I was always attracted to young people who had the willingness and the motivation to start something new, Ratan Tata had said in an interaction with Chiratae Ventures chairman Sudhir Sethi at an event in 2017.

But to avoid conflict of interest while heading a global business conglomerate, he could not pursue his interest. That changed when Tata retired as the chairman of the Tata Group in 2012 and in his own words became a “free agent” to support start-ups and back young entrepreneurs with a vision.

Tata made his first major investment in 2014 when he backed e-commerce firm Snapdeal at a time when the start-up landscape in the country was evolving and the e-commerce space was opening up unprecedented growth opportunities in the retail sector.

Snapdeal was among the early Indian unicorns and at its peak in 2016 commanded a valuation of $6.5 billion.

Over time Tata backed more than 40 new age firms, including Ola, Upstox, Lenskart, CarDekho, FirstCry, Paytm, Bluestone, Urban Company, Moglix and Ampere, some of which have gone public. He has also exited some of the start-ups such as Lenskart, Firstcry, Paytm.

His portfolio of investments covered not just e-commerce, but also sectors such as automotive, fintech, retail, healthtech, telecom, aerospace, media among others.

Interestingly, in 2015, Tata had also picked up a small stake in Chinese smartphone major Xiaomi, which was expanding rapidly in India and holds a dominant share in the domestic smartphone market.

But to young entrepreneurs, Tata was not just an investor writing million dollar cheques, he was also a mentor and a guide with his vast knowledge of not just navigating businesses through tough times but building and scaling up. And the impression he left was reflected in several social media posts from start-up founders.

“India has lost one of its greatest titans, a true statesman of industry. Ratan Tata was more than just a business leader — his compassion, humility and kindness inspired millions. His legacy will live on forever. You will be deeply missed, Mr. Tata,” wrote Kunal Bahl, co-founder, Snapdeal.

“Ratan Tata’s wisdom on balancing risk and reward has been a guiding force for us. His humility and insights helped shape CarDekho’s journey. As small town entrepreneurs, his mentorship changed our lives. Forever grateful, RIP Legend,” said Amit Jain, co-founder and CEO, CarDekho.

“Ratan Tata was an embodiment of all the values which India and Indians should strive for — humility, integrity, service before self, trusteeship, excellence, grace, conscious capitalism and love for the nation. In our very first meeting with him back in 2015, he told us, ‘India needs what you are building, keep the quality high and the rest will follow’. We at @urbancompany_UC were fortunate to have him join us subsequently as a shareholder, and derive immense inspiration from his words and the values he stood for. Some men do live on forever. Salute to the greatest Indian I have ever met,” said Abhiraj Singh Bhal, co-founder and CEO of Urban Company.

“RNT for me was the most humbling business leader of India. Future generations of business leaders will miss his generous interactions and kindness. Salutes Sir. You will live in our hearts forever,” said Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder Paytm.

“My relationship with Mr. Tata started in 2008. I was graduating from IIT Bombay and he was the guest speaker at our convocation. I was a young kid but his words that day stayed with me — to serve one’s country,” said Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder and CEO, Ola.

“In 2015, I got the chance to meet Mr. Tata and he decided to invest in Ola. But my interactions with him didn’t end there. They had just begun! He was like no other business leader I have ever met. He took personal interest in my journey. And in every interaction there was grace, humility, curiosity and a world of learning for me. In 2016, I invited him to come to Bengaluru and address my whole company. I thought a person of his stature would politely decline but he actually took a full day out, flew to Bengaluru and spent the entire day with my team and company!”

Aggarwal shared a story on how Tata influenced his passion towards electric vehicles which eventually led to the development of Ola Electric.

“One day in 2017 I got a call from him asking me to come to Mumbai. We flew in his plane to Coimbatore to see his personal project making electric vehicles out of the Tata Nano! He was so passionate and excited about electric vehicles. He drove me in one on a test track and then pointed out such detailed improvements to the engineers. That was the day Ola Electric really got started — as he ignited the passion for EVs and cars in me!” he said.

“The last time I met him was a year ago to share the news of Ola Electric’s IPO and he as usual was gracious and curious. He was frail but his enthusiasm for cars was as high as ever, and his encouragement for us was as strong as ever,” he added.