Brian Nichols is the co-founder of Angel Squad, a community where you’ll learn how to angel invest and get a chance to invest as little as $1k into Hustle Fund's top performing early-stage startups

Ratan Naval Tata died on October 9, 2024, at 86. In the days that followed, millions of Indians mourned not just a businessman but something rarer: a leader they actually trusted. Prime ministers paid tribute. Founders posted photos of the checks he'd written them years earlier. A country that had grown accustomed to cynicism about wealth made an exception for this one.

That reaction tells you something important about Ratan Tata investments and why they mattered beyond the returns.

From Industrial Giant to Angel Investor

Tata became chairman of Tata Sons in 1991, inheriting a sprawling conglomerate that generated $5.7 billion in annual revenue. By 2012, when he stepped down, that figure had grown to nearly $100 billion. Along the way he orchestrated landmark deals: Tetley Tea in 2000, Corus Steel in 2007, Jaguar Land Rover in 2008. The group now operates in over 100 countries.

But here's the part that doesn't get enough attention. Starting around 2014, Tata began investing personally in Indian startups at a time when nobody in his position was doing that. He once described himself as "more intuitive than a numbers person," and that instinct drove him toward founders with genuine conviction, not just viable spreadsheets.

The Portfolio He Built

Ratan Tata investments span 56-plus companies across consumer, fintech, mobility, health, and more. He operated through personal capacity and his family office vehicle UC-RNT.

His Ola bet came in 2015 when India's ride-hailing category was still unsettled. Paytm, the digital payments giant, got his backing the same year. FirstCry, the baby products platform, saw a 450% gain on his 2016 investment when it went public in 2024. Upstox, a discount brokerage, famously repurchased 5% of his holding in 2022 at a 23,000% return on his 2016 entry.

Lenskart, now a unicorn, received his backing in 2016. Urban Company, which connects home service professionals to consumers across India and Southeast Asia, was another early bet. He backed data intelligence platform Atlan, which reached a $750 million valuation in 2024. And perhaps the most personal investment of all was Goodfellows in 2022, a companionship startup for senior citizens co-founded by Shantanu Naidu, a young design engineer who had first approached Tata years earlier with an idea to prevent road accidents involving stray dogs.

That story is peak Tata. The man who led a $165 billion empire made time for a kid with an idea about dog collars.

Why Founders Wanted His Name on the Cap Table

Elizabeth Yin of Hustle Fund has noted that the best early investors add value beyond capital, specifically through signal. When Ratan Tata invested, it wasn't just money. It was proof of concept for a market that had historically underestimated Indian consumer startups. His name opened doors, accelerated fundraising, and gave founders credibility with institutional investors who were still skeptical of the Indian startup ecosystem.

This is exactly what Angel Squad members experience when they co-invest alongside Hustle Fund. The Angel Squad community of 2,500-plus members across 50-plus countries isn't just writing checks in isolation. They're tapping into deal flow, credibility signals, and a network that makes their early-stage bets land differently. Just as Ratan Tata investments carried outsized signal for Indian founders, being part of a respected investing community changes what's possible for early-stage angels.

The Philosophy Behind the Bets

Tata was explicit about what he looked for. "If the founder has passion and innovation, he needs to be supported," he once said. He described himself as drawn to founders based on "what the company is trying to do" rather than conventional metrics. That meant taking swings on companies the market hadn't validated yet, in sectors most institutional investors were ignoring.

By showing up early with conviction, he helped normalize angel investing in India and made it easier for the next wave of local investors to follow.

Eric Bahn of Hustle Fund has noted that the best opportunities often appear before consensus forms. In greenfield markets, a credible early investor can compress what might otherwise take years.

What the Legacy Looks Like Now

Tata's estate, valued at roughly $1.2 billion, was distributed heavily toward charitable causes through Tata Trusts, which already controlled 66% of Tata Sons. His investment portfolio lives on through the outcomes still unfolding: IPOs, acquisitions, and startups still mid-journey.

The harder thing to quantify is what he built for Indian founders psychologically: proof that someone at the very top of the country's business hierarchy would back them based purely on the quality of their mission.

How Angel Squad Connects to This Legacy

Ratan Tata's example is a masterclass in what it means to invest with conviction rather than just consensus. He didn't wait for sectors to become crowded before moving in. He backed founders who needed signal, not just capital. And he kept his investment thesis grounded in something real: does this company make life better for the people it serves?

Angel Squad exists in that same spirit. Members get access to Hustle Fund's top-performing early-stage deals, co-investing alongside experienced GPs like Elizabeth Yin, Eric Bahn, and Shiyan Koh, and learning from a community of operators who've been building and backing companies across 50-plus countries. If Tata's approach to angel investing resonates with you, the next step is at hustlefund.vc/squad.