Ratan Tata - a visionary mentor, partner to 40-odd start-up entrepreneurs

When Dr. Rashmi Barbhaiya, a renowned drug discovery scientist and research and development head of Ranbaxy Laboratories (now merged with Sun Pharma)  quit his job by the end of 2008-09, decided to go back to the US to pursue his career. A meeting with Ratan Tata made him change his mind and the Tatas decided to fund his dream of 'Advinus Therapeutics' an end-to-end global drug research and development organisation (CRO) from India. The company was eventually sold off in 2017 to Eurofins, a global leader in the same field, after emerging as a major Indian CRO and Dr. Rashmi Barbhaiya did return to the US.

Post his retirement as Tata Group Chairman in 2012, Ratan Tata was eager to nurture new technologies and entrepreneurs and invested in over 40 start-ups. Riding on his fame, many of them got fame, good valuations and went on to become highly successful. Some of them include eyewear company Lenskart, app-based services provider Urban Company, online baby products company FirstCry, app-based taxi Ola, electric scooters maker Ola Electric, B2B industrial goods platform  Moglix, online marketplace platform Snapdeal, fitness and wellness  online platform Curefit, stock trading app Upstox etc.