Highlights
Livspace, a firm that specializes in home interior design and restoration, was also added to this unicorn list for 2022.
Games24x7, a multi-game platform, raised $75 million in March 2022, valuing it at $2.5 billion.
Neo banking company Open, based in Bengaluru, reached the $1 billion valuation milestone last month.
Online retailer Purplle became India’s 102nd unicorn two days after the Edtech platform Physics Wallah became the country’s 101st unicorn.
According to Forbes, India’s startup ecosystem saw the emergence of 42 unicorns last year, with a combined worth of $82.1 billion. It goes without saying that 2021 was a huge year for startups in India, with multiple unicorns being launched and many businesses catching the IPO bug, including Paytm, Zomato, Nykaa, etc.
However, with 17 businesses have already joined the $1 billion club as of this writing, 2022 is also not yet exhibiting any signs of a decrease in unicorn births.
The following 17 Indian businesses have joined the unicorn list for 2022.
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Mama Earth (Beauty, cosmetic & personal care products)
The headquarters of the Mamaearth Company are in Gurugram, Haryana. In order to provide toxins-free, natural infant care, skincare, haircare, and other goods for babies and everyone else, it was launched in 2016 by Varun and Ghazal Alagh. Mamaearth claims to be the first company in Asia to receive “MADE SAFE” certification for being completely non-toxic. The goods made by Mamaearth are entirely made of natural substances. Therefore, utilizing them is safe.
According to reports, on January 1, 2022, Honasa Consumer, the parent company of personal care brands like Mamaearth and The Derma Co, revealed that it had secured $52 million in a round led by Sequoia, raising its valuation to $1.2 billion.
According to a person briefed on the conversations, Mamaearth is aiming for a valuation of about $3 billion, or 10–12 times forecast earnings, based on sales growth and future revenue potential. According to individuals who asked to remain anonymous since the proposal is private, it intends to file draft regulatory filings by the end of this year. It thereby became the year 2022’s first unicorn.
By marketing their goods on platforms like Amazon and Walmart’s Flipkart, the duo has benefited from the growing e-commerce market in India. Famous Bollywood actors and actresses support the brand.
According to predictions from Indian financial services company Avendus, the country’s beauty and personal care market would increase from $17.8 billion in 2020 to $27.5 billion by 2025. It also stated that over that time, there will be an increase in online beauty product purchases from 25 million to 135 million.
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Fractal Analytics (Advanced analytics)
A global analytics company called Fractal Analytics assists Fortune 500 organizations in gaining a competitive edge through a thorough understanding of their customers and better data-driven decisions. Through predictive analytics and visual storytelling, Fractal Analytics offers insight, innovation, and influence. The business has gained the respect of industry analysts, and research consultant Gartner has dubbed it one of the top five “Cool Vendors in Analytics.”
In January 2022, Fractal’s valuation surpassed $1 billion thanks to a $360 million investment from the private equity firm TPG Capital Asia. Additionally, this elevated Fractal to unicorn status, making it the second pure-play analytics company in India (after Mu Sigma).
Fractal Analytics is a different firm that in 2022 became a member of the billion-dollar valuation club. Fractal, a US-based artificial intelligence company that was founded in Mumbai in 2000, helps Fortune 100 firms around the world power every human decision in the organization by combining analytics with AI.
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LEAD School (Edtech)
Couple Sumeet Mehta and Smita Deorah launched LEAD School, which collaborates with thousands of K–12 schools by integrating its platform to let them buy books and other materials from vendors, eliminating middlemen and delivering quality assurance.
In January 2022, investors led by GSV Ventures and West Bridge Capital contributed $100 million to the edtech company LEAD School. As a result, its value doubled in less than a year, reaching $1.1 billion in January 2022.
With a focus on digital learning through an online or hybrid model of physical and virtual classrooms, the Mumbai-based company was founded in 2021 and offers tech-enabled solutions to schools.
We are very proud of LEAD’s achievements as India’s top supplier of technology for education in schools. Despite COVID disruptions, LEAD’s growth in 2017 highlights its consumer-first approach and intense focus on learning outcomes. Sandeep Singhal, Managing Director at West Bridge Capital, stated in a statement, “We are excited to double down our investment in LEAD, to support its aim of improving the education sector in India and touching the lives of millions of kids.
In the upcoming academic year, LEAD School targets an annual revenue run rate of $80 million. The business intends to use the additional capital to invest in product and educational innovation. With a $1 billion ARR, it wants to reach 25 million pupils.
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Darwinbox (HRtech)
Darwin Box is a cloud-based integrated HR technology system that handles all HR needs like hiring, payroll, employment lifecycle, employee engagement, talent management, and people analytics. It was founded in 2015 by Chaitanya Peddi, Jayant Pateli, and Rohit Chennamaneni.
