Tata Industries is set to hive some of its significant startup businesses such as Tata Cliq, Tata Cliq Luxury, Tata CLIQ Palette and Tata Health off to Tata Digital in the next two weeks as part of a move to consolidate scalable ecommerce entities under one roof, said people aware of the matter.
The development comes amid a larger group consolidation strategy led by its principal investment holding company, Tata Sons, which has been merging similar businesses housed in various Tata group companies to tap synergies, cut costs and focus on building scale and competitive edge.
Tata Industries did not comment on the matter.
“Capital allocation efficiency and scale are the focus here,” an executive close to the development told ET on condition of anonymity. “Smaller businesses need to scale up to be profitable and those that can are being housed in entities that can do so. Tata Cliq and Tata Health are all businesses that will scale under Tata Neu and the kind of capital allocation they need to scale up.”
Tata Health will be integrated into Tata Digital’s medical ecommerce business, 1mg, said the executive.
Tata Industries is an investment holding company and has incubated and promoted new business ventures. It has Tata Cliq, Tata Health, Inzpera Life Sciences, Flisom Solar Modules, Tata Strategic Management Group, Tata IQ, Tata Class Edge and Studi under its wing. In recent months, some of the startups incubated under it have been moved to companies that offer synergy.
In November 2021, Tata Consumer Products acquired Tata SmartFoodz from Tata Industries Limited while Tata Advanced Materials was moved into Tata Aerospace. Employees in all these startups have been shifted and moved into various group businesses according to their experience and skills, said insiders.
Tata Industries has incubated ventures in several sectors, including control systems, information technology, financial services, auto components, aerospace and defence, telecom hardware and telecommunication services. Executive director KRS Jamwal has been responsible for the incubation of new ventures, as well as investments made by Tata Industries in new businesses and startups.
At present, Tata Cliq is run by Tata UniStore, which is jointly owned by Tata Industries and the group’s lifestyle retail venture, Trent. Tata Cliq has exited the consumer electronics category, which formed 50-55% of its business, and its consumer electronics, smartphones and appliances division has been integrated with Croma, Tatas’ flagship consumer electronics retail chain.
Tata Sons has been integrating and onboarding several brands on Tata Neu, its digital app launched officially in April. The app offers consumers access to brands such as BigBasket, 1mg, Tata CLiQ, Croma and Indian Hotels Company Limited.
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