Tracxn, Cashkaro & Earnkaro: The Startups Ratan Tata Invested In | NDTV Profit - video Dailymotion

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00:00Neha Singh, she's the CEO and co-founder at Traction, and Swati Bhargava, co-founder of

00:07CashKaro.

00:08Well, for the viewers who are relatively newer to the startup space, well, you know, CashKaro

00:16is a Ratan Tata-backed internet startup, and the website and the app actually offers cashback

00:22and coupons for online shopping.

00:25And as far as Traction Technologies is concerned, well, once again, Ratan Tata-backed data

00:30intelligence platform.

00:31This provides information on private companies and startups around the world.

00:35Let's get this conversation going on with Neha Singh.

00:38Neha, welcome to the show, and thanks for joining in.

00:41Can you tell us about any potential interaction that you may have had with Mr. Tata and the

00:46kind of values that he brings or is looking for, well, setups like yours?

00:54So, Mr. Tata has been a legendary figure for a lot of us growing up.

00:59And he has personified not just a person who has, you know, visionary, but also having

01:04a heart of gold.

01:05We had the fortune of meeting him a couple of times.

01:08I think one of the most memorable meetings for us was when he was meeting for investment

01:13in Traction.

01:14And, you know, the meeting was actually scheduled for an hour.

01:18And interestingly, it lasted for an hour and a half.

01:22And initially, we had thought that there would be someone else who would be asking the question

01:26from the team.

01:27But actually, it was him asking, you know, all the questions relevant to the business.

01:31And, you know, it was, I think it was for us, it was very humbling experience, you know,

01:35to actually have him sort of, you know, ask a lot of questions for our business.

01:42And post the meeting, an hour and a half, we got a call that, you know, he wanted to

01:46invest.

01:47And obviously, we were, you know, very thrilled to hear that, you know, so very disheartening

01:51to hear this news.

01:53But I think, you know, having had the fortune of meeting him, you know, during our lifetime,

01:57I think it's very humbling to meet a person, you know, firstly, he's very hands on, very

02:02curious and very humble for, you know, all the things that he's, he's been able to, you

02:07know, bring to so many of us.

02:10You know, we're speaking with Neha, of course, and also Swati Bhargav, who's co founder of

02:14Cash Karo and Earn Karo.

02:16I just want to understand what your first meeting with Ratan Tata was, and how you convinced

02:22him to invest in your company?

02:23Yeah, well, our meeting with Mr. Tata is one of the most cherished memories for my husband,

02:29Rohan and myself.

02:30We run the business together.

02:31We actually met him in 2016 in Mumbai at the Taj Hotel.

02:36And I still remember entering that room and Mr. Tata sitting on this long table having

02:40his lunch, having a very nice dessert plate.

02:43And we both smiled at each other because, you know, the dessert looked so good.

02:47And, you know, the first thing I told him was that, sir, my 85 year old grandfather

02:51is very happy that I'm here with you today, because his first job was with Tata Steel.

02:56And I remember him getting up and saying to me, please thank him for his efforts and pay

03:01my regards to him.

03:02And you know, he was so humble, he was so kind.

03:05And after that, I asked him that do you mind if instead of pitching on the side, we sit

03:09across from you and just have a conversation?

03:11And he said, yeah, by all means do that, which again, was really refreshing.

03:15It was for him, it was about making the most of that time together and getting to know

03:19each other, which is what we wanted as well.

03:21And once we explained them about CashKaro, I asked him in the end, so what do you think

03:25of our business?

03:26And he said, in a country that loves to save, you're giving free money, what's there not

03:30to love?

03:32And that has stayed with us, because that was the very, you know, basic product market

03:36fit with which we entered from the UK to India.

03:39And during that 20 minute conversation, he touched upon everything from how do we acquire

03:43customers, to why do partners work with us, to how big this business can be.

03:48And I was really impressed with his business acumen, with his attention to detail, how

03:53engaged he was in that conversation that really stood out.

03:56Right. Swati, can you tell us about, I mean, I'm sure your company has had a lot of

04:00investors coming in.

04:02How does Mr. Tata stand out and what is the distinction between Mr.

04:06Tata as compared to some of your other investors in the company?

04:09Yes, we have had the fortune of raising over 250 crores in funding so far, led by Kalari

04:15Capital, Afro Global, Korea Investment Partners, various investors.