Darwinbox, a SaaS-based HR Tech platform, had succeeded in securing $72 million in funding at a series D round in January 2022. In 2022, this made it the first unicorn in the SaaS industry. Along with current investors Salesforce Ventures, Sequoia India, Lightspeed India, Endiya Partners, 3One4Capital, JGDEV, and SCB 10X, Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV) led the funding round.
Darwinbox, a 2015 startup that competes with industry giants like SAP, Oracle, and Workday, intended to use the financing for international growth. After SAP and Oracle, the company asserts to be the third-largest SaaS-based HR tech provider.
On its website, the platform claims to have served more than 1.5 million employees across more than 650 enterprises and 90 industries. It has achieved unicorn status in the current calendar year, becoming the first SaaS platform and fourth startup overall.
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DealShare (Social commerce grocery startup)
DealShare, a social commerce grocery firm, joined the unicorn club this year after receiving $165 million in January 2022 from investors like Tiger Global and Alpha Wave Global. After the funding, the company was estimated to be worth more than $1.6 billion.
DealShare is now this year’s fifth unicorn from India as a result. The business, which was established in 2018, uses a community group-buying model to provide daily necessities to middle-class customers. Vineet Rao, Sourjyendu Medda, Sankar Bora, and Rajat Shikar formed the business. Through social media and messaging services like WhatsApp, DealShare primarily concentrates on the sale of food and other home necessities.
Dragoneer Investments Group, Kora Capital, and Unilever Ventures are recent investors in the business. Along with a ten-fold growth of Dealshare’s logistics infrastructure and wider geographic distribution, the funds obtained are anticipated to be invested in technology and data science.
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Livspace (Home interior and renovation)
Livspace, a firm that specializes in home interior design and restoration, was also added to this unicorn list for 2022. It has a $180 million Series F round funded by the international investment firm KKR in February 2022. Existing investors such as Ingka Group Investments (the holding company for IKEA), Jungle Ventures, Venturi Partners, and Peugeot Investments, among others, also participated in the round.
Anuj Srivastava and Ramakant Sharma launched the business in 2015. The company’s operations span APAC, MENA (the Middle East and North Africa), and Australia, and according to Srivastava, who also serves as CEO, “our business is growing exponentially in both India and Singapore. We want to implement this playbook again, provide fresh products, and expedite market entry.
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ElasticRun (B2B ecommerce)
ElasticRun was founded in 2016 by Sandeep Deshmukh, Shitiz Bansal, and Saurabh Nigam.
ElasticRun, a commerce platform with headquarters in Pune, received a $300 million investment from SoftBank Vision Fund 2, valuing the business at $1.5 billion and bringing it into the unicorn club.
According to Forbes, ElasticRun uses a network of delivery services to help companies access Kirana stores—mom-and-pop shops providing necessities in remote areas of India.
The startup’s Series E fundraising round also included participation from Goldman Sachs and current investor Prosus. According to Forbes, major international companies like Amazon, Coca-Cola, Kellogg’s, Procter & Gamble, and Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail have teamed with ElasticRun.
ElasticRun will use the capital to increase the value and experience that the Kirana stores provide to their customers by expanding their services countrywide, such as credit facilities for shopkeepers. Over the next five years, ElasticRun predicts that sales at Kirana outlets in rural markets would increase to $600 billion. The platform offers more than 300 brands actionable insights by unlocking data on rural commerce, in addition to delivering e-commerce to consumers in rural areas through its tech-first strategy.
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Xpressbees (Logistics)
Xpressbees, a delivery service founded in 2015, sends more than 1.5 million packages daily across 3,000 locations and 20,000 pin codes. It has more than 100 hubs around India and more than 10 lakh square feet of warehousing space.
The logistics start-up Xpressbees is based in Pune and founded by Amitava Saha, and Supam Maheshwari. It is expected to make the unicorn list in 2022 after reportedly raising $300 million in a Series F fundraising round earlier this year. The company was worth $1.2 billion after that financing.
Private equity firms Blackstone Growth, TPG Growth, and ChrysCapital are said to have taken the lead in the investment round, which involves a primary capital infusion of $100 million and a secondary share sale worth $200 million.
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Uniphore (Conversational AI)
Founded by Umesh Sachdev and Ravi Saraogi in 2008, Uniphore is based out of Chennai and California and competes with companies such as ASAPP and Cogito.
After receiving $400 million in funding at a $2.5 billion value in February 2022, conversational automation startup Uniphore joined the unicorn list of 2022. NEA, along with March Capital and other current investors, led the startup‘s Series E financing.
With that money, Uniphore was able to raise about $610 million from outside investors through February 2022. Software for conversational analytics, conversational assistants, and conversational security is offered by Uniphore.
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Hasura (GraphQL developer)
Hasura was created in 2017 by Rajoshi Ghosh and Tanmai Gopal with the goal of accelerating the development of web applications by removing barriers to data access for frontend and full-stack developers.
Hasura, a software firm with offices in San Francisco and Bengaluru, recently completed a $100 million investment round under the direction of Greenoaks Capital. According to ET, previous investors Nexus Venture Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Vertex Ventures also took part in the round.
