Indian unicorn startups in 2021 are far too numerous to mention in a single breath. Twenty-six startups have been valued at over a billion dollars in India in less than eight months since the beginning of the year. The number of unicorn startups in India is 62 in total.
Deepak Bagla, CEO of Invest India, stated that India ranks third in the world in terms of the number of unicorns, second in the number of startups, and first in the number of startups added each day.
Despite the virus puncturing the economies worldwide, the rise of these startups is proof of a big shift from offline to online during the turbulent "Zero Contact" period. An estimated $20 billion has been invested in Indian startups so far this year, which amounts to more than 580 transactions. According to Venture Intelligence, this is more than they did in a single year over the previous three.
According to the city-wise distribution, Bengaluru maintains its position as India's startup capital, the city is home to 31 future unicorns, while Delhi-NCR (18) and Mumbai (13) are in second and third place, respectively.
Meesho, a social commerce platform, has become a unicorn this year, becoming the first of its kind, just like ShareChat, a regional social media network. A total of five e-commerce startups have raised funds with a valuation of over $1 billion, including FirstCry, UrbanCompany, Droom, PharmEasy, and Grofers. GupShup, a service that helps e-commerce companies communicate with customers, is also on the poll.
Following 2021's first unicorn, Digit, many fintech and insurtech startups, including CRED, Zeta, Groww, and BharatPe, made to the list.
Furthermore, CoinDCX became the first unicorn in the cryptocurrency world. The club also welcomed its oldest member this year, lender Five Star Business Finance, which was founded in 1984.
To keep up with demand, newly-minted unicorns such as Moglix and Infra.market expanded their online marketplaces to include everything from cement to drill guns to trucks for goods transportation.Zetwerk, a B2B marketplace for contract manufacturing, has now joined the ranks.
Alongside, SaaS (Software as a Service) providers, who help businesses fill gaps and digitally unify operations. In 2020, only five SaaS startups joined the club after Mu Sigma's unicorn round in 2013. There are four entrants this year: Innovaccer, ChargeBee, BrowserStack, and MindTickle. A trend that is transforming India into a provider of tech products rather than just services.