India now ranks third among the top countries with the largest number of unicorns
Bombay:
Adding 33 “unicorns” in one year has helped India oust the United Kingdom into third in the list of countries with such ventures worth more than $1 billion each, according to a report released on Wednesday. .
India was fourth last year when it comes to the number of unicorns. However, the US and its northern neighbor China, occupying the top two ranks, are far ahead, according to data collected by the Hurun Research Institute.
The US added 254 unicorns and now has a total of 487 companies in the coveted list, while China added 74 to bring its total to 301 start-ups valued at more than $1 billion, it said.
The top two residents are home to 74 percent of the unicorn universe, it said, adding that the total list saw 673 “new faces” and 201 drop-offs.
Of the drop-offs, 28 percent or 162 companies were “promoted” from the unicorn list after going public or acquired, while seven percent or 39 companies were “downgraded” after their valuations fell below $1 billion .
The institute took into account companies established in this century to determine a unicorn and the list will be updated to November 2021.
The UK only added 15 unicorns to bring the total to 39, and was therefore supplanted by India, it said.
“India is in the midst of a start-up boom, more than doubling the number of unicorns to bring the country’s official number of unicorns to 54 and take the UK to third in the world,” Hurun Report says. India’s Chief Executive Officer and Principal Investigator Anas. said Rahman Junaid.
He said that in addition to the domestic companies, 65 unicorns have been founded by Indians abroad, mainly in Silicon Valley.
The list of Indian unicorns is led by edtech start-up Byju’s, valued at $21 billion, followed by Inmobi ($12 billion), Oyo ($9.5 billion) and Razorpay ($7.5 billion).
Bengaluru is home to the largest number of unicorns among Indian cities, it said, adding that the financial capital, the nearby cities of Pune and Thane, and Gurugram also have candidates.
