India sees the emergence of the 100th unicorn

The 100 unicorns of India valued at USD 332.7 billion. 

In the first four months of 2022, India sees the rise of 14 unicorns

The wave of Unicorns in India has soared to new heights as the country witnessed the birth of its 100th Unicorn on 2nd May 2022. Today, 1 out of every 10 unicorns globally have been born in India.

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal highlighted the achievement in a tweet. 

The term ‘Unicorn’ refers to the rarest of the rare startups who become Unicorns attaining a valuation of more than USD 1 billion. The Indian Startup Ecosystem, the third-largest in the world in number of Unicorns, as of 5th May 2022, is home to 100 unicorns with a total valuation of USD 332.7 billion. 

2021 experienced a huge surge in the number of unicorns, registering a total of 44 startups entering the Unicorn club through the year with a total valuation of USD 93 billion. 

In the first four months of 2022, India has given birth to 14 unicorns with a total valuation of USD 18.9 billion.

The entrepreneurial spirit exists throughout the length and breadth of the country and is evident by the spread of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) recognized startups across 647 Indian districts encompassing all 36 States and Union Territories. 

Since the launch of the Startup India initiative on 16th January 2016, more than 69,000 startups have been recognized in the country till 2nd May 2022.  Innovation in India is not just limited to certain sectors; we have recognized startups solving problems in 56 diverse sectors with 13% from IT services, 9% healthcare and life sciences, 7% education, 5% professional and commercial services, 5% agriculture, and 5% food & beverages.

While every startup has its unique journey to becoming a unicorn, the minimum and maximum time taken by a startup to become a unicorn in India are 6 months and 26 years, respectively. Till FY 2016-17, approximately one unicorn was being added every year. Over the past four years (since FY 2017-18), this number has been increasing exponentially, with a whopping 66% Year-on-Year growth in the number of additional unicorns being added every year.

As we hit the milestone of a century in Indian unicorns, the homegrown startup ecosystem continues to work effectively towards the mission of self-reliance and self-sustainability as they have been in the past. The vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat is rooted deeply in the Startup Ecosystem and shall continue to prevail in the coming years.

Startup valuation milestone: India reaches a centennial unicorn benchmark, signaling rapid sectoral growth and broader geographic spread. India's startup ecosystem has reached 100 Unicorns, with recent rapid additions and substantial aggregate valuation. The release highlights accelerated year-on-year growth in unicorn formation, a wide range in time taken to achieve unicorn status, DPIIT recognition of tens of thousands of startups across all States and Union Territories, and sectoral diversification. It links these developments to government recognition frameworks and the objectives of the Startup India initiative and Atmanirbhar Bharat.