One of the most respected industrialists in India, Tata Group‘s former Chairman, Ratan Tata, has been seen investing in various startups. Ever since his exit from Bombay House, Tata has invested in over a dozen startups becoming an investor in upcoming new-age companies like NestAway, CureFit, Lenskart, etc.

In fact, he was an early backer of cab aggregator Ola, and Paytm since 2015 when he made investments in these companies in his personal capacity. Apart from these, he has also invested in a weather forecaster app ClimaCell, auto portal CarDekho & online furniture mart UrbanLadder.

Why startups?

At a recent event that was hosted by early-stage fund Chiratae Ventures, Ratan Tata explained the reasons why he chose to invest in certain projects.

As reported by Times Now, Tata said,

“I found in my case that company selection was more by intuition rather than numbers, and by judging on the intent of the founders and their seriousness more than any other factor.”

When asked about how he came to find this new passion for investing in startups, he said that it was a complete accident. Nothing that he had planned for before.

He said that he was always fascinated by the concept of startups but never got involved earlier as they could somehow create a conflict of interest with Tata Group.

How He Chooses A Startup to Invest?

Talking about how he chose which startup to invest in, he mentioned his 3I formula. i.e., Intuition + intent + involvement.

He said,

“In my case, it was a selection from intuition, in fact, I would say talking with the founders, drawing conclusions from their attitude, maturity and their seriousness meant more to me than any other thing or factor”.

As an advice for entrepreneurs and investors, he added that is is the drive to start something new, the fire in the belly, a better way to do something that is being done or a good opportunity to undertake all, to make a difference… and above all the courage and tenacity to see it through, be it good or bad, and yet makes it happen anyways, are the hallmarks that he looks forward to in entrepreneurs.

Despite economic slowdown concerns looming over India, Tata said,

“Indian economy is far from being in trouble, the safest thing to say is that there will be mitigating factors that will come in..India will be on a long ride to prosperity”.

He concluded the conversation by saying that after all Indians are entrepreneurs at heart. What we need is an opportunity to flourish. And that he thinks that the startups are doing just that & wishes them all success.