Tiger Global closes $3.8 Bn fund, to continue betting on tech startups in India

US-based hedge fund Tiger Global, one of the most aggressive backers of startups in India, has closed a $3.8 billion mega global fund.

The new fund will be used to continue its investment spree in tech startups in India along with two leading startup geographies - China and the US.

The strategy for the new fund is similar to the previous funds: to continue investing in tech startups, said a TOI report quoting sources.

Apart from continuing its aggressive deal-making activities, Tiger is also in talks to lead the next round of investments in Dream11 and Inshorts, added the report.

The development comes at a time when larger funds are tweaking their investment strategy in India.

After facing a setback from its two most coveted investments in recent times – Uber and WeWork – Softbank has been asking its portfolio firms to focus on sustainability as it faces hardship in raising the next fund.

In the last few months, OYO, Ola and Paytm have been laying off employees to sustain their business. Softbank has put some of its announced investments on hold for over six months despite getting a green signal from its Indian and global team.

However, investors still believe that startups with clear revenue plans in place would continue to get investments.

Meanwhile, Tiger, which took three years to break in 2015, made a come back at the end of 2018 with investments in Facilio, an Internet of Things (IoT) based platform, after closing global fund $3.75 billion.

After that, it poured capital in several startups including Clevertap, Ninjacart, Moglix, Fyle, Open Financial, OkCredit, Locus and others.

The second coming of Tiger was majorly dominated by B2B bets. It kept investing in consumer space as well.

In 2019 alone, Tiger backed close to two dozens startups.

Earlier, Tiger, during its first stint as an investor, it backed several consumer-centric platforms including Flipkart, Ola, ShopClues and Hike.

The shift in focus for Tiger came after its head of private investment Lee Fixel's departure in March last year. Under Scott Shleifer, Tiger has continued to keep its aggressiveness alive when it comes to betting on startups.