New Delhi, Aug. 14 -- NEW YORK - When investors put roughly $1.2 million into Wondermind, a mental health startup co-founded by Selena Gomez and her mother Mandy Teefey, they were buying into a proposition built on one of pop culture's most visible personal narratives. A federal lawsuit filed Thursday in Delaware alleges the proposition was largely fabricated.

The complaint, brought by two investment entities, Wondermind SRS 44 LLC and Bespoke Wondermind SPV I LLC, the latter representing investors including Andrew Resnick of Bespoke Capital, names Gomez, Teefey, and Wondermind co-founder Daniella Pierson as defendants. The suit, first reported by NBC News, asserts claims of securities fraud, common law fraud, equitable fraud, and breach...