Tiger Global's pawing at a re-entry in India, all you need to know

New York-based hedge fund Tiger Global Management has made several investments in India recently, mostly in companies in the business-to-business (B2B) space.

The company has re-entered the Indian startup environment after roughly three years. This year it has already participated in a number of funding rounds in both B2C and B2B companies.

In 2015, Tiger Global had participated in over 40 deals in the country, according to a report by YourStory.

The hedge fund is in particular looking at software-as-a-service (SaaS) firms, such as Sirion Labs, according to media reports.

Some of Tiger Global’s recent prominent investments in India include The Viral Fever (TVF), agritech starup Ninjacart, and cloud platform provider Zenoti.

Other marquee investors that have shown interest in Indian startups include SoftBank, Tencent, and Alibaba.

According to Forbes, Tiger Global oversees assets worth$26 billion, and its venture capital arm is its largest unit.

The hedge fund’s first prominent investment in India was Flipkart, a deal which took place about a decade ago. Tiger Global made $3 billion after investing $1 billion in the e-commerce company, according to a Bloomberg report.

After Walmart’s acquisition of Flipkart in May 2018, Tiger Global sold most of its stake in the company.

A media report suggests Flipkart-owned PhonePe is seeking funding from marquee investors such as Tiger Global and Tencent.

Other companies backed by Tiger Global include ride-share company Ola, home rental startup NestAway, and online grocer Grofers.

Tiger Global has been investing in B2B companies on its home turf as well, injecting capital into firms such as Fyle and CleverTap.

Chase Coleman founded Tiger Global in 2001, using a name similar to that of his former workplace.

Prior to establishing his own hedge fund, Coleman worked with legendary investor Julian Robertson’s Tiger Management.