Flipkart-backer Tiger Global bulks up for a fresh investment blitzkrieg with $3.8 bn global fund

New York-based alternative investments firm Tiger Global Management has raised a $3.8 billion global fund, dubbed Private Investment Partners XII, a person privy to the development confirmed to TechCircle. The new fund comes at a time when the New York headquartered firm is on a renewed investment run in the Indian early stage market with a specific focus on B2B startups, apart from select bets in the consumer internet sector. 

The closing of the new fund was first reported by the Wall Street Journal last week, citing a letter that the firm had sent to its clients. The fund, the newspaper reported, was oversubscribed with incoming interest touching up to $4 billion.

Tiger Global is yet to file documents with the US Securities and Exchange Commission with respect to the new fund.

The latest fund size is similar to the Private Investment Partners XI that the firm had raised in 2018, also exceeding its target corpus of $3 billion.

Earlier today, The Times of India, citing sources reported that India would be one of three key geographies for investment from the new fund. China and the US are the other two focus markets, the report said.

Continuing from the last two years, the firm opened the current year in India on a strong note in terms of new investments. Early this month, it put $200 million to work in Bengaluru-based edtech company Byju’s and joined London-based hedge fund Steadview Capital in a $39 million round in logistics automation platform Loginext. It is reportedly in talks to lead the next round of investments in gaming unicorn Dream11 and news curation platform Inshorts.

Last year, the firm invested $90 million in Ninjacart, Ola Electric and Moglix, among others. The company did a total of 29 deals in 2019, a mix of new and follow-on investments. 

After its exit from Flipkart (which was acquired by Walmart), the firm’s pace of dealmaking has quickened while its portfolio has diversified. In an effort to amplify its India exposure, the firm has shed its consumer-centric focus to make bets on India’s burgeoning B2B market.

The development comes at a time when other global funds are looking to change their investment strategy in India. Post the WeWork debacle and setback from Uber, SoftBank has reportedly been asking its portfolio companies to focus on sustainability.

In the past few months, SoftBank-backed OYO, Ola and Paytm have been laying off employees to sustain their businesses. The Japanese conglomerate has reportedly put some of its announced investments on hold for over six months now.