The transaction comes at a time when India’s streaming and digital content ecosystem is operating under tighter economics, with platforms becoming more selective about commissioning original programming.
Tiger Global Management has exited The Viral Fever (TVF), selling its stake in the digital entertainment company at a valuation of about $22 million, sharply below the startup’s peak valuation of around $82 million in 2019, according to a Mint report.
The private equity investor sold a stake of up to 40% to a group of investors including Lighthouse India Fund-I, Frontier Globecap Ventures and LC Nueva Advisors LLP, the report said, citing people familiar with the transaction.
The deal brings the curtain down on Tiger Global’s decade-long association with TVF, the studio behind popular shows including Panchayat, Kota Factory, Aspirants and Gullak.
Tiger Global first invested around $10 million in TVF’s parent company, Contagious Online Media Network, in 2016, picking up a significant minority stake. It subsequently put more money into the company through 2019. TVF was valued at around $61 million in February 2016 before climbing to roughly $82 million by 2019.
The latest transaction therefore values the company at nearly a quarter of its 2019 peak.
TVF and Lighthouse Canton declined to comment on the transaction, while queries sent to Tiger Global did not receive a response, according to the report.
The transaction comes at a time when India’s streaming and digital content ecosystem is operating under tighter economics, with platforms becoming more selective about commissioning original programming.
After years of aggressive spending to build subscriber bases and content libraries, major streaming platforms have increasingly focused on profitability and returns on content investments. This has resulted in slower commissioning cycles and greater competition among production houses for a narrower pool of original-content budgets.
Studios such as TVF, which expanded by creating and licensing shows to streaming services, have consequently had to navigate a more cautious buying environment.
The company, however, continues to own some of the most recognisable franchises to emerge from India’s digital entertainment boom. Its shows have travelled beyond its original YouTube audience, with titles such as Panchayat and Kota Factory becoming established streaming properties.
The ownership change also coincides with management and creative churn at TVF.
The company recently announced three senior appointments across its creative and corporate functions. At the same time, Shreyansh Pandey, head of TVF Originals, is leaving after an 11-year stint to launch an independent venture.
Pandey has been associated with several of TVF’s prominent shows, including Kota Factory, Aspirants, Gullak and Cubicles.
Revenue rises, profitability moderates
TVF has significantly expanded its topline over the past few years even as profitability has fluctuated.
Its revenue increased from ₹34.3 crore in FY21 to ₹182.4 crore in FY25, according to data from Tracxn. Net profit touched ₹68.3 crore in FY22 before declining to ₹13 crore in FY25. Its five-year compound annual growth rate stood at 17%.
TVF last raised an equity funding round in 2019, when investors including Tiger Global, BlackSoil, StartX, Venture Highway and Naseba participated in its Series D round. It subsequently raised venture debt from BlackSoil in 2021.
The company was founded in 2012 by Arunabh Kumar and emerged as one of the earliest digital-first entertainment brands in India.
It initially built its audience through comedy sketches and parodies on YouTube, becoming part of a wave of online comedy companies that included AIB and East India Comedy. Its popularity among young internet audiences subsequently allowed TVF to expand into long-form web series and build its own streaming platform, TVF Play.
Its YouTube channel now has more than six million subscribers.
The company later shifted increasingly towards producing shows for large streaming services, creating franchises across comedy, drama and youth-focused entertainment.
Tiger Global’s exit, at a substantially lower valuation than TVF commanded during the peak of India’s early streaming boom, underscores how investor expectations around digital content businesses have changed as the sector moves from rapid expansion towards tighter cost and profitability discipline.
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First Published on August 13, 2026, 09:56:58 IST
