Investments

When Tiger Global had to sign a non-compete pact

Madhav Chanchani

August 11, 2021 | 6 Min Read

In the current funding climate where capital is increasingly becoming a commodity and investors want a share of the hottest deals at any price, founders get to dictate the terms. And investors, including the likes of Tiger Global, cave in sometimes, even if that involves breaking some golden rules

Tiger Global Management is known for changing conventions around investment. The most talked about among these is its strategy of backing competing companies. The fund has backed three investment apps (Groww, Upstox and INDWealth), three online education firms (Byju’s, Unacademy and Vedantu), and multiple fintech businesses.

But there are exceptions to every rule.

When Tiger Global recently invested in Mohalla Tech, the owner of social media platform ShareChat and short-video app Moj, the deal stood out for more than the nearly 2x valuation jump to $2.1 billion in just a few months.

Tiger promised Mohalla Tech that it would not back any of its competitors in the Indian short video and social media space, even naming 10 of those specifically, including MX Player, Josh and Roposo.

“This is a very unlikely clause (that Tiger Global would agree to) unless that founder had leverage,” said an investor tracking Tiger Global closely. “You need to have balls to ask this.”

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