04:19But I think nothing, you know, gives you the sense of trust, you know, that Mr.

04:24Tata's investment does and the way that, you know, his just having his name on our

04:29cap table just felt like such an honour.

04:31Rohan and I always used to say that I don't know how many times in our lifetime will we

04:35have the opportunity of working Mr.

04:37Tata with him.

04:38And, you know, that has been the single most honour, you know, that we've had in this

04:43journey. And he's always been very supportive.

04:45He's been open to listening about challenges, advising, opening up his network.

04:51And, you know, it's just been such an honour to have had him with us.

04:55He'll really be missed.

04:56It feels like a very personal loss to us.

04:59Suppose I want to, you know, direct the same question to you as well.

05:03Anything that stands out in terms of his personality and his characteristics as an

05:07investor as compared to some other investors that you may have for your company?

05:13So I think meeting him, you know, I would probably agree with Swati, like meeting him

05:18has been one of the most cherished memories of, you know, meeting of all the investors

05:22we've had in the entire journey.

05:24I think in general, you know, like our whole family probably, you know, before that did

05:30not understand, you know, what are we doing?

05:32And after we had the, you know, sort of investment from him, I think there was notches up of,

05:39you know, respect for us of what we are doing.

05:41And, you know, hopefully we are doing something very interesting that, you know, we were able

05:45to meet him and he was interested in that.

05:48But I think it was really humbling to sort of, you know, meet him and have the opportunity

05:52to do that during the lifetime.

05:55All right.

05:56You know, Swati, going forward, how do you think that, well, given the kind of values

06:02that Sir Ratan Tata brings to the entire startup ecosystem, how do you think that, you know,

06:09the values that are being instilled can potentially be taken forward by the startup community

06:14in India specifically?

06:17Well, I think he embodies the concept of paid forward really well.

06:20And I think others are also inspired by that, that when you make it big, try and take out

06:25the time, the money, the resources to pay it forward and invest in the overall growth

06:30of the ecosystem, which he did so well by supporting so many of us.

06:34And I think others will continue that legacy.

06:36He is a legend and his legacy will live on and he will be deeply missed by all of us.

06:45Neha, I suppose the same question for you.

06:47Anything that potentially stands out that could also be taken forward by a company like yours?

06:56So we've had the opportunity to meet him, you know, a couple of times.

06:59One, interestingly, was during my convocation from IIT Bombay was probably the first time.

07:04And then during Traction was probably one of the most memorable meetings that we have had.

07:10I think he, you know, personifies in someone, you know, who has a good understanding, you

07:16know, who transpires, I would say generations, not just the traditional businesses.

07:20But, you know, as things are changing, he has a great amount of curiosity, you know,

07:25for him to be able to, you know, actually ask questions for our business.

07:30I think he had a lot of curiosity, you know, throughout to understand, you know, the new

07:35age businesses, to understand, you know, more about other things, which is going on about

07:40private markets.

07:41We also had a conversation around about private markets and how do we see forward.

07:46So I think for us, I would say it's very humbling that, you know, someone of that, you know,

07:51who have achieved so much is still so curious and is still open to sort of, you know,

07:55asking questions from others.

07:58Neha, I'm going to take the, you know, the fact that you are in the business of gathering

08:03information around businesses as a service.

08:06I'm just going to take this particular area forward.

08:09Can you tell us about the latest trends with respect to how things are changing on ground

08:13for a company like yours?

08:16Yeah, so we are basically a private market intelligence platform.

08:22And what we strive to do is basically bridge the information gap which exists in the private

08:26markets.

08:28Essentially, you know, when you look at it, there are a lot of interesting companies doing

08:31very innovative work, while there are a lot of investors who are looking to find out these

08:36interesting companies every day.

08:38And our endeavor has been, you know, now that there is more and more data about private

08:42companies, which is there, you know, how do we bring it in a very actionable manner for

08:46investors on the platform to be able to do that?

08:50So I think that was probably one of the things which, you know, sort of resonated well, you

08:54know, in our meeting, I would say that, you know, how do we basically, you know, that

08:59new asset classes now that that is getting created of the private markets, you know,

09:04how do we sort of add transparency to help the innovation ecosystem in our small way

09:09to just bridge the information gap, I would say.

Tracxn, Cashkaro & Earnkaro: The Startups Ratan Tata Invested In | NDTV Profit

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