach out to their users and build passion.  It’s an exciting time for media and content as the world is getting smaller. The wonders of modern technology are offering numerous options to connect with audiences. Through this online dance academy we are able to reach a large number of people and create a global village for culture," said Dr Shriram Nene.

Besides learning, the Move section in the app encourages users to dance to stay fit. Exercises range from simple stretching to the intense Tabata – from Beginner to Advanced level. One can burn 400 calories in 15 minutes and have great fun in the process.

The Unite section is a community bound by passion for dance, it allows the users to exhibit their talents by uploading their videos, progress and much more. Users can not only discuss but also interact with each other and find jobs, registered institutes and events in their area.