As per Forbes, 42 unicorns having a total valuation of $82.1 billion emerged in India's startup ecosystem last year. It's a no-brainer that 2021 was a mega year for startups in India with many unicorns being born and numerous companies like Paytm, Zomato, Nykaa etc catching the IPO fever.
But 2022, too, is showing no signs of a slowdown yet for unicorn births, with 17 companies already entering the $1 billion club till now.
From the first entrant Mamaearth to the latest ones including Physics Wallah and Purplle, here¡¯s a list of companies in India that have entered the unicorn club till now this year.
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Honasa Consumer, which is the parent company of personal care brands including Mamaearth and The Derma Co had reportedly announced on January 1 2022 that it has raised $52 million in a round led by Sequoia, leading to its valuation soaring to $1.2 billion. This made it the first unicorn of 2022.
Another company that joined the billion-dollar valuation club in 2022, is Fractal Analytics. Founded in Mumbai in the year 2000, Fractal is currently a US-based artificial intelligence firm that helps global Fortune 100 companies power every human decision in the enterprise by bringing together analytics and AI to the decision.
The $360 million funding from the private equity firm TPG Capital Asia helped Fractal¡¯s valuation hit the $1 billion mark in January 2022. This also made Fractal only the second firm in India¡¯s pure-play analytics space (after Mu Sigma) to reach the unicorn status.?
Edtech firm LEAD School had raised $100 million in January 2022 from investors led by GSV Ventures and WestBridge Capital. This resulted in a doubling of its valuation in less than a year to $1.1 billion in January 2022.
Established in 2021, the Mumbai-based company provides tech-enabled solutions to schools, with focus on digital learning through an online or hybrid model of physical and digital classrooms.
Software as a service (SaaS)-based HR Tech platform Darwinbox had managed to raise $72 million in funding in series D round in January 2022. This made it the first unicorn in the SaaS sector in 2022. The funding was led by Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV) along with existing investors Salesforce Ventures, Sequoia India, Lightspeed India, Endiya Partners, 3One4Capital, JGDEV and SCB 10X.
Founded in 2015, Darwinbox competes with global leaders like SAP, Oracle and Workday, and had aimed to utilize this funding for global expansion.
Social commerce grocery startup Dealshare too entered the unicorn club this year by raising $165 million from investors led by Tiger Global and Alpha Wave Global in January 2022.? The company¡¯s valuation was stated to be more than $1.6 billion after the funding.
New investors in the company include Dragoneer Investments Group, Kora Capital and Unilever Ventures. The raised funds are expected to be utilized as an investment in technology and data science, besides a ten-fold expansion in Dealshare¡¯s logistics infrastructure and increase in geographic reach.?
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Another addition to this unicorn list of 2022 was Livspace, which is a home interior and renovation startup. In Feb 2022, it had raised $180 million in a Series F round led by KKR, a global investment firm. The round had also witnessed participation from existing investors including Ingka Group Investments (holding company of IKEA), Jungle Ventures, Venturi Partners, and Peugeot Investments etc.??
SoftBank Vision Fund 2 had led a $300 million investment in Pune-headquartered commerce platform ElasticRun, valuing the startup at $1.5 billion and entering it into the unicorn club.
As per Forbes, ElasticRun enables businesses to reach Kirana stores¡ªmom-and-pop shops selling everyday needs, in the deep rural parts of India, by deploying a network of delivery services.
Goldman Sachs and existing investor Prosus had also participated in the startup¡¯s Series E funding round.
Major multinationals that have partnered with ElasticRun include Amazon, Coca Cola, Kellogg¡¯s, Procter & Gamble as well as Mukesh Ambani¡¯s Reliance Retail, as per Forbes.
Pune-based logistics start-up Xpressbees had reportedly raised $300 million in a Series F funding round earlier this year, making it another startup to join the unicorn list in 2022. That fundraise valued the firm at $1.2 billion.?
The funding round was reportedly led by private equity funds Blackstone Growth, TPG Growth and ChrysCapital, and includes a primary capital infusion of $100 million and a secondary share sale worth $200 million.
Conversational automation startup Uniphore joined the unicorn list of 2022 after raising $400 Mn in funding at a valuation of $2.5 Bn in February 2022. The startup¡¯s Series E round was led by NEA in participation with its existing investors March Capital and others.?
With that funding, Uniphore had raised around $610 Mn from external investors till February 2022.? Uniphore provides software for conversational analytics, conversational assistants and conversational security.
