Barely nine weeks into 2016, the business doyen Mr. Ratan Naval Tata has put his money into more than two dozen ventures since his first, two years ago. He has become the most run after angel investor in the Indian startup ecosystem. The Tata Group has a presence in almost 150 industries, from salt to steel, cars to software. Apart from being a businessman, an investor, a philanthropist and Chairman Emeritus at Tata Sons, this man is on a roll and is very much driven by numbers. For the sake of the same, he has bet his money on a lot of ventures. Statistics says that the ventures who bagged his money witnessed an upside down in their business analytics. It’s not just because of the name, but also for the accurate vision Ratan Tata felt in their ideas and got ready to bet crores on them. It’s not just the money they bag. More than that, they bag Tata as an investor. Let us have a look at the ideas and innovations that Ratan Tata couldn’t deny to bet his money onto.
Cashkaro
This Gurgaon-based coupon site was founded in 2013 by entrepreneur couple Swati and Rohan Bhargava, the former having an amazing talent with numbers. The reports of Tata’s investment into the venture came after just two months of getting Series A funding in the same year by a group of London-based investors. This cashback firm works with thousands of top-notch online shopping portals like Amazon.in, Jabong and Paytm. It makes money by taking commissions from retailers and giving a share of it to it’s customers in the form of cashback. The company claims to be the largest cashback site in India with over ten lakhs registered users and to have done net cashbacks worth ₹30 crore.
FirstCry
This giant venture is omnipresent across desktop, mobile and offline routes and offers baby and maternity products in India, got funded by business leader Ratan Tata, that gave a thumbs up to other potential investors too. Started in 2010, today it has over two million consumers.
Bluestone
This Bangalore-based venture has a unique pedigree of IIT and IIMs that has urged strong investors like Ratan Tata to invest in the company. This online jewellery destination had succeeded in raising ₹100 crore of funding last year in July apart from many other fundings. The company is presently focused at expanding it’s team to cater to the growing demands. According to the co-founder cum CEO, consumers are more comfortable in buying jewelleries online today, than a year back. He still retains Tata’s golden advice in his mind: “Always strive to build the extraordinary”.
Invictus Oncology
Even the healthcare units aren’t left untouched by the business tycoon. The biopharma venture Invictus Oncology’s purpose is to improve the treatment of cancer patients in India, where remarkably one million new cases are diagnosed every year. The company uses technology to design anti-cancer drugs that can target the malignant tumor.
Teabox
Now years back, who could have thought that technology could do wonders to the tea we consume? Started in 2012 by two guys from ‘baniya’ families, this venture bagged an undisclosed amount from Tata. Teabox lets you order your favorite refreshing cuppa from Darjeeling, Nilgiris and Assam that gets delivered right at your doorsteps. Tata bet an undisclosed amount of his personal savings into the venture.
UrbanClap
The service mine in India is a gold mine. Now this platform aims at digitally bridging the gap between the workers and consumers. Be it any household hurdle, trouble or fixtures, this service is there to our rescue. It has become India’s biggest marketplace and a successful brand to have raised money from Tata. The investment was kept undisclosed though. Anyway, that adds one more feather to the cap.
Snapdeal
Ratan Tata has invested his personal savings on Snapdeal-one of India’s leading e-commerce giant. A year back or so, when FlipKart announced the acquisition of Myntra, the online retail market player seemed to have an over-scored competitor, Snapdeal. Then came the announcement about Ratan Tata making that personal investment. And the scores evened out. The big question on everyone’s mind was how did Snapdeal manage to snag Tata’s attention. Kunal Bahl, the founder and CEO of the company had a very humble take on it. He said “When we started out, just the joy of surviving was enough for us”. Investment from and interaction with great legends like Ratan Tata provided them with great lessons on humility.”
Paytm
In March 2015, Paytm raised a funding of INR 1 crore from Ratan Tata and got him on board as company’s potential business advisor. At present, this company has $1 billion in Gross Merchandise Value. Paytm started by offering basic mobile recharges and utility bill payments but today, it has become a mobile based market place for almost every sort of online payments. Words from CEO’s desk, “I am very happy that Mr. Tata has put faith and trust in our values and mission. There is no better advisor for Paytm on building India’s most trusted mobile payment and commerce platform.”
Ola
From e-commerce sites to even cab services in pan India, no sector exists that doesn’t have Ratan Tata’s money in it. He made an investment of INR 0.95 crore in Ola from his personal savings that reflects the commitment towards the future of mobility in India. This cab provider is India’s answer to Uber and the thumbs up from Tata was seen as a huge endorsement for the company.
LetsVenture
Connecting investors to startups, this Venture has a lot to cater to the needs of potential entrepreneurs. This online deal making platform has brought corporate heavyweight Ratan Tata as advisor and investor, after a week it got Series A investment from a clutch of top notch entrepreneurs in the country.
Investments such as these bring precious learning opportunities. It is interaction with legendary business heavyweights like Ratan Tata that provides folks (entrepreneurs or startup geeks) with great lessons, whether it be humility, or perfection to the itinerary of their business ideas.
