Cyrus Mistry announces new global PE venture that will focus on startups

Cyrus and his brother Shapoor, who own 50% stake each in the family-held Shapoorji Pallonji (SP) Group, will be the joint promoters of the new venture

Cyrus Mistry, the former chairman of Tata Group, Wednesday announced the formation of a private equity venture Mistry Ventures LLP.

Mistry, 50, made the announcement on the second anniversary of his ouster from the Tata Group.

Mistry Ventures LLP will "provide strategic insights and advice to businesses, incubate new ventures and provide seed, early stage and growth capital to startups in India and globally," the company said in a statement.

Mistry Ventures will bring in Ashish Iyer, Senior Partner and previously Global Leader, Strategy Practice at the Boston Consulting Group to lead the firm.

Mistry took over as Chairman of Tata Sons - the holding company of salt-to-software conglomerate - in 2012 but was ousted in a boardroom coup on October 24, 2016.

 

Since his ouster, Mistry has taken Tatas to courts over his sacking, and governance and ethics issues.

Cyrus and his brother Shapoor, who own 50 per cent stake each in the family-held Shapoorji Pallonji (SP) Group, will be the joint promoters of the new venture.

"Ashish has worked with companies across sectors globally and brings deep expertise across domains and capabilities such as strategy, go-to-market, digital, innovation amongst others and I am very excited to have him on board," said Cyrus Mistry.

Outlining his vision for Mistry Ventures, he said: "The intent to deliver profit with positive social impact will be embedded in each of the ventures we promote or partner with".

"Mistry Ventures will do more than just invest in companies. By interpreting some of the major global and local trends and understanding their impact on industries and companies, we will incubate new businesses, forge partnerships and make investments across sectors. Mistry Ventures will focus on providing mentorship and infusing unique capability sets to help startups craft the appropriate business experiments needed to validate, scale and bring products and services faster to market," he added.

Shapoorji Pallonji Group is a globally diversified conglomerate with a history of over 150 years, operating in the engineering and construction, infrastructure, real estate, water, energy and financial services sectors with a presence in over 60 countries globally.