Top 5 Unicorns In India: Leading Unicorns That Captivated The World In 2024

The world of startups often attracts and inspires many. There have been scores of successful startups in India as the nation offers thriving startup ecosystem as it prepares to celebrate the 78th Independence Day in few days. The country witnessed surge of several unicorn startups over the years that helped in reshaping the markets, revolutionised the markets, and put the country on global map. According to a report published in forbesindia.com, as of May 2024, the Indian Startup Ecosystem, ranking third globally in terms of unicorn count, collectively valued at $349.67 billion. In today's fast-paced and dynamic economy, Indian Unicorns are thriving. These startups are not only creating groundbreaking solutions and technologies but also fueling significant job growth.

According to Hurun Global Unicorn Index 2024 report, India produced more offshore unicorns than any other country, co-founding 109 unicorns outside of India compared to 67 in India.

Earlier this year on March 20, 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the Startup Mahakumbh event that India emerged as the world's third largest startup ecosystem, boasting over 1.25 lakh startups and 110 unicorns. The PM added that these startups contribute to the employment of over 12 lakh people as India registered over 12,000 patents.

"India's startup ecosystem is flourishing at an unprecedented rate, driven by the youth. This is not limited to metro cities, it has now become a social culture," Prime Minister Modi said

Speaking on the startup ecosystem of India, PM Modi said the mindset of Indians underwent significant change from that of being "job seekers" to wanting to be "job creators."

A unicorn startup can be defined as a privately held startup firm with a valuation of more than $1 billion. The term unicorn startup was coined by Aileen Lee, venture capitalist. Unicorn starup are largely innovative and disruptive firms that operate in several sectors namely technology, healthcare, e-commerce, and finance, among others, according to forbes.com.

Unicorn startups witness fast growth and attract substantial investment from venture capitalists and other investors. These companies often make optimum utilization of latest technologies, market strategies, business models to secure strong edge over others and gain stoing market share.

Unicorns in India play a significant role as they help with the economic growth of the country, create job opportunities, launch new technologies, business models, capture attractive investment, and offer key contribution to transform markets.

Below are top 5 unicorns that captivated the world in 2024:

1. Rapido: The ride-hailing service became the unicorn start-up in 2024. It came into existence in 2015 and operates in more than 100 cities. Swiggy-backed bike taxi service startup Rapido turned unicorn with massive $120 million Series E funding round led by its biggest backer, WestBridge Capital, which has put in capital via 3 different investment vehicles.

2. Porter: It entered the unicorn club in May 2024. Porter offers intracity and intercity delivery services. The Tiger Global-backed logistics services provider turned into a unicorn after completing a fresh friends and family round, where individuals reportedly bought shares from the employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) pool at a valuation of $1 billion. In the fresh round earlier this year, 15-20 individuals bought shares worth Rs 25 crore in Porter. With the closure of the round, Porter now doubled its valuation from the $500 million commanded during its 2021 fundraise.

3. Perfios: It joined the unicorn club way back in March 13, 2024 after raising $80 million Series D funding round led by Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, estimated to be at $1 billion. It is a leading fintech company services banking, financial services and insurance sectors in nearly 18 countries. It is headquartered in Bangalore. Perfios said it plans to continue its expansion internationally in markets such as South-East Asia, Middle East and Africa. It will also use the recently raised funds towards inorganic growth partnerships or acquisitions.

4. Krutrim AI Designs: Earlier this year the company raised $50 million from leading investors including Matrix Partners India. With the fundraise, it turned unicorn with a $1 billion valuation in 2024 and also became the fastest firm to achieve the status.

5. InCred: It achieved the milestone after its successful funding round that raised $60 million. The round catapulted the company into the unicorn club with a valuation of approximately $1.04 billion, thus making it 2nd unicorn of this year. The NBFC offers education, personal loan, and business loans.