Ratan Tata, emeritus chairman of Tata Sons, announced an investment in Goodfellows, a startup that provides companionship to the elderly. Ratan Tata has been actively investing in and supporting startups since stepping down as CEO of the salt-to-software Tata Group. Shantanu Naidu, Ratan Tata's business assistant at the time, founded Goodfellows. Naidu, 25, is a Cornell University graduate who works as a general manager in Tata's office and has been assisting Tata since 2018. He shares Tata's passion for dogs and strays and had previously started a pet-related business.

"The bonds between the two generations created by Goodfellows are very meaningful and are helping to address an important social issue in India," said Ratan Tata, emeritus chairman of Tata Sons, of his investment. "I'm hoping that this investment will help Goodfellows' young team grow."

According to the team, ensuring that the "Goodfellows" bond with their Grandpals who have subscribed to the service in an authentic and meaningful way, rather than just cosmetically, has been a difficult but rewarding task. To select the best graduates, several rounds of vetting and some in-house psychometric tests are required.

 

What exactly does Goodfellows do?

A Goodfellow provides services similar to those provided by a grandchild. In India, 15 million elderly people live alone, either because they have lost a partner or because their families have moved away for unavoidable work reasons. While many of them have caregivers or start-ups for utilitarian needs such as ecommerce, loneliness or a lack of company has been the primary cause of their mental and physical health deterioration. Senior citizens can use the services by signing up on thegoodfellows.in, giving a missed call at +91 8779524307, or following them on Instagram.

The company has spent the last six months completing a successful beta run, and its services are now available in Mumbai, with Pune, Chennai, and Bangalore as the next target cities. During the beta testing phase, Goodfellows received over 800 applications from young graduates looking to work at Goodfellows, with a shortlisted cohort of 20 providing companionship to the elderly in Mumbai.

 

How Does Goodfellows Function?

Goodfellows' business model is a freemium subscription model. The first month is free with the sole purpose of allowing the Grandpal to experience the service, as it is difficult to grasp the concept without first experiencing it. According to the company, the second month is a small subscription fee that has been decided based on the limited affordability of pensioners.

The majority of investor funds are currently geared toward scaling up goodfellow human capital, which is a slow process because empathy cannot be vetted quickly or through the traditional recruiting process.