Grapevine: Tiger Global exits Freshworks; Cred's Shah taps GIC for new NBFC

By Shubhobrota Dev Roy

  • 01 May 2023
Credit: 123RF.com

Tiger Global, one of the most active venture capital backers in India over the past decade, has made its second biggest exit from India after Flipkart, The Arc reported.  

The New York-based multi-asset investment firm has sold its entire 23% stake in Freshworks, since the Nasdaq-listed software-as-a-service (SaaS) company went public in 2021, as per filings.  

The share sales have fetched Tiger Global $1-1.5 billion, The Arc added, citing a source.  

In 2011, Tiger Global had first backed Freshworks by leading a Series B round of funding.  

Fintech firm Cred’s founder Kunal Shah is in talks with multiple investors, including Singapore’s GIC to raise up to $70 million for his floated non-banking financial company Newtap Technologies, The Arc reported.  

Newtap seeks to raise the new funding at a valuation of $250-300 million. It owns Parfait Finance & Investments, a 28-year-old NBFC it acquired in 2021.   

Cred is focusing on improving monetisation from its existing users as its losses accumulated to over Rs 1,279.6 crore in the last financial year (FY22), founder Kunal Shah had told VCCircle in an interaction.

Food delivery unicorn Swiggy is in early discussions to raise close to $300 million via an internal funding round as it gears up for an initial public offering (IPO),  Entrackr reported, citing two people aware of the matter.

SoftBank, Prosus and Alpha Wave are among the other existing backers who are looking to infuse capital into Swiggy.

Sources further said that the new round could be a downround with the valuation potentially being slashed to the tune of 30%.

Swiggy was valued at around $10.7 billion in its last fundraise in January 2022. Invesco, the lead investor in the round, slashed the firm’s valuation by 25.2% to $8 billion in March this year.