Ratan Tata Backs Eldercare Startup Goodfellows

Eldercare startup Goodfellows has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from veteran investor Ratan Tata. 

According to PTI’s report, Tata said, “No one minds getting old till you actually get old and also added that getting a good-natured companionship, which we take for granted, is a challenge. 

Founded by Shantanu Naidu, who is currently working as a general manager in RNT, Tata Group, Goodfellows provides intergenerational friendships to elderly people. In essence, it employs educated graduates up to the age of 30 years to assist elderly people in carrying out daily tasks or merely conversing with them.

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

Naidu is an MBA graduate from Cornell University. Prior to founding Goodfellows, he set up anti-poaching devices and tech-enabled dog collars making startup Motopaws and counselling platform On Your Sparks, as per his LinkedIn profile. Motopaws was also backed by Ratan Tata in the initial stages.

Tata added by saying, “You do not know what it is like to be lonely until you spend time alone wishing for companionship.”

In May, Tata also led fuel distribution startup Repos Energy’s INR 5.6 Cr Pre-Series A funding round. The funding round was a mix of equity and debt. 

As of now, Goodfellows is in the beta phase and is closely working for 20 elders for the last six months. It is looking to expand its services to other Indian cities including Pune, Chennai and Bengaluru in the near future.

In the elderlycare segment, it is likely to face competition from the likes of GetSetUp, 60Plus India and Alserv. 

As per 2011 India’s census data, India has over 100 Mn elderly people. These figures are anticipated to have grown by now. The report further estimated that the country’s eldercare business to reach the value of $5 Bn in 2011.