The allure of stepping into a Cult.fit center extends beyond just fitness; it delves into a strategic business model that has allowed it to rapidly expand its footprint across the country. The franchisee-owned, franchisee-operated (FOFO)model serves as the backbone of Cult.fit’s widespread success.
Curefit Healthcare Pvt. Ltd., established in 2016 by Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori, stands as India’s largest fitness company. Offering a wide spectrum of fitness services and products through its brands Cult.fit and Cult.sport, Curefit aims to make fitness enjoyable, accessible, and easy. Cult.fit provides group workouts, online classes, sports facilities, and personalized solutions at fitness centers and partner gyms nationwide. Embracing innovative subscription-led revenue models and cutting-edge technological interventions to promote healthy habits, Cult.fit has become the preferred destination for fitness enthusiasts throughout the country. Cult.sport, focusing on simplifying health and well-being, offers smart fitness products tailored to everyday athletes. The Cult.sport product range includes thoughtfully designed high-quality sportswear, versatile at-home workout equipment, bicycles, and nutraceuticals to deliver the ultimate workout experience.
What sets Cult.fit apart from other fitness apps is its distinctive approach, offering a comprehensive range of facilities, including online fitness classes, gym and equipment-based workouts, healthy food options, yoga, meditation, and more.
The success and widespread appeal of Cult Fitness can be attributed not only to its cutting-edge facilities and innovative workouts but also to its dedicated trainers who serve as mentors, fostering a sense of community where individuals are more than mere numbers on a scale.
With ambitious aspirations for the future, Cult.fit aims to uphold its leadership in the competitive fitness app industry. The company plans to invest in cutting-edge technology, explore new markets, introduce fresh features and content, and collaborate with influencers and brands.
To expand its reach into smaller areas, Cult.fit adopts a franchise model, enabling it to make a significant impact in previously untapped locations. The franchise program boasts a world-class tech system for class bookings and seamless center operations management. Cult.fit has established itself as the largest and fastest-growing fitness chain in India, boasting a presence in multiple cities and over 200 centers nationwide.
The franchise program offers a competitive edge with expertise in best practices, equipment vendors, training academies, and marketing strategies. With premium fitness clubs equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, the franchise has an initial funding range of INR 1 Cr to INR 1.2 Cr, providing a promising return on investment with a break-even period of 24-36 months and a 30-40% return.
Since its inception in 2020, the franchise operations of Cult.fit have been dedicated to serving fitness enthusiasts in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities across India. Within the franchise model, a notable offering is the amalgamation of machine-based workouts and group class facilities under one roof, presenting customers with a comprehensive array of fitness options. In 2022, Curefit further solidified its presence in the fitness industry by expanding its franchise portfolio to include Fitness First and Gold’s Gym outlets in India.
Porko Elango, Head of Business at Cult.fit, emphasized the pivotal role of the franchising model in the brand’s swift expansion, reaching previously untouched localities nationwide. This vertical is poised to contribute significantly, targeting a 30% share of revenue at Cult.fit. The franchise partners have played a crucial role in establishing accessible fitness spaces and empowering individuals to lead healthier, happier lives. Looking ahead, Cult.fit is committed to expanding its impact and envisions the establishment of 200 franchised centers across the country by 2025.
The brand’s goal is to make fitness enjoyable and accessible to everyone, providing unlimited access to group classes through their app and offering wellness products for online purchases.
For those interested in setting up a Cult Fitness franchise, the following steps can be followed:
Ensure adequate capitalization with a minimum initial investment of INR 1 Cr.
Recognize the financial commitment needed for real estate, equipment, licenses, permits, insurance, etc.
Check the accessible markets for Cult.fit franchisees and determine suitability for your desired location.
Submit your franchise application online, and upon receipt, expect confirmation and contact information from the franchise owner.
If approved, receive a franchise agreement to sign and return to the franchisor.
Attend a comprehensive training program provided by Cult.fit, covering all aspects of running a franchise.
Upon completion, open your Cult.fit franchise with full support in marketing, operations, and tech enablement.
Prospects of Fitness Franchise in India
The primary target group for the fitness industry in India is the youth population aged 15 to 34, projected to constitute 34.33% of the total population, amounting to around 440 million individuals.
