In September 2011, India\u2019s corporate sector witnessed a watershed moment when InMobi, an ad-tech mobile company, became the first startup to attain the unicorn status – private companies valued over $1 billion – in the country.The next five years would see nine more reaching the landmark. By the turn of the decade, assisted by the growing internet penetration and digital payment adoption post-demonetisation, this number had risen to 37, as of December 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If this doesn\u2019t tell you the exponential growth the startup sector has seen in the past decade, consider this: just the bygone 10 months of 2021 have seen this figure nearly doubling to 71. In other words, 2021 has seen the birth of one unicorn every 10 days. so far. The period between April 2021 and October 2021 witnessed funding deals to the tune of\u00a0$37.58 billion,\u00a0a marginal 6% fall\u00a0compared to the fundings during the same period last year – $40 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A\u00a0golden year <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the startup world, 2021 has been synonymously known as a \u2018year of unicorns\u2019 with 34 unicorn startups being added in the year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anas Rahman Junaid, Founder and MD, Hurun India, said: \u201cJust a month ago, we launched a Hurun Future Unicorn List which ranked 82 startups categorised as \u2018Cheetahs\u2019, companies that could turn unicorn in two years, and \u2018Gazelles\u2019, companies that could turn Unicorn in four years. In less than 40 days, 9 \u2018Gazelles\u2019 in the list have turned unicorns!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Interestingly, out of this year\u2019s 34 unicorns, 10 of them entered the list between April and May 2021, whilst the country was being battered by a deadly second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. This has happened due to investment pouring in from all across the globe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The recent IPOs of Zomato and Nykaa and the next in line such as Paytm are endorsing confidence in India\u2019s public market liquidity, which was one of the biggest earlier apprehensions, Junaid added. All these trends have accelerated investor confidence in Indian startups. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Besides this, 2021 also saw some of the startups entering the unicorn list in record time since their incorporation. Seven out of the top 10 quickest to turn unicorn achieved the feat in the year 2021. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Apna.co, a jobs search platform founded in 2019, became the quickest to turn unicorn in September 2021 in a record time of a little over two years. Earlier this year, Cred – a credit card bill payment platform founded in 2018 \u2013 turned unicorn in a little less than three years. In September 2021, Mobile Premier League, or MPL – a gaming platform founded in 2018 – entered the unicorn list in a little over three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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