Should billionaire Ratan Tata’s latest ecommerce store worry Indian startup CEOs?

Photo credit: Jungle Ventures.

Indian billionaire Ratan Tata has entered the Indian ecommerce market with his own brand TataCliq. It will directly compete with existing ecommerce players in India, including several that he’s invested his personal money into, like Snapdeal, Zivame and Kaaryah.

The new ecommerce store backed by the US$108 billion Tata Group will sell everything from TVs and mobile phones to shoes and apparel, categories in which Snapdeal, Zivame and Kaaryah are present.

The brand also wants to enter 10 more categories within six months, the company’s CEO Ashutosh Pandey, said to ET Now.

The decision to expand into more categories might also create competition for other companies Ratan Tata has invested in, like baby products seller FirstCry, online jeweler Bluestone, furniture retailer UrbanLadder, and pet supplies retailer Dogspot.

In total, Ratan Tata, the chairman emeritus of Tata Sons and one of India’s most respected billionaires, has invested small amounts of money in over 25 startups.

According to Livemint, Ratan Tata invested a modest US$37,000 in Kaaryah, US$1.5 million in Snapdeal, and US$450,000 in Bluestone. He invested US$15,000 in Zivame during its series C round of about US$40 million.

Ironically, Tata was investing his personal wealth in such ecommerce companies while his group’s IT arm and India’s biggest technology company, TCS – was helping build TataCliq over the last 18 months.

Tata’s vast retail empire

The 148-year old Tata Group also runs various retail chains in the country.

A Tata Group company Tata Trent runs the Westside brand of retail stores, which sell everything from apparel to home furnishings and furniture across India.

Trent also runs Starbazaar, a chain of hypermarkets that sell everything from grocery and dairy products to health, beauty and general merchandise goods.

In addition, Trent owns publishing company Westland in which Amazon has bought a 26 percent stake.

Photo credit: Croma

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