Ratan Tata helping others to start their businesses
Ratan Tata might have stepped down from the day-to-day activities of the TATA group, but he has taken initiatives which still make him one the best businessmen in the world. He has personally invested a lot in start-ups. Here we are going to tell you about the start-ups in which Ratan Tata has personally invested.
Altaeros Energies: The Boston-based company was founded in 2010 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The main reason to start this company was to commercialise the world’s first airborne wind turbine. The wind turbine operates at an altitude of around 600 metres above ground and generates twice the power of a similarly sized tower mounted wind turbine.
Snapdeal: One investment which had put Ratan Tata back in the spotlight was his investment in India’s largest horizontal online retailer, Snapdeal. This investment showed his eagerness to invest in the online retailers. Over the last six months, Snapdeal has done a lot of acquiring. It also has Wipro chairman Azim Premji as one its shareholders. Ratan Tata invested around 5 crores in the online retail giant. He bought around 256 shares in the company.
Bluestone: The online jewellery store was founded by IIT graduate Gaurav Singh Kushwaha and Vidya Nataraj. Initial funding was done by the serial entrepreneur duo of Meena and K. Ganesh’s platform GrowthStory.
Swasth Bharat: The Mumbai-based health-startup which aims to provide affordable health care to the low-income group, was founded by consultants and IIT Bombay graduates Sundeep Kapila and Ankur Pegu. Ratan Tata invested around two crores in the start-up in December 2014.
Urban Ladder: The online furniture retailer was founded by IIM Bangalore MBAs Ashish Goel and Rajiv Srivastava in July 2012. They are now planning to head into the home décor solutions as well.
Car Dekho: The Jaipur-based auto classified was founded in 2007 by Amit and Anurag Jain who are IIT Delhi Alumni. The company also owns a couple of other similar name websites such as BikeDekho and PriceDekho. Last year they also acquired Gaddi from the South African media giants Naspers.
Xiaomi: The Chinese phone company was launched in India last year, and since then has seen a meteoric rise. In just under a year, it has become a major player when it comes to mobile phones. It is quite popular among the masses. When it was launched the stocks finished within a matter of minutes. At present Xiaomi is the most valuable privately held tech-startup.
Grameen Capital: The Mumbai-based company specializes in impact investments space, which ranges from micro-finance companies to education and healthcare venture catering to the bottom of the pyramid segment.
One97Communications: From a value-based added service to an online wallet Paytm, the Noida-based company has had a successful transition. According to the company, it has more than 80 million accounts. The company now aims to move into e-tailing and compete with Flipkart and Snapdeal.
Kaaryah: The latest startup to get funding from Ratan Tata is Kaaryah. It deals in women’s formal clothes and was founded by former Honeywell director of strategy Nidhi Agarwal Kashyap.
