10 Start-Ups Funded By Ratan Tata, Who Are Making It Big

On December 28th, 2021, Ratan Tata the big-shot industrialist of India turned 84. Ratan Tata’s name comes under the list of rich people of India. Not only he is an industrialist, but also an investor, philanthropist and is the chairman of the range of Tata Groups present. Being all of that, he has invested in a lot of start-ups. Some of those have big names in the market now, making it a successful investment for him.

Below mentioned are the list of start-ups Ratan Tata invested in and are now running smoothly:

1. Ola Electric

Back in 2019, Tata invested in Old Electric. Though the amount remains unknown since it wasn’t disclosed. He was a part of their Series A funder for the company. Tata is an early investor for ANI Technologies, which is actually the parent company of Ola.

“His investment in Ola Electric will bring his deep experience and mentorship to the company’s ambitions to make electric mobility viable at scale,” this is what was said by the start-up when they were asked about his investment.

2. Paytm

In March 2015 Tata invested in Paytm. He did that by raising funds for the parent company of Paytm – One97. By this, he was assigned on being the business advisor of One97 Communications’ board.

On 8th November 2021, One97 raised Rs 18,300 crore, through Initial Public Offering.

3. Snapdeal

Tata’s investment in this company was the first time he invested in an e-commerce company. According to reports, he invested less than INR 5 crores back in August 2014.

After that investment, it was reported that there was around a 0.17% stake in Snapdeal. After Tata made an investment in Snapdeal after Flipkart took over Myntra, he bought 256 shares from the companies’ angel investors.

4. CarDekho

Though the amount he invested is not mentioned, Tata invested in GirnarSoft, which is the parent company of, CarDekho, BikeDekho, and PriceDekho.

5. Cure.fit

Cure.fit is a health and fitness online portal. Currently, it has already raised $170 million from all of its other big-shot investors including Ratan Tata. Being successful in their first venture, the company is up with more platforms like, Eat.fit, Care.fit, Mind.fit.

6. UrbanLadder

Urban Ladder is an online furniture based in Bengaluru. Ratan Tata provided funds to the digital furniture shop in November 2015.

It was Tata’s second financial interest in an e-commerce company, following Snapdeal.
Meanwhile, Reliance Industries (RIL) retail arm purchased a 96 percent market share in Urban Ladder for around Rs 182 crore in November 2020.

7. Zivame

Zivame, a digital lingerie portal launched by Richa Kar and Kapil Karekar in 2011, also was backed by the businessman. In September 2015, Zivame received investment from Ratan Tata. Unfortunately, no additional information regarding the investment was provided. Later, it was claimed that the funding would be used to develop technologies and expand its consumer base.

8. Urban Company

Services marketplace Urban Company (originally known as UrbanClap) received an undisclosed sum from Ratan Tata in December 2015. Urban Company is Gurgaon based company.

9. Abra

Ratan Tata has also partnered with American Express to fund in Abra, a bitcoin start-up established in Silicon Valley. The company’s software allows customers to store virtual cash and put payments to any phone. When customers buy or sell virtual currency through Abra’s app, the company gets the money.

10. Lenskart

In April 2016, Ratan Tata invested in Lenskart, a renowned ecommerce retailer that provides optics including such sunglasses, eyeglasses, contact lenses, and therefore more. However, a firm executive is quoted as saying that Tata’s position was more of an advisor than just a financial investor.

Also read: Unheard Story Of Ratan Tata Falling In Love And Almost Getting Married