The health and fitness market in India is anticipated to grow by 12.51% (2022–2027), reaching a market volume of US$31.97 million in 2027. The digital fitness and well-being market is projected to grow by 18.75% (2023-2028), resulting in a market volume of USD 15.11 billion in 2028.
In conclusion, the fitness industry in India is experiencing rapid growth, presenting significant investment and business opportunities. The youth population remains a crucial target, and digital fitness is poised for substantial growth in the years to come.
Revenue of Curefit Healthcare Private Limited from Financial Year 2018 to 2022
Starting a Cult Fitness Franchise in India
Expertise and Support: Cult.fit’s franchise program offers expertise in best practices, equipment vendors, training academies, and marketing strategies, along with continuous support from a dedicated central team.
Large Customer Base: As the largest fitness chain in India with over 230 centers and 1 lac active members, Cult.fit provides franchise partners with a substantial and consistent revenue stream.
High Return on Investment: With a 30–40% return on investment and a break-even period of 24-36 months, Cult.fit presents a potentially lucrative investment opportunity for franchise partners.
Tech-Enabled Platform: Leveraging top-notch technology, Cult.fit offers a unique member experience, allowing seamless class bookings through the Cure.fit app, a valuable selling point for franchise partners.
Fun and Easy Fitness: Embracing the slogan “Make fitness fun and easy,” Cult.fit offers a range of group workouts, appealing to customers seeking an enjoyable and straightforward approach to fitness.
Low Capex: Cult.fit’s equipment-free workout studios require investments of less than INR 1 Cr, making it a more affordable option for potential franchise partners.
The brand’s success lies not only in its fitness offerings but also in its ability to craft a scalable and lucrative business opportunity for entrepreneurs through its FOFO model. Cult.fit’s journey showcases how strategic acquisitions and a robust franchise network can fuel the growth of a fitness empire.
FAQs
What is Cult.fit?
Cult.fit is a comprehensive health and fitness platform, offering personalized workout programs and wellness services. It combines technology with expert guidance for a holistic approach to fitness.
What is the cost of Cult.fit membership per month?
Cult.fit offers a 12-month plan(Rs 17,490), a 6-month plan(Rs 14,990), and a 3-month plan (Rs 9,990). It also offers a Buddy pack in which you can take your buddy along with you to the cult.fit centers and take a 3-month Buddy pack with just Rs 25,100.
What is the business model of Cult.fit?
Cult.fit’s success is rooted in its Franchisee-Owned, Franchisee-Operated (FOFO) model, serving as the fundamental framework behind its widespread reach and impact.
In recent years, more and more people are following the startup culture and indulging themselves in the startup ecosystem. People are following their dreams of starting their own companies and presenting their innovative ideas in front of the world.
In between all these, the most important thing is, getting funds for your business, because, without that, your business will not survive and your dreams will crash down. In fact, it is impossible to even think about going ahead without funds.
Fortunately, there are investors out there who willingly invest in startups that they find promising. In the list of these investors, celebrities also had added their names. A number of celebs take interest in startups and invest in them. Not only does it show, that they are supporting new entrepreneurs but also it becomes an advantage for the startup that they are associated with a popular celeb.
With India being one of the biggest startup hubs, Bollywood celebs are taking interest in the startup ecosystem. Bollywood actor, Varun Dhawan also has shown his interest in funding some startups. Varun Dhawan is surely one of the most popular Indian actors of the current generation. The 35-year-old has served us with some popular and fine hits in his 10 years of career. He debut with the film Student of The Year in 2012 and is currently one of India’s highest-paid actors.
Some of his films like ‘Badlapur’, ‘Sui Dhaga’, ‘Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania’ and ‘ABCD 2’ have been described as clear hits at the Box office and also some of them are critically acclaimed films.
He has won Filmfare Awards, IIFA Awards and other recognizable Indian film awards for his performances. Apart from being a good actor, he is also a good dancer and has shown his tremendous dancing skills in dance movies like ‘ABCD 2’ and ‘Street Dancer 3D’. Varun Dhawan, as mentioned has invested in startups, in this article we will talk about those startups. So let’s get right into the business.
“Don’t do a startup unless you’re ideologically driven to make it succeed beyond the economic motivation.” -Balaji Srinivasan
Fast&Up is a plant-based active nutrition brand that provides all kinds of nutritional products to fulfil the needs of Indian athletes. Fast&Up is founded in the year 2015 by Vijayaraghavan Venugopal and Varun Khanna. The brand’s products mainly are all kinds of vitamin supplements and multivitamin drinks.
