New York based VC giant Tiger Global Management is in advanced talks to lead a $10-15-million of funding in its portfolio company Inshorts, according to two people familiar with the matter. Inshorts is a news media startup that offers quick and rapid news to smartphone millennials, bringing all the important news in mere 60 words.
If the Inshorts deal does go through, it will mark Tiger Global’s much awaited comeback into Indian startup ecosystem. It has been well over a year now since the VC giant has made any major investment in any Indian startup. Interestingly, Tiger Global’s much awaited comeback is most likely to coincide with its expected partial exit from Flipkart. However, it is not clear whether both these developments are linked in anyway.
According to reports, Tiger Global renewed its interest in Inshorts after the startup reported some positive numbers, including increased ad revenues and brand-integrated contents. A private investor, on the condition of anonymity, claimed that increased data penetration and entry of Reliance Jio may have also helped in renewing Tiger Global’s interest in the news content space.
In 2015, Tiger Global’s private investment head, Lee Fixel, was reported to have told fellow entrepreneurs that he won’t invest in any of the portfolio companies unless it attracts new investors. Not surprisingly, the New York based VC giant has been largely absent from the Indian startup scene ever since. Its absence heaped miseries on all its portfolio companies, including big portfolio companies like Flipkart & Ola, whose valuation nosedived owing to lack of funds.