India Beats UK In Creating Unicorns | Bengaluru Has More Unicorns Than Boston, Paris

A new Hurun India report says that India has beaten the UK ro become the third country with the most number of unicorns (countries with at least $1 billion valuation) – 54.

It is now trailing behind the US and China.

World’s Top 3

TikTok-owner ByteDance has become the world’s most valuable unicorn, with a valuation surge of nearly 30% to US$350 billion, from US$270 billion last year.

Undoubtedly, its business is carried by its flagship app TikTok which has 1 billion monthly active users globally.

The second most valued startup in the world is Ant Group, an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding and operator of online payment platform Alipay.

It is valued at US$150 billion.

SpaceX is at number 3, having moved up two places.

It is now valued at US$100 billion, making it the largest unicorn in the US.

Bengaluru Brimming With Unicorns

The city of Bengaluru itself has more unicorns than major hubs such as Boston, Palo Alto, Paris, Berlin, Chicago, etc.

It has 28 unicorns, making it the seventh-highest tally in the world.

India Improves Performance, US, China Shrink

India’s figure of 54 this year is 33 more than it had in 2020. 

It is trailed by the UK which has 39 unicorns, 15 up from a year earlier.

15 of the world’s 122 unicorns in e-commerce are in India.

The share of unicorns from the US and China decreased from 79% in 2020 to 74%.

This may be because fundraises by companies in countries outside those two are gaining pace.

More Indians Founded Unicorns Abroad

India is also the leader for emigrant unicorn founders, followed by China, Israel and Russia.

This means that Indians have founded 65 unicorns outside India mainly in Silicon Valley, such as Postman, Innovaccer, Icertis, Moglix, etc.

Meanwhile, the percentage of homegrown unicorns has increased from one third to 45%, reflecting a maturing startup scene. 

How Indian Startups Fare Globally

The most valuable domestic unicorns in the country are Byju’s (#1) with valuations of $21 billion and InMobi Technologies Pvt Ltd (#2) with a $12 billion valuation.

With its mammoth valuation, Byju’s is now the world’s 15th most valuable unicorn.

India’s second most valuable unicorn InMobi is the 28th most valued in the world.

Oyo, which is India’s third-most valued startup, is the world’s 45th most valued with a valuation of $9.5 billion.

Losing Valuation

39 unicorns in the world have seen their valuation dip below $1 billion, losing their unicorn status. 

In India, one such startup is Paytm Mall which was valued at $3 billion in 2020, and has dropped below $1 billion this year.

Record Year In History

Overall, 2021 is the most successful year in the history of unicorns globally.

The total global tally hit 1,058, up from just 568 in 2020.

The world as a whole has improved, with 42 economies boasting at least one unicorn, up from 25 countries two years ago.

However, there are still 160 countries without a single known unicorn.

Among them are Russia, Saudi Arabia and Poland.