Ratan Tata Invests In A Senior Citizen Startup – Goodfellows

Ratan Tata backed his mentee Shantanu Naidu’s startup called Goodfellows which provides companionship as a service to senior citizens to avoid their loneliness.

The legendary industrialist Ratan Tata has invested in a startup called Goodfellows. The startup founded by Shantanu Naidu, aims to provide companionship for senior citizens who are lonely. However the invested amount hasn’t been disclosed.

Shantanu Naidu has been a mentee of the former Tata chairman. He is the person who last appeared on Ratan Tata’s birthday cutting a cake with him.

“The relationships between the two generations generated by Goodfellows are really valuable and are helping to solve a critical social issue in India,” Ratan Tata said at the launch event. “I believe the investment will help the young team at Goodfellows grow.”

Goodfellows has been testing a beta version of its service with a selected cohort of 20 older people in Mumbai for the past six months. 

The company hopes to expand its services to Pune, Chennai, and Bengaluru after the success of this pilot. 

Over 800 young people who could be caregivers have reportedly signed up to participate in the campaign, according to the firm.

The startup emphasizes that companionship implies various things to different people, according to Shantanu Naidu, its founder. 

“We can accommodate all of it, whether for some that means watching a movie, sharing old tales, going on a stroll, or simply having calm company while doing nothing at all.

We learned how naturally the Grandpals and Goodfellows linked throughout the beta phase.”

Famous youthful icons Shriya Pilgaonkar, an artist, and Viraj Ghelani, a content creator, were both present at the launch event with their grandparents on Tuesday.