The startup has started attracting attention and has been able to reach out to 100 million people in just a month. The company has also won the ‘Best Health & Fitness Brand’ of 2019 by The Economic Times. The headquarters of the company is situated in Mumbai, India.
Fast&Up made quite a noise when Varun Dhawan funded an undisclosed amount to the company. It received the investment from the Bollywood actor after securing funds of INR 165 Crores from Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia (MSPEA).
Apart from that Varun Dhawan has also been appointed as the Good Vibes Officer of the brand. The main aim of this investment is to make more Indian people aware of intelligent nutrition and get them to associate with it. He has also appeared in the commercials for Fast&Up.
Curefoods
Curefood is a cloud kitchen operating company, under which brands like EatFit, Frozen Bottle, CakeZone and Great Indian Khichdi operate. The main of the company is to provide foods that come under the regular normal diet of customers and cater for their nutrition needs.
Curefoods was founded in the year 2020 by Ankit Nagori and since then has been working on providing healthy and nutritional foods to its customers.
Recently, Varun Dhawan invested an undisclosed amount in the brand, right after the company secured $62 million of funding from companies like Iron Pillar, Accel Partners and entrepreneurs like Binny Bansal.
Apart from the investment of Varun Dhawan, he has also become the brand ambassador of EatFit, which is a food ordering platform under Curefoods. Varun Dhawan invested in the cloud kitchen operator right after the company came forward with its new direct-to-consumer food ordering platform EatFit. As per reports, Varun Dhawan will also appear in the marketing campaigns of Curefood.
Varun Dhawan himself being a health-conscious person and a fitness freak doesn’t really surprise us that he is investing in these startups. With his popularity, it seems the startups will also experience growth in the future and their association will only bring positive responses from the public to them.
FAQs
What is the age of Varun Dhawan?
Varun Dhawan was born on 24 April 1987 and is 34 years old.
Who is the wife of Varun Dhawan?
Varun Dhawan married fashion designer Natasha Dalal on January 24 2021.
What are some of the investments of Varun Dhawan?
Varun Dhawan has invested in Fast&Up and CureFoods.
“If you want to walk fast, walk alone. But if you want to walk far, walk together.” – Ratan Tata, Tata Group
Ratan Tata is a prolific investor and has made numerous investment in many Startups. His style of investment and funding are revered by many across the globe. And his investments are known to emerge as giants in their respective sectors with time. Ola Cabs is an example.
An investment from Ratan Tata gives a boost to startups in terms of publicity, acquiring finances, and brand-building. Here is a list of the startups that Ratan Tata has funded over the years. Consequently, the behemoth organization of Ratan tata – Tata Group has also infiltrated a number of markets such as telecom, software, groceries, and fashion.
Latest News
22 April, 2021 – Ratan Tata has recently made an undisclosed amount of investment in Mailit which is a Mumbai based logistics startup serving a lot of big corporates including Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, etc.
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The Recent investment by Ratan Tata was in 2021, as he invested in Mailit, a technology-driven mailroom management and logistics company. The terms of the investment are undisclosed but it comes at at a time when Mailit is planning to launch 500 mailrooms across India in addition to establishing fully mechanised warehouses and distribution centres in the next five years.
Tork Motors
Tork motors | Ratan Tata Investment
Tork Motors is a Pune-based electric motorcycle startup. Ratan Tata invested an undisclosed amount in Tork Motors in October 2019. He saw potential in the company and found the team to be commendable. Apart from Ratan Tata, Bharat Forge and Bhavish Aggarwal (Ola Cabs’ founder) have also invested in Tork Motors.
Snapdeal
Snapdeal | Ratan Tata Investment
Snapdeal is India’s first online marketplace for multiple categories. It has received funding from Ebay and Alibaba. Snapdeal was launched by Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal in February 2010. It has over 3 lakh sellers and hosts over 3 crore products across 800+ diverse categories from more than 1,25,000 regional, national, and international brands and retailers.
Ratan Tata made an investment in Snapdeal soon after Flipkart’s acquisition of Myntra. He bought 256 shares from the e-commerce venture’s angel investors. This move not only protected Snapdeal from losing market share but also prevented any potential attempt by Flipkart to monopolize the e-commerce segment.
