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Tiger Global’s risky billion-dollar investments in global tech startups - Rest of World

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The fast-money pandemic era helped build billion-dollar startups around the world — then brought many down just as quickly. Will the AI boom be a repeat? T he Covid-19-era bubble had not yet burst when the CEO sat down to write an email, hoping to woo Tiger Global. It was early on in the pandemic, and he was running one of India’s buzziest startups: a tech unicorn that, like so many around the world, had been suddenly flooded with venture capital. “Everybody saw that we were a hot company,” he said, requesting to go by the pseudonym John. Like other sources in this story, he spoke with Rest of World on the condition that he and his company name remain anonymous to discuss private negotiations. At the time, India’s startup market was booming. The pandemic lockdowns had thrust life online, and a crackdown on Big Tech in China had investors increasingly looking to other countries for opportunity. In 2019, venture firms poured a record-setting $10 billion into Indian startups. By 2021, tha

Nicolas Ortega for Rest of World By Issie Lapowsky Illustration by Nicolas Ortega 16 December 2025 T he Covid-19-era bubble had not yet burst when the CEO sat down to write an email, hoping to woo Tiger Global. It was early on in the pandemic, and he was running one of India’s buzziest startups: a tech unicorn that, like so many around the world, had been suddenly flooded with venture capital. “Everybody saw that we were a hot company,” he said, requesting to go by the pseudonym John. Like other sources in this story, he spoke with Rest of World on the condition that he and his company name re

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