Is Tiger Global the Santa Claus of India’s startup industry. Well, the resounding answer is ‘yes.’ Tiger Global, which already has deep pugmarks in India’s startup ecosystem, probably unleashed its biggest roar in recent years. Last week, the New York-headquartered hedge fund led three big rounds in Groww, ShareChat and GupShup and subsequently propelled the valuation of these startups beyond $1Bn valuation. Alongside, Tiger Global also participated In Cred’s $225 Mn funding round, which again propelled Kunal Shah’s startup to unicorn valuation.
India witnessed the birth of four unicorns, all in the space of flat 3 to 4 days. This is all thanks to Tiger’s big galloping roar that has certainly put India’s much touted VC industry on the tenterhook. And the hedge fund major is not done yet. According to Entrackr, it is in the last stage of negotiation to lead a $100Mn funding round in social media startup DealShare.
Entrackr, citing the sources, claimed that Tiger Global is likely to value the company at around $400 Mn. There isn’t much clarity whether DealShare’s existing investors will participate or not in the upcoming round. If the deal goes through then this will be second time that DealShare will be raising the funds from international Vcs. Last year, the startup had raised $27 Mn in a series C round led by WaterBridge Capital and Alpha Wave incubation.
DealShare, by the way, won’t be among Tiger Global’s last big investment in India. In fact, the hedge fund major seems to have just touched the half-way mark in its India-focused funding plan for 2021. Reports claim that it has so far finalized 25 deals, out of which 10 deals have already been announced. The remaining 15 deals are expected to announce in the coming months and DealShare is expected to be first amongst these 15 deals.
Tiger’s deep appetite for risk capital is nothing new. The hedge fund giant had invested in Flipkart and Ola way back in 2008 and 2009, at a time when Indian startup was at a very nascent stage. In fact, Chase Coleman’s investment firm must be credited for being a game changer in India’s startup industry. It was only after hedge fund major’s investment in Flipkart and Ola that the skeptical VC industry started taking the Indian startup industry a bit more seriously.
Tiger’s huge propensity for risk capital also comes forth pretty sharply in how it has aggressively invested in rival companies. For instance, In Edtech space Tiger Global Is an investor in Byju’s and Vedantu, both of which are ferocious competitors. Similarly, in Wealth-tech space, it has invested in Groww as well as in its rival Upstox, which reportedly is gearing up for an IPO. And just to top it up, Tiger has taken a similar bet in home security space by investing in competitors MyGate and Nobroker.
For a layman, this investment strategy may look contradictory and puzzling. But anyone with an iota of knowledge about investment will agree that Tiger Global is not chasing the horse but is chasing a race.
To sum it up, Tiger Global has played an anchoring in shaping the fortunate of India’s startup industry.