Cure.fit is a health and fitness startup that has raised $170 million from investors like Accel Partners, Kalaari Capital, Chiratae Ventures, and Ratan Tata to date.
Cure.fit maintains a chain of fitness centers (under the ‘Cult.fit’ brand), a food delivery platform called ‘Eat.fit’, a chain of healthcare clinics called ‘Care.fit’, and the recently launched online mental-wellness platform called ‘Mind.fit’.
Paytm started out as a mobile recharging platform and later became an online marketplace for multiple categories. It became India’s first payment bank after receiving a license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Ratan Tata Made an investment in Paytm by raising a funding of INR 1 crore in March 2015 for One97 Communications – the parent company of Paytm. This funding fetched him the position of a business advisor on One97 Communications’ board.
Paytm is now among the most successful digital payment companies with millions of subscribers. It thrived when the demonetization scheme was implemented in India in November 2018. At present, the company’s gross merchandise value (GMV) is over $1 billion.
Ola is India’s first home-grown cab aggregator service and one of the nine Indian unicorn startups valued at $5 billion. The app allows users to book a taxi on their smartphone at the best fares. Ola provides cab services across price segments that range from economy to luxury.
Ratan Tata funded Ola in July 2015, 5 years after the company began its operations in 2010. He invested INR 95 lakhs in the company in personal capacity. Ratan Tata made also an investment through his investment company – RNT Capital Advisors – of INR 400 crores in Ola.
Repos Energy
Repos Energy | Ratan Tata Investment
Aditi Bhosale Walunj and Chetan Walunj founded Repos Energy. Repos Energy is a Pune-based startup responsible for the doorstep delivery of fuel to industries. It works using cloud-based technology and IoT devices. Customers can order diesel on the Repos app. A Repos petrol pump operator then arrives at the customer’s location and completes the diesel delivery. Ratan Tata made an undisclosed amount of investment in this startup.
ClimaCell
Climacell | Ratan Tata Funded Startup
ClimaCell is an app developed by Rei Goffer, Shimon Elkabetz, and Itai Zlotnik that provides accurate weather forecast to alert people about upcoming floods. It uses day-to-day devices as environmental sensors. ClimaCell focuses on error-free weather predictions and has garnered a lot of attention.
Ratan Tata participated in ClimaCell’s seed round funding in September 2016. ClimaCell has acquired $70 million over three rounds of funding.
Abra
Abra Logo | Ratan Tata Investment
Ratan Tata has also made an investment in a Silicon Valley based bitcoin startup with American Express where he with American Express invested $12 million in Abra. People can store digital cash and send money to any smartphone using Abra’s app. Abra earns money when users buy or sell digital currency through its app.
CarDekho
CarDekho Logo | Ratan tata Funded Startups
CarDekho is India’s leading car search venture that helps users purchase the right cars. Ratan Tata invested an undisclosed amount in GirnarSoft – the parent company of CarDekho, BikeDekho, and PriceDekho portals.
The CarDekho app has rich automotive content that includes expert reviews, detailed specs and prices, comparisons, and the visuals of the different car brands and models available in India.
The company deals with many automobile manufacturers, more than 4000 car dealers, and numerous financial institutions to facilitate the purchase of vehicles. The CarDekho portal accounts for about 30% of the automobile manufacturers’ combined annual sales today.
Holachef
Hola Chef | Ratan tata Funded Startups
Holachef was founded by Saxena and Anil Gelra in 2014. Holachef connects expert chefs with consumers via its website and mobile app (available for both Android and iOS platforms). The platform offers a new menu everyday and delivers food in a state-of-the-art packaging. Holachef received an undisclosed amount of investment from Ratan Tata in September 2015.
Ola-owned food delivery firm Foodpanda has acquired Holachef.
FirstCry is a baby care e-commerce platform. FirstCry is owned by BrainBees Solutions. It follows an omni-channel strategy of selling through online and offline stores. Ratan Tata invested an undisclosed amount in this startup in January 2016.
Lenskart
Lenskart Logo | Ratan Tata Funded Startup
Lenskart is a popular online retailer for eyewear. It was also been added to the list of companies invested by Tata as it secured funding from Ratan Tata in April 2016; the amount is undisclosed.
