Ratan Tata invests in home rental startup NestAway

Monday February 29, 2016 , 2 min Read

Top industrialist Ratan Tata has invested an undisclosed amount in home rental company NestAway Technologies, a statement said. This is Tata's eighth personal investment in a startup in 2016 so far. He has invested in over 20 startups.

NestAway turns unbranded, unfurnished houses into fully furnished and managed apartments and provides them at affordable prices to verified tenants, said the statement by IDG Ventures India, which is an investor in the company.

So far, the startup has provided quality rental homes to about 5,000 tenants across six cities. Until recently, NestAway counted working professionals who are single among its target audience, but now it has also forayed into the family segment.

NestAway was founded by Amarendra Sahu, Smruti Parida, Deepak Dhar and Jitendra Jagadev in January 2015. The company has raised over USD 13 million in capital in two rounds from marquee investors, including IDG Ventures India, Tiger Global, Flipkart and entrepreneur Naveen Tewari.

In a country which is witnessing an e-commerce boom next only to US and China, Ratan Tata - as an angel investor- has invested in eight different startups in the sector in the last 18 months. In fact, three of India’s eight unicorn startups – Ola, Paytm and Snapdeal – have also benefited from the business tycoon’s investments. He has also poured money into startups working for social causes, like Ampere and Swasth India (Rs two crore). Curiously, logistics is one sector which he has not invested in yet.

Watch: Ratan Tata on early life, learnings and love for startups | Storied with Shradha Sharma | Episode 01