After the United States and China, India has emerged as the world's third largest start-up ecosystem, with development showing no signs of stopping.
India has added three unicorns every month for the past year, bringing the total number to 51, ahead of the United Kingdom (32) and Germany (18). A unicorn is a privately held start-up company with a valuation of more than $1 billion.
According to data from the Hurun Research Institute, the United States has 396 unicorns, while China has 277. At current pricing, India's unicorns are valued $168 billion, which is more than Telangana's GDP.
Apart from unicorns, India's population of future unicorns, known as "gazelles" and "cheetahs", is rapidly increasing, according to Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and head researcher of Hurun India.
A gazelle is a post-2000 business that has the potential to become a unicorn in two years, while a cheetah might become a unicorn in four years. The value of gazelles is estimated to be between $500 million and $1 billion, while the value of cheetahs is between $200 million and $500 million.
The most valuable gazelle currently is Zilingo, and the most valuable cheetah is Pepperfry, a digital furniture platform. The Mobile Premier League (MPL), Rebel Foods, Cure.fit, Spinny, and Mamaearth are among a slew of prospective unicorns worth $36 billion, or roughly one-third of Delhi's GDP at current exchange rates.
Sequoia Capital is the largest investor in gazelles and cheetahs, with 37 and 18 investments, respectively. E-commerce, fintech, and SaaS make up 49 per cent of the list of future unicorns.
Bengaluru is India's start-up capital, with 31 start-ups, followed by Delhi NCR (18) and Mumbai (17). (13). With a total value of $12.4 billion, Bengaluru is home to 11 gazelles and 20 cheetahs. Of these corporations, 68 per cent have their headquarters in the top three cities.