When he retired in 2012, Ratan Tata had let it be known that he wanted to reach out to people and have them draw from the trusts' expertise to give a strong push to new businesses. Since then, Tata has been actively working on those words.
Ratan Tata puts the word angel in "angel investor". In the last one year, when he first made an investment in Altaoeros Energies, Tata has been on an investing spree. And his choice of firms of firms has revolved around start-ups and e-commerce portals.
When he retired in 2012, Ratan Tata had let it be known that he wanted to reach out to people and have them draw from the trusts' expertise to give a strong push to new businesses. Since then, Tata has been actively working on those words.
Here's a list of all the start-ups and e-commerce companies that Ratan Tata has invested in:
September 2, 2015 Holachef
Chairman emeritus of Tata Sons Ratan Tata has made a personal investment of an undisclosed amount in the online marketplace for chefs Holachef.
Launched in September 2014 by Saurabh Saxena and Anil Gelra, Holachef has seen substantial growth in Mumbai and Pune, the company said in a statement.
July 3, 2015 Internet Saathi
On the heels of Narendra Modi's Digital India announcement, Tata Trust tied up with Google and Intel and kicked off the Net Initiative for women, which will strive and bring the internet to more and more women in rural India.
Under the 'Internet Saathi' program, 1,000 bicycles with internet connectivity devices will cover 4,500 villages in the next 18 months, starting with Gujarat, Rajasthan and Jharkhand with a target of reaching 500,000 women. These cycles will give the villagers an internet experience, Tata said.
July 1, 2015 - Ola
Bhavish Aggarwal, Ola Cabs' CEO made the announcement on Twitter. He said that his company “can now learn from the rich experience of one of the finest business leaders of our times”, in a blogpost on the Ola Cabs website.
Founded in 2011, Ola Cabs now operates in over 100 cities with over 200,000 drivers.
July 2015 – Jungle Ventures
Jungle Venture is a Singapore based venture capital company that focuses on technology-based companies in the Asia-Pacific region. Tata has joined the company's board as a special advisor, and will mentor the company's in the venture capital firm's portfolio. The company has already invested in 30-odd technology-based start-ups like Zipdial, CrayonData and LiveSpace.
June 2015 – Fashion portal Kaaryah
Nidhi Agarwal Kashyap now boasts of Ratan Tata as an investor in her online fashion portal that deals with non-casual wear for women. She literally got Tata's attention via an email.
April 26, 2015 – Xiaomi
China's largest smartphone maker, Xiaomi got its first Indian investor in the form of Ratan Tata. The company's CEO Lei Jun plans to make India an important market for the phone too, after China.
March 2015 – Grameen Capital
Grameen Capital is an investment advisory company ranging from spaces from microfinance to education and healthcare. They list their aim as catalyzing inclusive growth and make capital market access possible for enterprises that may have a positive impact on the society -- including, microfinance institutions, healthcare providers, low-cost education firms, and so on.
March 13, 2015 – One97 Communications
One97 Communications is the company that operates Paytm, an online payment solution company. Headquartered in Noida, the company also offers the option of an online wallet to its users now. The company's website said that they now have over 80 million registered users, and handles over 60 million orders per month.
February 8, 2015 – cardekho.com
Started by two IIT-Delhi graduates, Anuraj and Amit Jain, and cardekho let's users buy, sell and compare prices of various cars in the market. It also reviews cars. The same duo also run bikedekho.com.
December 2014 - Swasth India
Swasth India is a start-up that provides healthcare services to the lower income population of the society. The company was set up by and IIT Bombay graduates Sundeep Kapila and Ankur Pegu.
November 15, 2014 – Urban Ladder
Leading furniture and home decor e-portal was started by IIM-Bangalore graduates Ashish Goel and Rajiv Srivatsa in July 2012. It soon sprang to popularity and is now one of the most wel-known online portals for furniture.
September 11, 2014 – Bluestone
An online jewellery portal, Bluestone was founded by Gaurav Singh Kushwaha, an IIT graduate. He is also the CEO of the company. Bluestone is also backed by Kalaari Capital.
August 27, 2014 Snapdeal
Ratan Tata's invested an undisclosed amount into India's e-commerce website Snapdeal.com that is backed by Kalaari Capital. The portal also has Wipro's Azim Premji as an investor.
Early 2014 – Altaeros Energies
Boston-based company was set up to commercialise the world's first air-borne wind turbine. In late 2014, the company also raised $7 million from Softbank.
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