Meet Ashish Deora, Harvard alumnus who bought Ratan Tata-backed company, at just Rs 90 crore

India has multiple startups and a few of them also become unicorns. However, not all startups thrived even when they were backed by eminent businessmen such as Ratan Tata. But other entrepreneurs seek opportunities in such companies and acquire them. One such company is NestAway Technologies Pvt, a Bengaluru-based online home rental startup, backed by Ratan Tata. It is acquired by Ashish Deora, who founded Aurum Ventures in 1996 at the of just 21. But who is Ashish Deora? 

Ashish Deora is an entrepreneur who currently leads Aurum Ventures as its CEO. He has decades of experience, ranging from mining to telecom. His listed firm Aurum PropTech Ltd. has acquired NestAway, which was valued at around Rs 1,800 crore in 2019, with a big 95% cut at Rs 90 crore. Deora will now invest Rs 30 crore to stabilise NestAway.

He has built businesses in multiple sectors including telecom, aviation, mining, real estate, and PropTech. In 1999, Ashish found IOL Telecom, the first company to develop and sell optic fiber in Mumbai.

He is a proud alumnus of Harvard Business School, wherein he studied Corporate Restructuring, Mergers and Acquisition from 2010-2011. He also completed OPM, Owner President Management Program, from the prestigious college (June 2017- June 2022). He holds a bachelor's degree in Commerce (BCom) from St.Xavier's College, Kolkata. He completed his schooling from Scindia School, Gwalior.

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Apart from being a businessman, Deora is an avid reader. His current favourite is ‘Principles by Ray Dalio’. He likes to learn from each culture on his travel sojourns. Ashish firmly believes that the next decade belongs to the entrepreneurs of India.