Tiger Global Management is likely to invest in as many as five SaaS (software-as-a-service) companies in India in May including Locus, a logistics management software company, two people familiar with the development said.
The New York-based hedge fund, one of the early backers of India’s consumer internet sector, has invested in expense management software Fyle, facilities management software startup Facilio, connected workforce platform Innovapptive and mobile marketing startup Clevertap since November.
“They will evaluate SaaS bets at all stages—not just early but even series B and beyond,” said one of the people cited above, both of whom spoke under condition of anonymity. “While a few of them are sub-$20 million cheques, there are 1-2 other SaaS companies Tiger Global is talking to for Series B and C financing.” Queries emailed to Tiger Global Management and Locus remained unanswered till press time.
Tiger Global’s latest fund Tiger Global Private Investment Partners XI of $3.75 billion will focus on consumer internet, cloud computing, industry software and direct-to-consumer companies in India, China and the US.
After closing the fund in October, Tiger Global started giving term sheets to several SaaS companies in India—a departure from its theme in India almost a decade ago, when the hedge fund first backed online retailer Flipkart.
“They had slowed down their investments for several years in India, but now with their new fund, investments in India have picked up pace,” said one of the two persons mentioned above familiar with Tiger Global’s strategy, requesting anonymity. “Now that there are high-quality SaaS companies in India, Tiger is bullish on them.”
Globally, the fund has invested in companies such as China’s Udesk, which is an enterprise platform for intelligent customer service. It has also invested in US-based Green Bits, a company that makes point-of-sale software for cannabis retailers.
“We will see more global investors back Indian SaaS companies as it is emerging as a strong theme over the last 8-12 months,” said Karan Sharma, executive director for technology investment banking at Avendus Capital.
Source: Mint