Top 10 Unicorns of India in 2022

The startup wave has already begun in India. The startup ecosystem of India has become the world’s fastest ecosystem as India is home to 100 unicorns in 2022. 44 startups in India turned into a unicorn in 2021 which means there is more to expect from 2022. A $1 billion valuation takes years of hard work, dedication, long hours, and efforts to take a startup to such great heights, and today we’re going to talk about 10 such startups who have revolutionized the market and why their valuation is insane in 2022.

Companies	Valuation	Founded In	Founders	Services/Industry
Zomato	$5.3 billion	2008	Deepinder Goyal & Pankaj Chaddah	Online Food Delivery
Flipkart	$37.6 billion	2007	Sachin Bansal & Binny Bansal	E-commerce marketplace
Byju’s	$22 billion	2011	Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath	Ed-tech
PhonePe	$6 -6.5 billion	2015	Sameer Nigam, Rahul Chari, & Burzin Engineer	Digital Payments/ Internet E-commerce
Policybazaar	$6.15 billion	2008	Yashish Dahiya, Alok Bansal, & Avaneesh Nirjar	Insurance Industry
Nykaa	Around $13 billion	2012	Falguni Nayyar	Cosmetics & Beauty
PharmEasy	$5.4 billion	2014	Dharmil Sheth, Dhaval Shah, Mikhil Innani	E-pharmacy
Lenskart	$4.3 billion	2010	Peyush Bansal, Amit Chaudhary, & Sumeet Kapahi	Prescription Eyewear Industry
OYO Rooms	$9 billion	2012	Ritesh Agarwal	Hospitality
Razorpay	$7.5 billion	2013	Harshil Mathur & Shashank Kumar	Online payment services

Zomato

No wonder Zomato is on the list of top Indian unicorns with its valuation and recent acquisitions. This food delivery startup was founded by Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah in 2008. Zomato has been expanding its area and pushing its 10-minute delivery with the recent acquisition of Blinkit. In 2018, Zomato changed its status into a unicorn led by multiple investments round by Alibaba affiliate Ant group and since then, Zomato has been skyrocketing but with the recent launch of IPO, Zomato has been dealing with losses.

• Startup: Zomato
• Founders: Deepinder Goyal & Pankaj Chaddah
• Current CEO: Deepinder Goyal
• Services : Online Food Delivery, Restaurant Searching, Table reservations, payment system on dine-out
• Present Valuation: $5.3 billion
• Headquarters: Gurgaon, Haryana, India

Flipkart

After InMobi, Flipkart was the second startup to achieve unicorn status in the country. Flipkart has been the most famous e-commerce marketplace in the country receiving approximately 1.5 lakh orders per day but it soars even higher during the festive season and Big Billion Days – big discounts event by Flipkart. In 2018, Flipkart was acquired by Walmart for $16 billion and has been soaring since then making it one of the most valuable companies presently. Since then, Flipkart has been strongly competing with its biggest competitor Amazon.

• Startup: Flipkart
• Founders: Sachin Bansal & Binny Bansal
• Current CEO: Kalyan Krishnamurthy
• Services: E-commerce platform providing more than 150 million products
• Present Valuation: $37.6 billion
• Headquarters: Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Byju’s

Byju’s is an ed-tech startup which was founded in 2011. The company achieved the unicorn status back in March 2018 and in June 2020, the company turned its status into decacorn($10 billion). Byju’s has been acquiring almost every competitor in the market and over 15 million students are using Byju’s platform world-wide. Last year, Byju’s became 13th most valued startup in the whole world. Currently, Byju’s is soaring very high on the valuation on $22 billion.

• Startup: Byju’s
• Founders: Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath
• Current CEO: Byju Raveendran
• Services: Online teaching platform and learning application – BYJU’S
• Present Valuation: $22 billion
• Headquarters: Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Also Read: How To Build A Startup Like CRED in 2022?

PhonePe

PhonePe is an Indian payments startup that was founded in 2015. Sameer Nigam, Rahul Chari, and Burzin Engineer are the founders of PhonePe. In April 2016, PhonePe was acquired by Flipkart and later it was rebranded as PhonePe wallet. PhonePe has more than 165 million monthly active users. Recently, PhonePe crossed 100 million transactions in a day made through their application. PhonePe currently processes more than 2 billion transactions per month. PhonePe clocked 46% market share in UPI transactions last year.

• Startup: PhonePe
• Founders: Sameer Nigam, Rahul Chari, & Burzin Engineer
• Current CEO: Sameer Nigam
• Services: Bills payment, phone recharge, insurance, buying gold, investing, shopping through mini apps
• Present Valuation: $6 -6.5 billion
• Headquarters: Andheri, Maharashtra, India

Policybazaar

Policybazaar is one of the most trusted insurance aggregators and multinational fintech companies. Policybazaar was founded in 2008 as an insurance comparison platform, but later the company added various insurance plans such as travel, health, etc. Policybazaar’s IPO was opened on November 1st, 2021 and the price was fixed between Rs 940 to Rs 980 per equity share. Policybazaar has raised a total of $766.6 million from 22 investors in 13 funding rounds.