San Francisco and Bengaluru-based software company Hasura had raised $100 million in a fresh funding round led by Greenoaks Capital. The round also saw participation from existing investors Nexus Venture Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Vertex Ventures, as per ET.
With that fundraising, Hasura¡¯s valuation climbed to $1 billion, thus making it to the list of India's unicorns of 2022. The company had planned to use the funding to accelerate research and development and expand go-to-market activities globally for its flagship GraphQL Engine.?
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Online debt marketplace CredAvenue had become a unicorn in March 2022, after raising $137 million in a fresh round led by New York-based Insight Partners, B Capital Group and Dragoneer, as per an ET report.
That funding round raised the company¡¯s valuation to $1.3 billion. Previously, the startup was valued at $410 million in September 2021.? The company was expected to use the proceeds from the latest round to scale its platform and improve the depth of its offerings. It also reportedly planned to use the funds to expand its business across key global markets, while looking to grow inorganically through acquisitions.
Media tech firm Amagi had raised $95 million in a funding round led by Accel, with participation from existing investors Norwest Venture Partners and Avataar Ventures. The new funding valued the firm at over $1 billion in March 2022.?
As per TOI, Bengaluru-based Amagi started in 2008 as a cloud-based geo-targeted TV advertising company but pivoted in 2018 to build a global leadership position in SaaS-based broadcast and connected TV. It has reportedly enabled TV networks and content owners to launch, manage, distribute and monetise live, linear and on-demand channels across cable, OTT, and free ad-supported streaming TV platforms, globally.
Oxyzo Financial Services had raised its first external funding of $200 million in March 2022, which has reportedly been the largest series-A funding ever for an Indian startup.
With a valuation of $1 billion after that funding, Oxyzo became a unicorn, with the new financing co-led by Alpha Wave Global and Tiger Global with participation from Norwest Venture Partners, Matrix Partners and Creation Investments, Oxyzo CEO Ruchi Kalra had reportedly told ET.?
She, along with her husband Asish Mohapatra, became India's first couple to have a unicorn each. Asish¡¯s OfBusiness, formally known as OFB Tech Pvt., supplies bulk raw materials such as steel, diesel, food grains and industrial chemicals to small and medium-sized businesses. Its valuation had surpassed $1 billion when SoftBank and others reportedly invested in April 2021, as per Mohapatra.
Multi-game platform Games24x7 had raised $75 million in March 2022, taking it to a $2.5 billion valuation, in a funding round led by Malabar Investments, as per a?Business Today report.?
The report stated that Games24x7 is the third gaming start-up after Dream 11 and Mobile Premier League to achieve a billion-dollar valuation.
Founded in 2006 by Trivikraman Thampy, an engineering alumnus of IIT Bombay, and Bhavin Pandya, an engineering alumnus of Purdue University, Games24x7 is headquartered in Mumbai with offices in Bengaluru, New Delhi, Miami and Philadelphia. The company¡¯s offerings include RummyCircle, which is an online rummy game, My11Circle (a fantasy platform) and U Games (a portfolio of casual games),as per the report.
Last month, Bengaluru-based neo banking startup Open had hit the billion-dollar valuation mark after it raised $50 million in its Series D investment round led by IIFL.
The funding also had participation from existing investors such as Temasek, Tiger Global and 3one4 Capital. Neobank Open had said in a statement that it was now valued at $1 billion, thus making it the 100th unicorn in India.
The Google and Visa-backed company Open was founded in 2017 by former PayU and Citrus Pay member Anish Achuthan, along with his wife Mabel Chacko and brother Ajeesh Achuthan.
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Last week, India got its 101st unicorn when edtech firm Physics Wallah raised $100 million in its maiden funding round. The company is valued at $1.1 billion as per a statement last week, as per ET report.
The edtech startup Physics Wallah, also referred to as PW, was founded by Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwar in 2016 as a youtube channel, and then later developed the app and website in 2020. PW plans to utilise the funds for business expansion, branding, opening more offline learning centres, and introducing more course offerings, it said in a statement.
Just two days after the edtech platform Physics Wallah turned 101st unicorn, online beauty and personal care products retailer Purplle became India¡¯s 102nd unicorn. Last week, Purplle raised $33 million from Paramark Ventures to reach a valuation of $1.1 billion.
Existing investors Premji Invest, Blume Ventures and Kedaara Capital also participated in the round. The company has raised $215 million so far, including the latest round. Its previous investors include Goldman Sachs and Verlinvest.
Purplle said it would utilise the funds for marketing, advertising, and strengthening brand and technology.
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