Nine Indian startups get unicorn status in 2019
MUMBAI: India’s startup ecosystem created a record nine unicorns in 2019, despite sentiments turning cautious in the December quarter, according to a report from startup data tracker Tracxn.
Unicorns refer to privately held firms with a valuation of a billion dollars or more.
Last year, eight unicorns had emerged in India, while in 2017 and 2016 there were 1 and 3, respectively, the report said.
The unicorns of 2019 include online grocer BigBasket, fantasy gaming platform Dream11, e-commerce logistics firm Delhivery, eyewear retailer Lenskart, trucking logistics firm Rivigo, cloudbased contract management firm Icertis, data management firm Druva, Ola Electric, the electric vehicle arm spun off from the ride hailing platform, and Zoho, a bootstrapped business and productivity software firm.
Most of these unicorns were created in the first half of the
LAST YEAR EIGHT UNICORNS HAD EMERGED IN INDIA, WHILE IN 2017 AND 2016 THERE WERE 1 AND 3, RESPECTIVELY
financial year, or until September, when investors continued to be bullish on highgrowth loss-making startups.
Mint reported on December 28 that deals of more than $100 million are expected to slow down, with investors turning cautious on companies with high burn rate, following the meltdown of co-working space provider WeWork.
The largest fundraising round in 2019 include hotel aggregator Oyo securing $1.5 billion from founder Ritesh Agarwal’s Cayman Islands entity RA Holdings and SoftBank, among others, and payments firm Paytm raising a $1-billion round led by T Rowe Price, SoftBank and Alibaba, according to the Tracxn report.
The report also threw light on region-specific trends. For instance, Mumbai and Bengaluru lost market share in the last three years, compared to 2014-16.
The number of startups founded in Bengaluru and Mumbai, in terms of market share, fell from 23% and 16% between 2014 and 2016, to 21% and 13%, respectively, in 2017-19.
On the other hand, Delhi (31% to 33%), Ahmedabad (3% to 4%) and Indore (1% to 2%) improved their performance during the period, indicating the proliferation of startups beyond metros.