Lenskart sells sunglasses, eye glasses, contact lenses, and more. The officials from Lenskart said that Ratan Tata’s role was more of a mentor and an advisor than a financial investor. Some of the investors in Lenskart are TPG Group, IDG Ventures India, and Unilazer Ventures founder Ronnie Screwvala.
NestAway
nestaway logo | Ratan Tata Funded Startups
NestAway allows users to find, book, and move-in to a rental home of their choice across Indian cities. NestAway’s aim is to provide better rental solutions with the help of design and technology. The company presently caters to more than 35,000 tenants and 16,000 owners, providing homes to over 7000 families in cities like Delhi, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and others. Ratan Tata invested an undisclosed amount in NestAway Technologies Pvt. Ltd. in December 2017.
Urban Ladder is an online furniture seller. Urban Ladder was founded by Ashish Goel and Rajiv Srivatsa in July 2012. It currently offers over 1,000 products across 25 furniture categories such as wardrobes, beds, sofas, dining tables, and coffee tables. The online retailer secured funding from Ratan Tata in November 2015.
UrbanCompany
Urban Company Logo
UrbanCompany, previously known as UrbanClap, is a local services marketplace that raised an undisclosed amount in funding from Ratan Tata in December 2015. It is also funded by Snapdeal founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal.
The UrbanCompany app allows the online booking of services such as plumbing, electric work, beauty treatments, and salon. UrbanCompany has successfully penetrated the services sector and bridged the gap between workers and consumers. People can now easily overcome the challenges of household hurdles, troubles, fixtures, and anything related through UrbanCompany.
GOQii
Goqii Logo | Ratan tata funded Startups
GOQii makes healthcare watches that are similar to smart watches. It also makes GOQii Stride, a device people can attach to their shoes and keep track of the number of steps, etc. GOQii’s platform provides tools for real-time personalized coaching, scheduling health check-ups, and securing information in a health locker. GOQii was founded in 2014 by Vishal Gondal. It joined the list of Ratan Tata-backed startups after he invested an undisclosed amount in October 2016.
This might come across as an interesting trivia—Ratan Tata is the first Indian to buy a stake in Xiaomiandhe has also made an undisclosed amount of investment in the company. Xiaomi is the world’s fourth largest smartphone manufacturer and is based out of China. The brand is very popular in India. It entered the Indian market in 2014. The Chinese tech giant sells smartphones, laptops, air purifiers, tablets, LED TVs, fitness bands and more.
Some senior executives from Xiaomi were quoted saying that they would seek Ratan Tata’s advice on how to expand globally.
Lybrate
Lybrate Logo | Ratan Tata Funded Startups
Lybrate was founded in 2013. It connects patients and doctors. Lybrate launched an online lab testing facility in May 2016. A patient’s sample is collected right from his or her home and the results are then shared online. Lybrate secured about INR 64.8 crores ($10.2 million) funding from Ratan Tata in July 2019.
Infinite Analytics is a U.S. and Mumbai-based startup founded by two MITians – Akash Bhatia and Purushotam Bolta. It became Microsoft Dynamics AX’s first global OEM partner four months after Ratan Tata has also made an investment in this startup in August 2015.
Infinite Analytics is a cloud-based big data startup that predicts consumer behavior based on information shared by users on social networking sites. Infinite Analytics analyses raw data, maps out a person’s social genome, and then gives personalized recommendations to consumer brands with online presence. This information, which is collected without breaking privacy laws, allows a retailer to identify and recommend products that will appeal to customers. Infinite Analytics has expanded its predictive analytics technology to verticals beyond retail and e-commerce.
CashKaro
Cashkaro Logo | Ratan Tata Funded Startups
CashKaro is a cashback and coupons website that provides 30% cashback to customers who shop on its affiliates’ platforms. These platforms include Amazon, Paytm, Jabong, and ShopClues. The Gurgaon-based company was founded by Swati and Rohan Bhargava in 2013 and raised an undisclosed amount in Series A funding from Ratan Tata in January 2016.
Cashkaro generates revenue by taking commission from retailers and sharing a portion of it with customers in the form of cashback. It is the largest cashback website in India with over 10 lakh registered users and has given net cashback of more than INR 30 crores.
