Indian Startups Raised $42 Billion in 2021, Up from $11.5 Billion in 2020: Report

According to a research by Orios Venture Partners, Indian entrepreneurs raised US$ 42 billion in 2021, up from US$ 11.5 billion the previous year. According to the ‘The Indian Tech Unicorn Report 2021,’ India will have 46 unicorns (businesses valued at US$ 1 billion or more) in 2021, more than doubling the overall number to 90. ShareChat, Cred, Meesho, Nazara, Moglix, MPL, Grofers (now Blinkit), upGrad, Mamaearth, GlobalBees, Acko, Spinny, and other services are among them.

With 90 unicorns, India is the third-largest unicorn hub after the United States (487) and China (301), and ahead of the United Kingdom (39).

With around 60,000 startups, India boasts the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem.

“These startups are not only developing innovative solutions and technologies but are generating large-scale employment. Today, one out of 13 unicorns globally was born in India,” it said.

Flipkart was the most valuable unicorn (US$ 37.6 billion after raising US$ 3.6 billion in July 2021), while Mensa Brands was the fastest to become a unicorn (just 6 months after raising the first US$ 50 million round in May 2021), according to the report.

According to the report, India has witnessed four decacorns (businesses valued at US$ 10 billion or more) thus far: Flipkart, Paytm, Byju’s, and Oyo Rooms.

“A total of 11 Indian startups (including 8 unicorns) raised about US$ 7.16 billion through public offerings…One97 Communication (Paytm) raised India’s largest-ever IPO with an issue size of Rs 18,300 crore (US$ 2.46 billion),” it said.

Furthermore, among the listed Indian companies, Zomato has the greatest market capitalization (US$ 14.8 billion), followed by Nykaa (US$ 13.5 billion) and Freshworks (US$ 6.9 billion), according to the survey.

In addition, 20% of unicorn founders are non-engineers, and two-thirds of Indian unicorns have at least one or more founders from IITs, IIMs, or ISBs, according to the survey.