Unicorn startups in India: Things you didn't know you didn't know
We have encountered this term repeatedly "Unicorn startups”. The term is employed when any privately held startup net valuation reaches $1million. A venture entrepreneur Aileen Lee first used the term in 2013.
India has about 50,000 startups in 2018; around 8,900 – 9,300 of those are technology-led startups 1300 new tech startups were born in 2019 alone implying there are 2-3 tech startups born a day. Out of which India is a home for around 36-unicorn startup and it's predicted that India will welcome 75-100 new startups by the top of 2025.
Paytm is India's highest-valued unicorn followed by OYO Rooms. Ola is the youngest Indian unicorn started in 2017. The typical age of becoming a unicorn is of 7 years. Almost 60% of the unicorns took less than 5 years from first funding to unicorn status. Quite 75% of them did it within 7.5 years – meaning larger companies are being built faster in India than ever before.
Of the 61 unicorns founded by Indians, a massive two-thirds are based outside of India, predominantly Silicon Valley in the USA, whilst only 21 are based in India, Hurun Report chairman, and chief researcher Rupert Hoogewerf said on 4th August 2020.
List of unicorn startups:
|
No |
Company |
Sector |
Valuation ($B) |
Entry |
Location |
Select Investors |
|
1 |
RazorPay |
Payments (B2B) |
1 |
2020 |
Bangalore |
Matrix Partners India, Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital India, DST Global |
|
2 |
Unacademy |
Edtech |
1.5 |
2020 |
Bangalore |
Blume Ventures, Nexus Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital India, SAIF, General Atlantic, SoftBank |
|
3 |
Postman |
SaaS - API Development & Testing |
2 |
2020 |
Bangalore/San Francisco |
Nexus Ventures, Charles River Ventures, Insight Venture Partners |
|
4 |
Nykaa |
E-Commerce |
1.2 |
2020 |
Mumbai |
Techpro Ventures, TVS Capital, Sharrp Ventures, TPG Growth |
|
5 |
Pine Labs |
Payments |
1.5 |
2020 |
Noida |
Sequoia Capital India, New Atlantic Ventures, Altimeter Capital, Temasek, Mastercard |
|
6 |
Lenskart |
Eyewear |
1.5 |
2019 |
Bangalore |
SoftBank Corp, Kedaara Capital, TPG, Chiratae Ventures, TR Capital |
|
7 |
Ola Electric |
Mobility |
1.1 |
2019 |
Bangalore |
SoftBank Corp, Tiger Global, Matrix Partners |
|
8 |
Citius Tech |
IT - Healthcare |
1 |
2019 |
Mumbai/Princeton |
General Atlantic, Baring Asia |
|
9 |
Icertis |
Contract Management |
1 |
2019 |
Pune/Bellevue |
Eight Roads, B Capital, PremjiInvest |
|
10 |
Druva Software |
Data Management |
1 |
2019 |
Pune/Sunnyvale |
WestBridge, Nexus Ventures, Sequoia Capital |
|
11 |
Rivigo |
Trucking Services |
1 |
2019 |
Gurgaon |
SAIF, Warburg Pincus |
|
12 |
BigBasket |
Groceries |
1.2 |
2019 |
Bangalore |
Ascent Capital, Helion Ventures, Bessemer, IFC, Alibaba |
|
13 |
Dream11 |
Gaming |
2.5 |
2019 |
Mumbai |
Kalaari Capital, Tencent, Multiples PE, Steadview |
|
14 |
Delhivery |
Logistics Services |
1.6 |
2019 |
Gurgaon |
Nexus Ventures, Multiples PE, Tiger Global, Carlyle, SoftBank Corp, Fosun Group |
|
15 |
BillDesk |
Payments (B2B) |
1.5 |
2018 |
Mumbai |
SIDBI VC, TA Associates, General Atlantic |
|
16 |
Freshworks |
SaaS - CRM |
3.5 |
2018 |
Chennai/San Mateo |
Accel, Tiger Global, Google, Sequoia Capital |
|
17 |
Udaan |
E-Commerce (B2B) |
2.8 |
2018 |
Bangalore |
Lightspeed Ventures, DST Global, Tencent |
|
18 |
Oyo Rooms |
Budget Hotels |
10 |
2018 |
Gurgaon |
Lightspeed Ventures, Sequoia Capital, SoftBank |
|
19 |
PolicyBazaar |
Insurance Tech |
1 |
2018 |
Gurgaon |
Info Edge, Intel, Inventus Capital, Tiger Global, SoftBank, Tencent |
|
20 |
Swiggy |
Foodtech |
3.6 |
2018 |
Bangalore |
Accel, SAIF, Norwest, Naspers, Tencent |
|
21 |
Paytm Mall |
E-Commerce |
3 |
2018 |
Noida |
SAIF, Alibaba, SoftBank, eBay |
|
22 |
Byjus Classes |
Edtech |
10.8 |
2018 |
Bangalore |
Aarin Capital, Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Ventures, Tencent, General Atlantic, Tiger Global |
|
23 |
Shopclues* |
E-Commerce |
1.1 |
2016 |
Gurgaon |
Nexus Ventures, Helion Ventures, Beenos, Tiger Global, Others |
|
24 |
Hike |
Messaging |
1.4 |
2016 |
Delhi |
Tiger Global, Tencent, Foxconn |
|
25 |
Zomato |
Foodtech |
3.6 |
2015 |
Gurgaon |
Info Edge, Sequoia Capital, Vy Capital, Alibaba |
|
26 |
Quikr* |
Classifieds |
1.6 |
2015 |
Bangalore |
Matrix Partners, Omidyar Network, Norwest, Kinnevik |
|
27 |
Paytm |
Payments |
16 |
2015 |
Noida |
Saama Capital, SAIF, Alibaba, Berkshire Hathway |
|
28 |
Ola |
Ride Hailing |
6.4 |
2015 |
Bangalore |
Tiger Global, Matrix Partners, Steadview, SoftBank, Tencent |
|
29 |
Snapdeal* |
E-Commerce |
6.5 |
2014 |
Delhi |
Kalaari Capital, Nexus Ventures, Bessemer, SoftBank, Alibaba |
|
30 |
Flipkart* |
E-Commerce |
21 |
2012 |
Bangalore |
Accel, Tiger Global, Naspers, SoftBank, Tencent |
|
31 |
Mu Sigma |
Analytics |
1.5 |
2013 |
Bangalore |
Accel, Sequoia Capital, General Atlantic |
|
32 |
InMobi |
Mobile Ads |
1 |
2011 |
Bangalore |
KPCB, Sherpalo Ventures, SoftBan |
Earlier according to a report, men founded almost all the unicorn startups but the ratio changed in 2019, and the female-founded unicorn startups increased in numbers. There are around 205 unicorn startups in the United States and 101 in China followed by the United Kingdom and India. There's a reason they are called unicorns. India is home to over 39K startups (2018 data) but only a couple has managed to succeed in the billion-dollar valuation mark. If we are speaking percentages, less than 1% of the ecosystem has entered the hallowed unicorn club.
