The Indian startup ecosystem is growing the fastest globally, with 92 unicorn startup by 2022. Creating a unicorn startups is not as easy as it used to be however, it is not unheard of in today world. This article highlight startup that have climbed the unicorn ladder with hard works, perseverance, and commitment.
Unicorn Startup is made up of the word Unicorn & Startup. The terms unicorn refer to a startup valued at more than a billion dollar, and Aileen Lee, an investor & venture capitalist, coined the term. On the others hand, a new company is a private company that is still in its infancy.
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Unicorn Startups In India
A unicorn is a startup valued at $1 billions or more in the venture capitals industry. In a recent interviews, Lee stated that Cowboy Ventures founder Aileen Lee coined the term to describe the 39 startup valued at more than $1 billion. To emphasize the rarity of such startup, she was initially using the time. Today, unicorn startup still meet the exact definition. However, the number of unicorn startup has increased.
1. Flipkart Unicorn Startup
Being the most favored e commerce market place in India, Flipkart does not needs a simple introductions because Big Billion Day is one of the most wanted online event which is admired by million of Indian. Flipkart was among the first Indian unicorn to achieve unicorn valuation during the 2011 to 2012 era after inMobi which was the first Indian unicorns. With over 350 million user & over 150 million product, spread across 80+ categories, Flipkart is a home for the Indian masses.
This e commerce giant was acquired by Walmart in 2018 for a whopping $16 billion, which helped it scale quickly and easily. The company founded by Sachin Bansal & Binny Bansal is currently valued at over $37.6 billion and is the most valuable Indian company as of 2022.
| Startup Name | Flipkart |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Bengaluru, Karnataka, India |
| Industry | Marketplace, Ecommerce |
| Founders | Binny Bansal, Sachin Bansal |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Investors | Walmart, Tencent, Softbank and more |
| Products and Services | Ecommerce marketplace that offers over 150 million products |
| Valuation | $37.6 billion (July 2021) |
2. BharatPe Unicorn Startup
BharatPe is an Indian digital payment app, merchant aggregator & payment platform that encourages digital payment through QR & POS. It is not a governments company but a limited liability company that goes by the name of Resilient Innovation Private Limited. Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the company tripled its valuation to $2.85 billion & joined the unicorns club on August 4, 2021.
BharatPe co founder Ashneer Grover was recently involved in a phone controversy in which he allegedly abused a Kotak employee. Grover was also infamously featured on various social media & news platform multiple time due to his rash behavior and forceful comments from him in which he also said naukri dhoond to one of his fellow pitcher.
In addition, he is also lately associated with a financial frauds related to BharatPe along with his wife Madhuri and five other, the investigation of which is ongoing, according to report on January 29, 2022. Ashneer is currently observing a mandatory leave of absence, as was mentioned. lastly by the company & its Board of Directors. Grover may not get his place back and is likely to be fired, sources close to the matter said.
| Startup Name | Bharatpe |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | New Delhi, India |
| Industry | Fintech, Financial Services, Payments platform |
| Founders | Ashneer Grover, Bhavik Koladiya, Shashvat Nakrani |
| Founded | 2018 |
| Investors | Steadfast Capital, Coatue, Dragoneer, Sequoia |
| Products and Services | Payments App |
| Valuation | $2.85 billion (February 2022) |
3. Dream11 Unicorn Startup
Dream11 is an Indian fantasy sports platform, offering a host of sport including but not limited to cricket, football, hockey, volleyball, handball, futsal & rugby, for Indian sport fans to delve into their games. favourites. A local sport platform, Dream 11, aim to help Indian sport enthusiasts expand & showcase their boastful sports knowledge.
In early April 2019, Dream11 raised $60 million worth of funding from Steadview Capital and other and joined the unicorn league of Indian startup. Dream11’s latest valuation was recorded at $8 billions, after the company completed an $840 million investment in November 2021.
| Startup Name | Dream11 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Maharashtra, Mumbai, India |
| Industry | Fantasy Sports, IT |
| Founders | Bhavit Sheth, Harsh Jain |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Investors | Steadview Capital, Tencent, Tiger Global Management, Falcon Edge |
| Products and Services | Dream11 sports platform |
| Valuation | $8 billion (November 2021) |
4. PhonePe Unicorn Startup
PhonePe is a digital payment and merchant aggregation platform that has already made a great contribution to making digital payment seamless, fast & easy for Indian customer and merchant. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Andheri, Maharashtra, India, the company has the largest market share among UPI application. The company showed huge growth potential & already achieved unicorn status before 2020. The company was acquired by Flipkart in April 2016 and has seen considerable growth since then.
| Startup Name | PhonePe |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Andheri, Maharashtra, India |
| Industry | Fintech, Mobile Payments |
| Founders | Burzin Engineer, Rahul Chari, Sameer Nigam |
| Founded | 2015 |
| Investors | Flipkart, Walmart |
| Products and Services | Phonepe payments app |
| Valuation | $5.5 billion (December 2020) |
5. Udaan Unicorn Startup
Udaan is a B2B e commerce platforms that provide a wholesale products solutions to different vendor across all categories. It was founded by Sujeet Kumar, Amod Malviya and Vaibhav Gupta in 2016. Udaan is a Business to Business (B2B) business market place that work to connect retailer, wholesaler, traders & manufacturers using technology as the main tool. Udaan became a startup unicorn in 2018, just after 2 year & 2 months since it was released in 2016. Thus, it is the first startup to be called the fastest unicorn.
| Startup Name | Udaan |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | India |
| Industry | E-commerce, Supply chain management, B2B |
| Founder | Sujeet Kumar, Amod Malviya, and Vaibhav Gupta |
| Founded | 2016 |
| Investors | Tencent Holdings, Altimeter Capital, Octahedron Capital, Moonstone Capital, DST Global |
| Products and Services | B2B trade platform |
| Valuation | $3.1 billion (Jan 2021) |
Conclusion
The unicorn has come a long way from mythological creature to becoming a prominent part of business & financial discussion.
As the Indian startups ecosystem expand, we hear more and more about unicorn. A unicorn startup focus has shifted from chasing billion dollar valuation to meeting the need of its customer & generating revenue.
