Ratan Tata: The quiet force behind many startup successes
Ratan Tata invested in close to 45 Indian startups, and he did so when the Indian startup ecosystem was still finding its roots.
The Indian startup ecosystem owes deep gratitude to Tata Group Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata for pioneering investments from the corporate world into many young companies, and many of them—FirstCry, Lenskart, and Ola Electric—have gone on to achieve scale.
Tata, who passed away on October 9, invested in Indian startups, much before startups became mainstream and came under the spotlight. According to Tracxn, the industrialist has invested in close to 45 Indian startups, including Paytm, Snapdeal, Curefit, and Bluestone.
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He invested in startups in his personal capacity and through his investment arm, UC-RNT. Many of his investments in startups happened between 2015 and 2017. Tata emerged as the leading angel investor in Ola and Paytm when he first invested in them in 2015.
Tata is also an investor in YourStory.
Many of his bets have gone on to make handsome returns. In the case of FirstCry, which went public this year, Tata made gains close to 450% for an investment made in 2016.
In fact, in a recent statement, the digital discount broking startup Upstox said it had given a 23,000% return on the investment made by Tata in 2016 when it bought back 5% of his holding in the company.
Besides, funding startups, Tata also had advisory roles at venture capital firms Kalaari Capital, Chiratae Ventures, and Jungle Ventures.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Snapdeal Founder Kunal Bahl said, “India has lost one of its greatest titans, a true statesman of industry. Mr Ratan Tata was more than just a business leader - his compassion, humility and kindness inspired millions. His legacy will live on forever. You will be deeply missed Mr Tata.”
Edited by Suman Singh