DogSpot
Dogspot Logo | Ratan Tata funded Startups
DogSpot is a Gurgaon-based online pet care platform that handles about 60,000 orders on a monthly basis with an average basket size of INR 1,700. DogSpot also promotes pet-centric events, drives, and related content. The startup was founded in 2007 and is run by PetsGlam Services Pvt. Ltd.
Ratan Tata invested an undisclosed amount in his personal capacity in DogSpot in January 2016. Ronnie Screwvala also invested in DogSpot alongside Ratan Tata.
BlueStone
Bluestone Logo | Ratan Tata funded Startups
Bluestone.com is an online platform for purchasing jewelry. BlueStone was founded by Gaurav Singh Kushwaha in 2011. BlueStone is backed by Ratan Tata and has also received a funding from him in 2014. It offers over 5,000 jewelry designs and plans to scale to 30,000 designs in the next three years.
Zivame
Zivame Logo | Ratan Tata funded Startup
Bangalore-based Zivame was founded in 2011 by Richa Kar and Kapil Karekar. Zivame is an online platform for one’s lingerie needs. It has raised $48 million in four years. The startup gained popularity through its quirky campaigns and is a well-known name today. Zivame received funding from Ratan Tata in September 2015.
Generic Aadhaar
Generic Aadhaar | Ratan Tata funded Startup
Ratan Tata has invested undisclosed amount in Generic Aadhaar, a Maharashtra-based pharmaceutical startup. Arjun Deshpande founded Generic Aadhaar in 2018. Generic Aadhaar provides generic medicines from reputed pharmaceutical companies at discounted rates—up to 80% cheaper than the retail price. It offers a catalog comprising branded, generic, homeopathy, and Ayurveda medicines from government-approved manufacturing facilities.
Generic Aadhaar aims to partner with 1000 pharmacies through a franchisee model in the coming months and expand its reach to places like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, New Delhi, Goa, Rajasthan, and Gujarat.
What are the names of some Ratan Tata funded startups?
Some startups funded by Ratan Tata are Ola cabs, Zivame, Paytm, Snapdeal, Xiaomi, Urban Ladder, UrbanCompany, Cash Karo, and Abra.
What sector does Ratan Tata like to fund in?
Ratan Tata does not prefer any specific sectors. He has funded startups in sectors ranging from e-commerce and real estate to electric mobility and food delivery.
Mukesh Bansal is the Founder of the fashion e-commerce firm,Myntra. He is an Indian businessman, who currently serves as the CEO of Cure.fit and its co-founder as well. He is also on the board of Olympics Gold Quest, which is a non-profit organization that promotes sports and games.
Explore Mukesh Bansal’s personal life and family, education and his journey as the Co-Founder of Myntra, CEO of Cure.fit, Head of Commerce & Advertising Business at Flipkart.
Mukesh Bansal was born in Haridwar, Uttarakhand. He came from a middle class family and made sincere efforts to get admission in an IIT college. He is well known for his friendly and polite nature. His wife, Archana runs her own business. After contributing efforts in US for 10 years, he came back to India and launched Myntra and his entrepreneurial journey continued thereafter.
He has 2 children named Avni (Meaning Earth) and Arnav (Meaning Ocean)
Mukesh Bansal
Mukesh Bansal- Education
He completed his B.Tech in Computer Science from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur in 1997. He did his graduation from 1993-1997. He is known to be a task master, when it comes to any official work. He works on a strict work schedule.
Mukesh Bansal- Professional Life
Mukesh Bansal joined Deloitte in 1997, as a systems analyst for two years in Chicago. He was highly influenced by the dotcom boom that was raising to new heights in San Francisco and moved to the Bay area in 1999. He gave up a job portal, which he started with one of his friend. He then worked with various companies such as NexTag (1999-2000), eWanted (2000-2001), Centrata (2001-2004), newScale (2005-2006) which were all early start ups in Silicon Valley. He was employed in these companies as a engineer, product manager across technology and business enterprises.
The three founders of Myntra are Mukesh Bansal, Ashutosh Lawania and Vineet Saxena. They launched Myntra in 2007 with INR 30 lakh in personal investment. He was propelled to establish his own e-commerce venture owing to the experience of Silicon Valley. Initially, Myntra was a gifting startup but gradually transformed to a fashion e-commerce hub. The e-commerce venture became a success. Soon it was acquired by Flipkart in the year 2014 worth $330 million. Though Mukesh continued to serve as the chairman of Myntra board and managed the advertising and commerce insights until 2016. Flipkart is the largest Indian e-commerce venture.
