'You Don't Know What It Is To Be Lonely': Ratan Tata At Startup Launch. Know What All It Offers

The startup, Goodfellows, focuses on companionship, which could mean anything from going for a quiet walk or watching a movie to just engaging in conversations

Veteran industrialist Ratan Tata, who has funded a startup that connects senior citizens with young graduates for meaningful friendships, on Tuesday expressed his thoughts about being lonely in old age. "You don't know what it is to be lonely until you spend time alone wishing for companionship," said the octogenarian businessman at the startup's official launch in Mumbai, reported news agency Bloomberg. The business leader who steered the $128 billion Tata Group for decades was addressing a group consisting of seniors and their young friends.

What’s the new start-up all about?

Goodfellows, which promotes ‘inter-generational friendships’ received a seed investment of an undisclosed amount from Tata, the influential chairman emeritus of Tata Sons.

Tata Sons, the principal holding company of the Tata group runs about 150 companies including some of India's most valuable such as software outsourcer Tata Consultancy Service and the steelmaker Tata Steel.

The start-up has been founded by Shantanu Naidu who manages Ratan Tata's office and his startup investment portfolio in the role of general manager. The 30-year-old entreprenuer also assists Tata as chairman of the group's massive philanthropy arm, Tata Trusts.

Sharing details about the start-up, Naidu said the idea came from his own rapport with Tata, that he termed as a "peak example of an intergenerational friendship given the five-and-a-half-decade age difference."

At present, the start-up connects around 50 "grandpals" including men and women over 70 years with "good fellows" in their 20s. The eclectic group of young people comprise of employees selected post several round of intense vetting and psychometric testing. Most of them are recent graduates in engineering, the arts or filmmaking and employed with salaries, stated the report.

The subscription-based service is available in Mumbai, but will be soon expanded in other cities including Bengaluru. The startup focuses on companionship, which could mean anything from going for a quiet walk or watching a movie to just engaging in conversations. Non-profit models have failed to take off, added Naidu as the companions are unpaid volunteers who don't commit long-term.

With a population of 1.4 billion, the country has every second Indian under the age of 25. But over 15 million elderly Indians live alone, either because they have no family or because their children are overseas, which presents a mental and physical health challenges.