Mumbai 16 August : Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, has made an investment as a seed in the startup “Goodfellows” which is aiming to assist older people by putting them with students who are educated and young for meaningful friendship The startup announced the news on Tuesday.In the past 6 months, “Goodfellows” has completed the beta test successfully and will be accessible in Mumbai and in the near future in Pune, Chennai and Bengaluru.
“The bonds between generations formed by Goodfellows are significant and help to tackle an a critical social issue in India.I hope that the investment will help the team that is just starting out at Goodfellows expand,” said Tata.
In the beta testing phase, Goodfellows received a positive response with more than 800 applications from students seeking employment with Goodfellows of which the shortlisted cohort of 20 was able to provide support for the old in Mumbai.
“In the early stages of the beta phase, we found out how naturally the Grandpals were able to connect with the Goodfellows.Tata’s participation in our venture is a major source of encouragement for our commitment to this idea,” said Shantanu Naidu the co-founder of the company and the General Manager in the office of Ratan Tata.
It is estimated that there are 15 million seniors in India living in isolation due to the loss of an accomplice or family members moving away due to unavoidable reasons for work.
The model for business of Goodfellows is a subscription-based freemium model.
The initial month is absolutely free with only the aim of getting the Grandpal experience.
The following month is an affordable subscription fee which was decided in light of the limited financial capacity of pensioners.
Goodfellows also provides short-term internships and also jobs for graduates who want to secure a job which permits them to utilize their education background in this industry.
“The largest portion of the funds coming from investors are currently focused on expanding the goodfellow human capital which can be a lengthy process because empathy is not vetted in a timely manner or through the traditional recruitment method,” said the startup.
na/svn/
