Another day, another unicorn raising additional capital…and another company attaining unicorn status.
According to CBInsights reports, another 10 or so unicorns — private companies with valuations of at least $1 billion — were created in just the last week alone.
Altogether, there are now close to 920 unicorns, according to CBInsights’ count and press releases from companies that have recently attained this status but have not yet been tallied by the data firm.
Not surprisingly, Tiger Global Management led or participated in investment rounds of no fewer than four companies in the last week that catapulted those businesses to unicorn status. (Of course, given the large number of companies that are now members of this once vaunted club, it’s fair to ask whether or not the club is still that prestigious.)
The large and growing number of unicorns is the result of several developments, including the huge sums of capital raised in recent years by venture capital firms, as well as the number of relatively mature companies that have chosen to remain private rather than go public, in part due to the ease of raising money for additional financing rounds.
Tiger Global, of course, is the investment firm founded by Tiger Cub Chase Coleman. It is known mostly for its hedge funds, but these days, its private equity business headed by partner Scott Shleifer accounts for two-thirds of the firm’s $95 billion in assets. This year alone, according to Crunchbase, the firm has already made more than 310 private investments.
One of the four companies that Tiger Global helped raise to unicorn status last week was Spinny, an Indian-based platform for buying and selling used cars. According to a TechCrunch report, Tiger Global and the Abu Dhabi Growth Fund co-led a more than $280 million Series E financing round. Citing a source, the report added that the financing valued Spinny at more than $1.75 billion.
This was Spinny’s third financing round this year. According to TechCrunch, the company was valued at about $700 million in July, after it raised more than $100 million in a Series D round led by Tiger Global.
Also last week, Vercel announced that it had raised $150 million in a Series D funding round from a slew of investors, including Tiger Global. The company, which describes itself as a platform that enables users to develop, preview and ship Jamstack websites, said it is now valued at $2.5 billion. The financing seemingly lifted Vercel into unicorn territory, given that it was not previously included in CBInsights’ list of unicorns.
According to a press release, the company raised $102 million in a Series C funding round back in June. Tiger Global, which had previously invested in the company, participated in the financing round.
In yet another Tiger Global deal last week, the investment firm co-led a $210 million Series E financing of India-based NoBroker, according to TechCrunch, which cited an interview with the company.
Tiger Global, a previous investor, was joined by General Atlantic and Moore Strategic Ventures, which also co-led the financing for the real estate platform. According to the report, the fund-raise valued the company at $1 billion, up from roughly $350 million in April 2020.
Also last week, Tiger Global led the $250 million Series E funding round for Deliverr, an e-commerce fulfillment and technology company. According to Deliverr, the company provides services for many of the largest e-commerce merchants, including Shopify, Walmart, Amazon, eBay, and Target. This was Tiger Global’s first investment in the company.
Tiger Cub Coatue Management, an existing investor, was one among other investors in the most recent round. According to the company, the financing round lifted Deliverr’s valuation to $2 billion, more than double the last funding round from earlier this year, thus elevating it to unicorn status.