After the acquisition of Myntra by Flipkart, Mukesh was employed as the Head of Commerce & Advertising Business at Flipkart in 2014. Mukesh brought many ideas to revamp the company’s talent philosophy. He aided the company to reach a revenue of $5 billion. He later left his position at Flipkart in 2016.
Mukesh Bansal co-founded a Bangalore based fitness and healthcare company,Cure.fit in 2016 with Ankit Nagori. It started due to his passion towards fitness and books. He works out everyday with a combination of crossfit, mixed martial arts and yoga. There are varied portals under the fitness and well being start up, Cure.fit, they are: eat.fit (food delivery), cult.fit (fitness centers), mind.fit (yoga, meditation and counseling), and care.fit (paid primary care solutions). The name itself specifies that these all are related to health, fitness and nutrition. It offers digital and offline experiences in physical and mental health. Within two years, Cure.fit has raised over $170 million. No sooner Cure.fit announced the launch of its sportswear brand Cultsport, which offers functional apparel for workout formats like field training, running and gym. During the year 2019, CureFit raised $120 million in Series D round of funding. The company basically aims to build health and fitness awareness among citizens. Though the COVID-19 pandemic has initially demotivated everyone, CureFit sought this opportunity and started LIVE workout sessions and online therapy.
He has also acquired four fitness companies.Accel Partners and Kalaari Capital are some of his backers. The rival company to Cure.Fit is HealthifyMe and MyFitnessPal.
His age is 44 years (2020). He was born in 1976 in Haridwar, Uttarakhand.
Who is Mukesh Bansal’s Wife?
Mukesh Bansal’s wife is Archana who runs her own business.
Who is the founder of Myntra?
Mukesh Bansal is considered the owner of Myntra after he launched Myntra in 2007 with Ashutosh Lawania and Vineet Saxena. Currently, Myntra is owned by Flipkart.
What is Mukesh Bansal’s education?
He completed his B.Tech in Computer Science from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur in 1997. He did his graduation from 1993-1997.
Today, Ratan Tata needs no introduction as he is the most respected business tycoon in India. He is an Indian industrialist, philanthropist, former chairman of Tata Group and Tata Sons. Post his retirement in 2012 he has turned into an avid angel investor who has left an everlasting impact. He is well-known for investing in some of the most successful startups today.
So far, Ratan Tata has invested in over two dozen startups, including top unicorns of India, like furniture e-tailer Urban Ladder, digital payments app Paytm, ride-hailing company Ola and its electric vehicle arm Ola Electric Mobility, Cure.fit, Urban Ladder, etc. His investment may only be a few million dollars, according to industry sources, but what’s invaluable is having the 81-year-old tycoon’s name attached to a young startup.
So, how Ratan Tata: the accidental startup investor turned into an avid angel investor? Let’s take a look.
Name
Ratan Tata
Born
Surat, India
Age
82
Citizenship
Indian
Education
Cornell University College of Architecture, Harvard Business School
Title
Indian Industrialist, Philanthropist, and a Former chairman of Tata Sons
Occupation
Businessman
Net Worth
Rs. 6396 Crore
Awards
CNN-IBN Indian of the Year in Business, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan
First Investment made by Ratan Tata
The 81-year-old also said that he became a startup investor by accident. He added that he used to look at the sector as exciting always but somewhat untouchable. Tata further mentioned that with two-three years into the sector, it has become a learning experience for him as he got to learn many aspects regarding investment in startups.
The business magnate, better known as the ”Accidental Startup Investor”, was always interested in the startup ecosystem. He mentioned that his tenure as the chairman of Tata Group as this sector meant conflicts if he would take up any entrepreneurial assignment. But once Mr. Tata retired, he wasted no time in becoming a full-time investor through his private investment vehicle—RNT Associates.
Ratan Tata said that when he retired, at first he started making small token investments in what he considered exciting companies. He admitted that in the beginning, he intended to take some more risks than he might have taken under different circumstances. With two-three years into this, it became a learning experience, as this sector is very active and has the best minds.
