After Ratan Tata, Niranjan Hiranandani invests in senior citizen start-up, Goodfellows

Real estate baron and investor, Niranjan Hiranandani, invests in senior citizen start-up, Goodfellows along with Shradha Sharma, Founder and CEO of YourStory in a seed funding round. Ratan Tata also made an investment in the company in August this year. The funds will be used to expand operations in Mumbai as well as expand to other cities such as Pune, Kolkata and Bengaluru.

The Mumbai-based start-up will also test its corporate offerings with its first corporate contract.

Goodfellows was launched by Shantanu Naidu in September 2022, a general manager working in Ratan Tata’s office. The Cornell University-educated Naidu recognised a gap when he realised that senior citizens undergo loneliness and are in need of companionship.

This led him to launch the start-up which hires young people having emotional intelligence and empathy known as ‘grandpals’ to interact with the senior citizens. Since its inception, the company has been working with about 20 elders.

Commenting on the investment, Hiranandani said, “Goodfellows has understood the problem, looked for a solution and worked out a concept around it. This is what makes it wonderful and unique. It is a concept needed in today’s world.”

Hiranandani and Sharma will also be on the company’s advisory board.

An increasing number of expert reports have tagged loneliness a serious health issue which puts individuals at a greater risk of dementia and mental decline. "You do not know what it is like to be lonely until you spend time alone wishing for companionship," Tata had said while making the investment.

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