Ratan Tata Invests In Assistant Shantanu Naidu's Startup Goodfellows

Tata Trusts Chairman Ratan Tata has invested an undisclosed amount in Goodfellows, a startup that offers companionship to senior citizens as a service.

The octogenarian industrialist has been an active investor startups since he retired at the helm of the salt-to-software Tata Group. The latest investee company is founded by Shantanu Naidu.

Cornell University-educated Naidu, 25, is a general manager in Tata's office and has been assisting Tata since 2018. He shares Tata's love for dogs and strays and had previously started a venture around pets as well.

"You do not know what it is like to be lonely until you spend time alone wishing for companionship," Tata said, appreciating Naidu’s ideation and also forgiving his mentee for the time he spends away from the office.

No one minds getting old until you actually get old. Getting a good-natured companionship, which we take for granted, is a challenge, he said.

Addressing Tata as a boss, a mentor and also a friend, Naidu said there are 50 million elders who are by themselves.

Goodfellows hires young graduates having the right skills of empathy and emotional intelligence to work as companions for senior citizen clients to ease their day-to-day tasks, or simply give them company. The startup has been working with 20 senior citizens for the last six months in Mumbai, and is planning to offer services in Pune, Chennai and Bengaluru next.

Naidu said he wants to scale up across the country but would prefer to go slow without compromising on the quality of the companions it hires.