The New York-based investment firm Tiger Global is roaring aloud and investing billions of new dollars in the Indian startup ecosystem. It’s target: unicorns, companies with at least $1 billion in valuation.
The venture capital firm raised $6.65 billion for its 13th fund for investing in Indian unicorns, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
“I will call them ‘Unicorn Machine’ due to the sheer number of Tiger Global-funded startups acquiring the Unicorn status in India,” Pankaj Singh Yatra, co-founder at the online startup Connexdoor, told Zenger News. “No other venture capital firm has poured capital at this scale.”
In the past few years, Tiger Global has invested in edtech startups Byjus, and Vedantu, investment companies like Groww, Upstox, INDWealth, fantasy gaming startups like Dream11 and MyTeam11, among many others. Observers say is unusual to see venture capital investments in competing companies.
A foodtech firm Zomato delivery man is seen riding along the streets of Mumbai. Tiger Global has … [+] invested in late-stage firms, including Zomato, (Photo by Ashish Vaishnav/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
With China’s recent crackdown on its tech companies, global investors are looking to India’s large market for more opportunities.
“India is the target market for Tiger Global, not possibly China or the U.S.,” Sreedhar Prasad, an internet business expert and ex-partner at KPMG, told Zenger. “The reason being that there is a population of 500 million in the country who are not being catered to by the investment companies, so the size of the addressable market in India is bigger than any other country.”
He added, “Tiger Global is investing in more startups to push them into the unicorn club because it is trying to dictate the valuation of more and more Indian startups which would provide them with a terminal position in India’s unicorn ecosystem.”
The firm has also provided funds to startups like the digital insurance startup Plum and online payments startup Bharat Pe. It has invested in seven late-stage firms, including foodtech firm Zomato, networking service ShareChat, home services firm Urban Company, and six growth-stage startups, including Crypto startup CoinSwitch, and social media platform Koo, among others.
“Till date [in 2021], Tiger Global has invested in around 25 Indian startups across segments – fintech, foodtech, social networking companies, edtech, and others. They have participated in new rounds as well existing portfolio startups,” said Connexdoor’s Yatra, who is also a partner at a $12 million fund for fintechs in India called YAN Fund.
“In 2021 [to July], it led double the number of the deals it did in 2020, participating in 15 deals worth $1.74 billion. That is already more than the total amount of agreements it closed in the country in 2020,” he said.
Number of start-ups becoming unicorns in India from 2015 to 2020.
Statista
Some startups have received multiple funding rounds, exponentially increasing their post-money valuation. Earlier this month, Tiger Global provided funds for the second time in six months to Infra.Market, a Mumbai-based construction company. The new funding round increased the startup’s valuation two and a half times to $2.5 billion.
In February, the construction materials procurement portal secured $100 million in an expansion round also headed by Tiger, valuing the company at $1 billion, pushing it into the much-coveted billion-dollar unicorn club.
“These investments help startups expand market reach, drives technology, and product upgrade,” Madhur Singhal, managing partner and chief executive at consulting company Praxis Global Alliance, told Zenger.
“Such investments also provide them a runway to get to scale where profitability can be achieved.”
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.
The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.
The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was little changed in late-morning trading as the financial sector fell, but energy and base metal stocks moved higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 0.05 of a point at 24,224.95.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 94.31 points at 42,417.69. The S&P 500 index was down 10.91 points at 5,781.13, while the Nasdaq composite was down 29.59 points at 18,262.03.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.71 cents US compared with 73.05 cents US on Wednesday.
The November crude oil contract was up US$1.69 at US$74.93 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was up a penny at US$2.67 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$14.70 at US$2,640.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up two cents at US$4.42 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 10, 2024.
