India's future unicorns are worth $36 billion

Mumbai: INDIA's future Unicorns are worth $36bn, equivalent to one third of Delhi's GDP at current prices, says a report by Hurun. India is home to 51 unicorns, up by 25 in 2021, and 32 Gazelles and 54 Cheetahs. India added approximately 3 Unicorns every month over the last year, the report adds.

The Hurun Research Institute today released the Future Unicorn List 2021, a ranking of India's startups founded in the 2000s, worth at least $200mn, not yet listed on a public exchange and most likely to 'go unicorn' within 2 years (Gazelles) or 4 years (Cheetahs). The cut-off date was 31 August 2021.

The study is a snapshot of India's startup ecosystem. This is a list of the most valuable private equity or venture capital-funded companies in India founded after 2000, ranked according to their latest funding round valuation.

To enter the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021, the startup is required to have a value of $200mn (Rs 1,500 crore).

Anas Rahman Junaid MD and Chief Researcher, Hurun India said, "Preparing the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021 has been one of the most daunting tasks, primarily due to the positive hyperactivity in Indian startup ecosystem. For instance, 5 startups that we had as Cheetahs at the beginning of our research, jumped straight to Unicorn valuations."

"2021 also registered startup IPOs, starting with Nazaara Tech, followed by Zomato and others who have filed including Paytm, Freshworks, Nykaa and so on."

Sequoia-backed online retail store Zilingo is set to become one of India's next Unicorns. In 2015, Ankiti Bose and Dhruv Kapoor started Zilingo, an online B2B platform for small fashion merchants. Bengaluru -based gaming company Mobile Premier League takes the second spot on the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021.

Rebel Foods, India's first cloud kitchen startup, ranked third in the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021. Founded in 2010 by Jaydeep Barman and Kallol Banerjee Rebel Foods, the restaurant platform operates cloud kitchen brands Faasos, Behrouz Biryani, Oven Story and others.

Fitness startup Cure.Fit ranked fourth on the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021. In June 2021, Tata Digital entered into an agreement to invest up to US$75mn in CureFit backed by global investors such as Temasek, Accel Partners, Epiq Capital, Unilever Swiss and others.

Mamaearth, a D2C personal care brand, ranked seventh on the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021. In 2016, Varun Alagh and Ghazal Alagh founded Honasa Consumer Private Limited, currently known as Mamaearth.

CarDekho, a Gurugram-based auto marketplace ranked eighth on the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021. In 2007, brothers Amit and Anurag Jain founded CarDekho as an IT outsourcing firm and turned it into an online portal for new and used car sales.

Singapore based robotics startup, GreyOrange shares the ninth rank on the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021. Gurugram-based digital payments application MobiKwik shares the ninth rank on Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021.

Founded in 2009 by husband and wife duo Bipin Preet Singh and Upasana Taku, MobiKwik leverages big data analytics to address unmet credit needs in digital payments. Hurun Report defines 'Gazelle' as a startup founded after the year 2000 and has the potential to go unicorn in 2 years.