India clocks 28 unicorns in Jan-Sept

Bengaluru: India has added the maximum number of unicorns in the first nine months of 2021 with 28 startups turning into unicorns during this period of time, a Nasscom report said on Tuesday. The total number of unicorns in the country now reached to 66 from 38 in 2020. Unicorns are those companies with a valuation of $1billion or more. Among these unicorns, India is currently home to three decacorns, companies with valuation of over $10 billion – Byjus, Paytm and Flipkart, the report said.

"The 66 unicorns in India have a total of revenue of over $15 billion, while they employee over 3.3 lakh people. Out of these, seven unicorns have employee count of over 10,000 each. Cumulatively, these companies have raised over $51 billion in funding over their lifetime, with 18 per cent of them have raised over $1 billion each," the industry body said in the report. Bengaluru has the maximum number of unicorns with one-third of countrys unicorns headquartered in the southern city, followed by Delhi- National Capital Region with 20 per cent.

"About 90 per cent of startups turned unicorns in 10 or less number of years from their year of incorporation out of which 70 per cent turned unicorns in less than 5 years," the report said.

The Nasscom report said e-commerce, SaaS (Software as a Service) and fintech firms account for more than 60 per cent of the total unicorns in the country. These sectors also account for 60 per cent of the total cumulative funding. Apart from ecommerce, SaaS and fintech firms, companies operating in edtech and logistics space are the next in terms of number of unicorns.

In terms of the customers they serve, business-to-business (B2B) firms account for 50 per cent of unicorns, while 24 per cent are business-to- consumer (B2C). 16 per cent of unicorns serve both B2B and B2C, said the report.

In the annual report for 2020, Nasscom had said that 12 unicorns were added in 2020 with addition of 1,600 new tech start-ups.

"The Indian tech start-up base is witnessing a steady growth at a scale of 8-10 per cent year-on-year growth. Covid-19 has accelerated digital adoption and the shift to online in the country. This has created new opportunities for tech start-ups that are capitalising on this opportunity," Nasscom had said.

While India had added 12 unicorns last year, already 28 unicorns have been added in the first nine months of this year.

If the current pace is maintained, the country is likely to double the number of companies with unicorn tag in 2021.