Sanjiv Puri, the Chairman of ITC, revealed that the conglomerate has joined forces with around 45 startups. This collaboration aims to foster agility and cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset among employees, especially during a period when small businesses are progressively causing disruptions in larger enterprises.
The conglomerate, which spans industries from cigarettes to hotels, is actively collaborating with startups across various sectors including consumer goods, social commerce, content production, distribution, packaging, and agritech solutions. Sanjiv Puri, who serves as both the Managing Director and Chairman of ITC, highlighted this diversified engagement.
“As an organisation, the focus is on how do we remain consumer centric and resilient; how do we dial up on the digital journey and press the accelerator on purposeful innovation,” Puri said.
“All these multidimensional initiatives come together to make the organisation agile and nimble, paving the way for sustained growth,” he added.
The Chairman of ITC mentioned that the company has made investments in startups both directly and through venture capital funds.
“The idea is to look at new-age opportunities in an integrated manner and not in isolation,” he said.
Up until now, ITC’s direct investments have included startups like YogaBar in the realm of healthy food, Mothers Sparsh, a company focusing on baby and maternal care products, and Mylo, a content-community-commerce platform catering to baby and maternal care.
Furthermore, the conglomerate has extended its investments to encompass funds dedicated to startups, including Fireside Ventures and Chiratae Ventures. In addition, ITC is engaged in collaborations with startups spanning various domains. To illustrate, it has joined forces with logistics company Shadowfax to enhance its e-store deliveries and has formed a partnership with Zepto to bolster its online quick-commerce sales efforts.
