Ratan Tata invests in Mumbai-based food tech start-up

Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, seems to be on an investment spree, putting money in all sorts of technology start-ups varying from fashion to food. Latest in the line is Holachef, a Mumbai-based food tech start-up.

Tata, in his personal capacity, has invested an undisclosed amount in Holachef, a food technology venture by Saurabh Saxena and Anil Gelra.

Launched in September 2014 in Mumbai's Powai area, Holachef allows retail customers to place orders for food through the website (www.holachef.com) or mobile app on Android and iOS.

The start-up has shown rapid growth in customer base, extending its presence to neighbouring Pune city as well over period of less than a year.

Saurabh Saxena, co-founder and CEO of Holachef, said, winning the investment represents Ratan Tata's trust in the start-up and is a big honour to their enterprise.

"Ratan Tata's name and body of work is synonymous with trust and consumer focus. With his guidance, Holachef is sure to become a leader in the food-tech space, with customer delight at its core. By winning his trust, we have raised the bar of quality and excellence for ourselves.''

The company had earlier raised funds to the tune of Rs20 crore in a Series A round led by Kalaari Capital in June 2015 after raising seed fund of Rs2 crore from India Quotient in February 2015.

This is the 14th start-up that Ratan Tata is investing in after he retired as chairman of the Tata Group in 2012.

At the time of his retirement, he had said that he wanted to reach out to people and have them draw from the Tata Trust's expertise to give a strong push to new businesses.

Ratan Tata has a penchant for investing in new businesses that are sensitive to society and the places it operates, even as he counts on business intelligence which is key to success.

Tata's investments also encompass a wide range of sectors, from health to women empowerment to technology.

"What I look at while investing in start-ups is the quality and intelligence of the entrepreneurs,'' Tata had said explaining his investment rationale after joining Kalaari Capital, a venture capital fund, as an advisor.