Now, Ratan Tata bets on Crayon Data

Singapore -based big data company Crayon Data has raised an undisclosed amount from Ratan Tata, the chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, in yet another example of the corporate icon’s appetite for startup play.

Singapore -based big data company Crayon Data has raised an undisclosed amount from Ratan Tata, the chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, in yet another example of the corporate icon’s appetite for startup play.

“We are excited and honoured to meet Ratan Tata and have our vision validated by him is an accolade in itself,” said Srikant Sastri, founder, Crayon Data. IIM Calcutta graduates Srikant Sastri and Suresh Shankar co-founded Crayon in 2012 works with enterprises to deliver personalised choices to their customers.

Tata’s portfolio companies vary in terms of the sector and the stage of business they are in, showing his confidence in start-ups irrespective of anything except their performance and business model. He has invested in Ola, Bluestone, Grameen Capital, Xiaomi, Paytm, Zivame, among others. Apart from investing in more than a dozen start-ups, Tata has also committed his time to venture capital firms to identify promising new companies. He serves as an advisor with Kalaari Capital, IDG Ventures and Jungle Ventures that he joined three months ago as a special advisor.

Crayon Data had raised around $10 million in its seed and Series A round from Jungle Ventures and Spring Seeds. It is developing a global consumer taste fabric, which currently maps choice across 15 categories, using complex machine-learning techniques and proprietary cognitive thinking algorithms.
Anurag Srivastava at Jungle Ventures said, “We have always strongly believed in Crayon’s proposition. Srikant and Suresh, with their years of experience in marketing and analytics, have always had a clear vision of the value Crayon can bring to consumer-facing enterprises.”