The first investment he made was in Snapdeal in 2014 which yielded great results. The CEO of Snapdeal, Kunal Bahl, has high regards for Ratan Tata and considers him to be a lucky charm for Snapdeal. He is believed to have bought a 0.17% stake in Snapdeal in August 2014, when he invested less than Rs 5 crore. Tata bought 256 shares from the e-commerce company’s angel investors, including Kenneth Glass.
Other Investments made by Ratan Tata
Following this, he has invested in 31 startups. After Snapdeal, the online furniture retailer Urban Ladder secured funding from Ratan Tata in November 2015. It was Tata’s second personal investment in an e-commerce firm. It is a popular furniture selling platform based in Bengaluru. It is currently present in 12 cities around India.
Paytm, a Noida-based digital-payments company saw an overnight jump in subscribers by millions, after Demonetization of announced by the government on November 8, 2018. The company had secured an undisclosed amount of funding from Ratan Tata in March 2015. Tata bought a stake in One97 Communications, the parent company of Paytm.
Ola Cabs is India’s answer to Uber. Much like Uber, Ola provides cab services across all price segments, ranging from economic to luxury. Beginning its operations in 2010, Ola secured funding from Ratan Tata in July 2015.
Ratan Tata is the first Indian to buy a stake in Chinese tech giant Xiaomi best known for its affordable smartphones. It’s true, the amount Tata invested in Xiaomi was not disclosed. Similarly, services marketplace UrbanClap raised an undisclosed amount in funding from Ratan Tata in December 2015. In April 2016, Lenskart, the popular online retailer that sells eyewear secured funding from Tata.
Ratan Tata has invested in More than 30 Start-ups
Tata, while referring to the growth of budding startups said, “We are looking at the India of tomorrow and the day after, and the start-up industry is entering the global field in a manner where competition is open. The fact is we (Indians) are entrepreneurs at heart. Maybe what we need is the opportunity to flourish and I think the startup industry is doing just that.”
Ratan N. Tata has invested in over 30 startups. Among these, there are several technology-based startups too. Tata has made all these investments in his personal capacity. Ratan Tata has not restricted himself to a sector and stepped into a variety of diverse strata, be it clothing, weather, pet care services, etc., but technology catches his attention.
He holds the view that technology can be applied and used in any sector and the future is all about technology. He has recently invested in Tork Motors and Ola Electric. Ratan Tata has been supporting Ola since 2015. He openly expresses his excitement of participating in new areas and encourages young minds to search for domains yet to be explored.
Ratan Tata believes startups should get funded by Indian investors. According to him, the startup sector is growing rapidly with the best of minds involved in it. He regrets seeing such companies having great potential that could add value to the Indian economy but being bound to foreign authorities. Thus, Tata finds it unfortunate that founders get driven by foreign investments in the hope of an eventual acquisition by a larger entity.
He tells his decisions are intuition-driven, but the steps he has taken by now proves his intuitions are calculated risk oriented. He prefers getting into conversation with founders, analyze their personality, skills, their maturity, and the seriousness and most importantly, their zeal and dedication.
And like any other investor, he judges the future scope of pitched ideas. Tata has told in his case selection is more by intuition than by numbers. He further revealed that judging the intent of the founders and their seriousness influenced him more than any other factor.
How to Approach Ratan Tata for Investment?
Is Approaching Ratan Tata Difficult? As a matter of fact, its not. He is as approachable as any other investor. A few things to keep in mind if you plan to seek investment from the business tycoon:
Your idea should be unique and hold great potential.
The startup should have begun its operations, at least on a small-scale.
Tangible feedback on the startup and its product or service is a must. Remember, Ola got funding from RNT Associates 5 years after it began.
He is a man of experience, so it is advisable to be realistic and honest. Sniffing out non-sense is easy for him.
Being a personal investor, he prefers keeping the details of his investment private. He hates it when the media makes such information public. You will find it difficult to find the exact amount of his investments online, even when it comes to the biggest players he’s backing.
When asked what makes a good entrepreneur, he told what probably drives an entrepreneur to start a business is the fire in his belly that there is a better way to do something that has been done or a good opportunity to make a difference because something has not been explored well enough. And the confidence of staying with it is deciding factor of a good entrepreneurs. This is one thing to keep in mind while approaching Ratan Tata for investment.
Shalini Rath
