India Beats UK, Germany To Become World’s 3rd Biggest Startup Ecosystem

A survey by the Hurun Research Institute, the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021, has shown that India is the third largest Unicorn ecosystem in the world, with US and China ahead of it.

India has added 3 unicorns every month over the last year and is growing at an exponential pace, the report has revealed.

Hurun India Future Unicorn List Reveals Indian Unicorns Worth US $168 Billion 

The Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021 discusses India’s start-up ecosystem and lists the most valuable private equity or venture capital-funded companies in India founded after 2000. These are ranked as per the latest funding round valuation. 

There are 51 Unicorns in the country, which has increased by 25 in 2021. As per the report, 5 startups that were Cheetahs at the beginning of the research have now become Unicorn valuations. Also, there are 32 Gazelles and 54 Cheetahs. 

India’s Unicorns are now worth US $168 billion, which is more than the GDP of Telangana at current prices. Also, India’s future Unicorns are worth $36 billion, which is equal to  one third of Delhi’s GDP at current prices.

As per the report, the adoption of internet in rural areas will boost the rise of technology startups. Also, “Fintech companies operating in mobile payments, insurance, blockchain, stock trading and digital lending will grow further to capitalize the internet penetration.” there are 600 million internet users in India and will probably grow to 900 million users by 2025. 

25 Year Old Cofounder of Zupee Is Youngest In Hurun List

The Hurun list also talks about the huge investor interest for Indian start-ups. More than 300 investors have been mentioned, which includes angel investors, corporates, AIFs, family offices and institutional investors have invested into the Cheetahs and Gazelles. Also, Sequoia is the top investor in these start-ups along with Tiger Global.

The list also include top investors in the Gazelles and Cheetahs, which is Sequoia, followed by Tiger Global with 37 and 18 investments respectively. 

Around 11 co-founders are under the age of 30, as per the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021 and 15 are above the age of 50. Also, the youngest in the list are the founders of gaming start-up Zupee, Dilsher Singh & Siddhant Saurabh, who are only 25 years of age.

E-commerce,  FinTech and SaaS make up for 49% of the list with 31 start-ups.