Ratan Tata invests in Delhi-based foodtech startup IdeaChakki
New Delhi-based food tech startup IdeaChakki has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from leading industrialist Ratan Tata.
The startup, which provides digital video menu for restaurants and allows customers to gift food and beverage experience across the world, has also partnered with investment bank Enablers for their next round of funding. The funds raised from Tata will be used primarily for expansion into new geography, along with building the in-house team and strengthening the technology, IdeaChakki said in a statement.
The Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons has been actively investing in startups in India and abroad. Some of these firms include Snapdeal, Kaaryah, Urban Ladder, Bluestone, CarDekho, Sabse Technologies, Xiaomi, Ola, DogSpot.in, Tracxn, CashKaro, FirstCry and Teabox.
Set up by three former NDTV executives, the company is targeting premium restaurants in Delhi-NCR and aims to expand its operations in the country and set up its first international office in Paris. IdeaChakki co-founder Gunjan Mehrish said,
It feels great to have received a funding from Mr Ratan Tata. We are world's first video-based food tech to introduce such a concept, which change the face of hospitality world and lifestyle of users
Additionally, Tata's validation on idea will help in attracting more investors given his experience in managing and running Taj group of hotels, he added.
Also read : 25 and counting: Ratan Tata & startups’ love story continues
Speaking exclusively to Yourstory team in January 2016, Tata Group patriarch and lately entrepreneur enthusiast Ratan Tata, who has invested in over 25 startups so far, said
Unless a newbie “excites” him, he does not invest in that company, stating that startups “are an embodiment of creativity and innovation of young India."
Also read : Will only invest in ideas that excite me: Ratan Tata
Tata said he invests in new ventures if the first impressions of the founders are good. Tata had told a group of young entrepreneurs that,
Young people are the future of the country, and new startups embody the creativity and innovation of young people. If a startup doesn’t excite me, then I really don’t need to make an investment in that company.