A recent report revealed that more than 25% of India’s unicorns, valued at $1 billion and above, are founded by serial entrepreneurs, leveraging their expertise and experience to navigate the business landscape effectively.
This influx of experienced entrepreneurs has played a crucial role in propelling India to become the third nation globally to host 100 unicorns, with 24 new unicorns emerging in 2022 alone. The report, conducted by Orios Venture Partners, a leading early-stage venture capital fund, underscores the significance of seasoned founders in India’s startup ecosystem.
Rehan Yar Khan, Managing Partner at Orios Venture Partners, highlighted India’s position as a technology powerhouse, witnessing substantial value creation with 22 unicorns emerging in the previous year. He emphasized the next phase of India’s technology narrative, focusing on transitioning these unicorns towards exits through IPOs, anticipating heightened activity in this direction in the coming years.
Despite the challenges posed by a funding downturn, startups in India demonstrated resilience, raising a staggering $25 billion in 2022, marking a significant increase compared to 2020.
However, the funding landscape experienced a 30% decline in 2022 compared to the previous year, accompanied by a reduction in the number of startup IPOs to 4, down from 11 in 2021. Additionally, there were 229 acquisitions and 4 IPOs recorded during the year.
Despite the funding constraints, India’s technology ecosystem remained vibrant, witnessing notable shifts in sector dynamics. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) emerged as the sector with the largest number of unicorns in 2022, surpassing fintech. SaaS accounted for six unicorns, followed by fintech with four, logistics with three, and edtech with two.
On average, it took 8.4 years for a company to achieve unicorn status in 2022, with 42 companies achieving this milestone in less than 5 years. Bengaluru retained its status as India’s primary unicorn hub and emerged as the 7th largest unicorn hub globally.
Despite a slight decrease from the previous year, with 229 acquisitions recorded in 2022 compared to 250 in 2021, the Indian startup landscape continued to witness significant activity.
The addition of Swiggy to the Decacorn list, with a valuation exceeding $10 billion, further solidified India’s position as a breeding ground for high-value startups, with a total of 5 Decacorns to date.
