Content discovery and distribution platform InShorts is reportedly in advanced talks with its existing investor Tiger Global Management to raise about ₹96 crore in a new funding round. This was first reported by Economic Times, citing two people familiar with the development.
Tiger Global Management, which was one of the most active investors in the Indian startup ecosystem, has not made any investment in almost two years. If this deal goes through, it will mark the return of Tiger Global in India.
In order to attract investors, InShorts has began monetising via advertisements and brand-integrated content. Last year, the startup also entered into a partnership with over 30 content publishers and five ecommerce players for branded content, including Zomato, BookMyShow and CarDekho, among others.
It is believed that Tiger Global Management had decided to stop making any new investments in the Indian startups as the venture capital firm was getting returns as it had expected, and the valuation of most startups were not realistic.
One of the biggest bet of Tiger Global Management was Flipkart, in which it was the majority shareholder. Flipkart’s valuation was marked down numerous times by its investors — from $15.2 billion to $5.5 billion. Although, its valuation has now been increased.
With SoftBank investing a massive ₹16,000 crore in Flipkart in a new funding round, Tiger Global Management is taking a partial exit from the company. This could be the reason that the VC firm is now again ready to invest in startups in India.