App ‘Unicorn’ is a term coined by Aileen Lee,a venture capitalist in 2013. In business sense, the term is used for startups valued at over $1billion. Lee chose the mythical creature ‘unicorn’ as term as such valuations is a statistical rarity in the business world.
Companies valued at over $10billion are termed as ‘decacorn’,valued at over $100 billion are termed as ‘hectocorn’.There are around 450 unicorns as of October 2020 globally.Airbnb is the recent hectacorn that turned into a public company as of December 10,2020.
Indian Startups that made it to the ‘Unicorn Club’ in the first quarter of 2021!
1. Digit Insurance
A Bengaluru based insurtech startup was the first company that entered unicorn club in 2021.The insurance background tech company was able to raise a valuation of $1.9 Bn.Bollywood actor Anushka Sharma and Indian cricketer Virat Kohli have infused about $340K (INR 2.5 Cr) in the startup.Beginning in 2016,It is founded by Kamesh Goyal and Prem Watsa’s Fairfax Holdings.It offers policies on health,auto,travel,smartphones etc.
2. Innovaccer
Innovaccer is India’s first healthtech unicorn.The company works towards providing solutions to western market by analyzing data to get insights on healthcare,doctors,treatment etc.It maintains data of around 3.8Mn patients and generates $400mn for healthcare providers.It raised around $15.3Bn in 2020.
3. Meesho
India’s social commerce startup has raised $415Mn till date from investors like
SoftBank, Prosus Ventures, Facebook, Shunwei Capital, Venture Highway and
Knollwood Investment.The startup deals in reselling online to individuals and small
medium businesses(SMBs) who sell the products on Whatsapp,Instagram and
Facebook.It is founded by IIT-Delhi graduates Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal in
2015.
4. Infra.Market
It entered the unicorn club riding on profitability factor it’s business.It is founded by Aaditya Sharda and Souvik Sengupta in 2016.It deals into construction and real estate sectors procuring marketplaces through B2B.It claimed to hit a monthly revenue run rate of INR 150Cr by the end of first quarter of 2021.
5. PharmEasy
API Holdings had a merger between its subsidiaries PharmEasy and rival Medlife in 2020 leading to an outcome of entering the unicorn club at a valuation of $1.5Bn.It is the first Indian epharmacy unicorn.It is founded by Dharmil Seth and Dr.Dhaval Shah in 2015 and claimed to serve over 20Mn patients since inception.It also offers SaaS solution pharmacies.
6. CRED
A fintech startup that began with a operating revenue of INR 57 lakhs in the financial year 2020, raised a valuation of whopping $2.2Bn.The business focuses on premium credit card users as target customers.It claims to have added over 5.9Mn credit card users with a credit score of 830 in past two years.
7. Groww
It allows it’s users to invest in IPOs,mutual funds,stocks,ETFs and gold through it’s mobile app.It became the 2nd startup to enter the club in the category of wealth management. It was founded by ex-Flipkart employees Lalit Keshre,Harsh Jain,Neeraj Singh and Ishan Bansal.The company raised $83 Mn in its Series D funding led by Tiger Global this week, becoming the fiftieth Indian unicorn. The company had raised $30 Mn in Series C round last September.
8. Sharechat
The recent to join the club is the social media startup Sharechat from Mohalla Tech raising a funding of $502 Mn from Tiger Global and LightSpeed Ventures.The valuation for Sharechat has gone up to $2.1Bn.
9. GupShup
Founded by IIT-Bombay alumni Beerud Sheth, this conversational messaging tech startup raised a $100Mn funding from Tiger Global. It entered the unicorn club at a valuation of $1.4Bn.
10. Chargebee
Founded by four friends,Rajaraman Santhanam, Thiyagarajan Thiyagu, Saravanan KP(CTO), Krish Subramaniam (CEO) operates in subscription based companies providing them with insights and metrics to their businesses.The startup raised $125Mn by G funding and entered the club at a valuation of $1.4Bn which triples its valuation in less than six months.