Ratan Tata, who built and steered legacy businesses over generations, didn't dither when it came to backing startups after his retirement despite new-age companies taking a contrarian approach.
Tata made his first such investment in Snapdeal in 2014 - at a time when the startup landscape in India was nascent and bagging a billion-dollar valuation was uncommon. Over time, Tata backed more than 50 new-age firms (including some overseas-based startups) like Ola, Upstox, Lenskart, CarDekho, FirstCry, Paytm and Bluestone, many of which have gone public.
Most of his investments have been routed through his personal investment vehicle RNT Associates and UC-RNT, a fund set up in partnership with the University of California. In 2019, Tata had said that he was an 'accidental' startup investor but he believed in the sector's growth potential. Talking to founders, drawing conclusions from their attitude, maturity and seriousness meant more to him than any other thing, Tata had said.
Tata's association with startups wasn't limited to writing million-dollar cheques. Founders recount the wealth of knowledge and wisdom he brought to the table, helping the fledgling firms sharpen their approach and strategies. CarDekho co-founder and CEO Amit Jain said that as a mentor, Tata not just extended entrepreneurs a guiding hand but also pushed them to deliver their best. "His incredible insights from decades in the automobile sector gave us the mentorship we couldn't have dreamed of... his words on balancing risks with rewards are something I often reflect upon for inspiration," Jain told TOI.
Tata's ideas gave shape to many startups' business strategies and his investments provided young startups with much needed capital to back their growth plans, said founders. Tata has exited some startups including Lenskart and FirstCry on which he made multi-bagger returns.
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