• Startup: Policybazaar
• Founders: Yashish Dahiya, Alok Bansal, & Avaneesh Nirjar
• Current CEO: Yashish Dahiya
• Services: Providing a detailed view and comparison of all the insurance policies
• Present Valuation: $6.15 billion
• Headquarters: Gurgaon, Haryana, India

Nykaa

Nykaa is an online e-commerce platform selling beauty and fashion products through its websites and offline stores all over India. It was founded by Falguni Nayyar in 2012, and in 2020, Nykaa became the first unicorn startup led by a woman. In March 2022, The company was included in TIME Magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential Companies of 2022. Nykaa has more than 200,000 products selling across its platforms. Last year, Nykaa launched its IPO on October 28th, 2021. Nykaa’s IPO price was set between Rs 1085 to Rs 1125 per share which was closed on November 1st, 2021.

• Startup: Nykaa
• Founders: Falguni Nayyar
• Current CEO: Falguni Nayyar
• Services: E-commerce business and offline Nykaa stores
• Present Valuation: Around $13 billion
• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

PharmEasy

PharmEasy is a health-tech startup that fulfills the need for medicines delivered to the home in as less time as possible offering more than 1 lakh medicines across the country. PharmEasy also provides teleconsultation services and the booking of diagnostic tests such as blood tests, full-body tests, etc. PharmEasy was founded in 2014 by Dharmil Sheth and Dr. Dhaval Shah. There are currently 4 co-founders in the company. Recently, the company filed papers for the launch of its IPO where the valuation was made around $5.4 billion.

• Startup: PharmEasy
• Founders: Dharmil Sheth, Dhaval Shah, Mikhil Innani
• Current CEO: Dharmil Sheth
• Services: Teleconsultation, delivery of medicines & diagnostic tests and samples
• Present Valuation: $5.4 billion
• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Also Read: 10 Best Android Phones with Most Software Updates in 2022

LensKart

With its omni-channel approach, LensKart has become the leading eyewear startup with its e-commerce platform and offline stores spread across the country. LensKart was founded by Peyush Bansal back in 2010 and since then, the startup has been continuously revolutionizing the eyewear industry with its cool and trendy range of glasses to keep up with the modern demands in the market. Peyush Bansal is also famous for being a judge in the recently aired reality show – Shark Tank India.

• Startup: LensKart
• Founders: Peyush Bansal, Amit Chaudhary, & Sumeet Kapahi
• Current CEO: Peyush Bansal
• Services: Eyewear and accessories purchasing, free eye checkup
• Present Valuation: $4.3 billion
• Headquarters: Faridabad, Haryana, India

OYO Rooms

A multinational hospitality chain in the Indian market, OYO Rooms is an Indian company offering both leased and franchised hotels, homes, and living spaces. OYO was founded in 2012 by Ritesh Agarwal and OYO initially started mainly for budget-oriented hotels. Back in 2012, Ritesh Agarwal launched it under the name Oravel Stays and in 2013, he changed the name to OYO. OYO’s hospitality is now spread in more than 80 countries in Americas, Europe, and Asia region. OYO is also entering in the IPO market soon. The company was supposed to launch its IPO earlier but got delayed.

• Startup: OYO Rooms
• Founders: Ritesh Agarwal
• Current CEO: Ritesh Agarwal
• Services: Hotels, homes, and living spaces booking
• Present Valuation: $9 billion
• Headquarters: Gurgaon, Haryana, India

Razorpay

Razorpay is an Indian payments solution startup that helps business accept and disburse payments with their product. All payment methods are supported, including credit cards, debit cards, net banking, UPI, and popular wallets. Razorpay was founded in 2013 by Harshil Mathur and Shashank Kumar and Harshil Mathur is currently the CEO and co-founder of Razorpay. Razorpay currently has 36 investors including some lead investors Sequoia Capital India, Tiger Global Management etc.

• Startup: Razorpay
• Founders: Harshil Mathur & Shashank Kumar
• Current CEO: Harshil Mathur
• Services: Online payments services for businesses
• Present Valuation: $7.5 billion
• Headquarters: Bangalore, Karnataka, India

So, these are the top 10 unicorns of India with their insane valuations in the year 2022. India witnessed 44 unicorns in the year 2021 and with more and more ideas being executed and startups raising money through investments, it’s not so far when the number of unicorns crosses the 200 mark.

Conclusion

India is home to 100 unicorns now with 44 startups becoming unicorns in the year 2021 itself. Indian startups are changing and leading the startup ecosystem. Every state and district has an entrepreneur living there and who knows which great idea would revolutionize this market. India is growing and leading the startup ecosystem in the world right now. Countless startups have already raised money through funding and investments, and very soon, they will enter the UNICORN CLUB. The future is looking very promising for Indian startups and with the advancement in technology and focusing more on knowledge and skills, startups will change the way we usually live our lives.

Read More From Us

Follow us

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter
• Youtube

For more startup updates please download our android app – available on the Play Store