Hasura’s valuation increased to $1 billion as a result of that fundraising, placing it on the list of India‘s unicorns for 2022. The financing was intended to be used by the business to increase go-to-market efforts for its flagship GraphQL Engine globally and to speed up research and development.
Hasura’s co-founder and CEO, Tanmai Gopal, claimed that the company’s growth has accelerated in the 18 months since it raised its $25 million Series B round. As they are forced to build apps on top of an increasing number of data sources, developers are looking for a service like Hasura.
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Cred Avenue (Fintech)
CredAvenue, a company founded in 2020, makes it easier for businesses to obtain debt financing by bringing together corporate borrowers and lenders on an internet marketplace. CredAvenue claims to have created the most complete technological stack in India to address the entire debt cycle for businesses, from disbursement through collections.
According to an ET article, the online loan marketplace CredAvenue raised $137 million in a new round led by New York-based Insight Partners, B Capital Group, and Dragoneer in March 2022, making it a unicorn.
The company’s value increased to $1.3 billion as a result of that funding round. The startup’s previous valuation was $410 million in September 2021. The company planned to expand its platform and increase the breadth of its offerings with the money raised in the most recent round. According to reports, it also intended to use the money to extend its operations across important international markets while pursuing inorganic growth through acquisitions.
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Amagi (Mediatech)
In order to pioneer cloud-based broadcast and advertising technology solutions, Baskar Subramanian, Srividhya Srinivasan, and Srinivasan KA launched Amagi in 2008. The business began by offering solutions for targeted TV advertising in India.
Amagi, a media technology company, raised $95 million in a funding round that was headed by Accel and included previous backers Norwest Venture Partners and Avataar Ventures. In March 2022, the company’s valuation after the fresh capital was above $1 billion.
Amagi is pursuing a market opportunity in the $50 billion cloud-based video content production, monetization, and distribution sector. The cooperation will give media organizations the essential efficiency and agility they need to thrive in both the established OTT and streaming TV markets as well as traditional broadcast.
According to TOI, Amagi, based in Bengaluru, began operations in 2008 as a cloud-based geo-targeted TV advertising company but changed its focus in 2018 to establish itself as a world leader in SaaS-based broadcast and linked TV. The ability to develop, operate, distribute, and monetize live, linear, and on-demand channels across cable, OTT and free ad-supported streaming TV platforms internationally has reportedly been granted to TV networks and content owners.
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Oxyzo (Fintech)
When OfBusiness Group, a software company that facilitates the procurement of raw materials and provides finance to SMEs, first started out, Oxyzo was its financing platform.
The largest series-A fundraising ever for an Indian firm, $200 million was raised by Oxyzo Financial Services as its initial outside investment in March 2022.
Oxyzo CEO Ruchi Kalra reportedly told ET that the company was valued at $1 billion after that funding, making it a unicorn. The fresh financing was co-led by Alpha Wave Global and Tiger Global with participation from Norwest Venture Partners, Matrix Partners, and Creation Investments.
She and her spouse Asish Mohapatra established themselves as India’s first pair with a unicorn each. Small and medium-sized businesses can purchase bulk raw materials like steel, diesel, food grains, and industrial chemicals from Asish’s OfBusiness, formerly known as OFB Tech Pvt.
According to Mohapatra, it was valued at more than $1 billion when SoftBank and other investors reportedly made an investment in April 2021.
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Games 24×7 (Gaming platform)
According to a Business Today story, the multi-game platform Games24x7 raised $75 million in a fundraising round headed by Malabar Investments in March 2022, valuing the company at $2.5 billion.
According to the report, Games24x7 is the third gaming start-up to reach a billion-dollar valuation, behind Mobile Premier League and Dream 11.
Games24x7 is based in Mumbai and has offices in Bengaluru, New Delhi, Miami, and Philadelphia. It was founded in 2006 by Trivikraman Thampy, an engineering graduate of IIT Bombay, and Bhavin Pandya, a graduate of Purdue University.
According to the report, the company’s products include the online rummy game RummyCircle, the fantasy portal My11Circle, and the collection of casual games U Games.
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Open (Neobanking startup)
OPEN is a neo-banking start-up that is targeted at small businesses, giving them the ability to manage cash flows, automate accounting, and receive simple access to credit lines.
Following a $50 million Series D funding round spearheaded by IIFL, the Bengaluru-based neo-banking firm Open this month achieved a valuation of $1 billion.
The fundraising effort also included contributions from current investors including Temasek, Tiger Global, and 3one4 Capital. In a statement, Neobank Open claimed that its current market value of $1 billion made it India’s 100th unicorn.
Anish Achuthan, a former employee of PayU and Citrus Pay, along with his wife, Mabel Chacko, and brother, Ajeesh Achuthan, created the Google and Visa-backed business Open in 2017.
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Physics Wallah (Edtech)
The edtech startup Physics Wallah, commonly known as PW, said in a statement that it expects to use the money for business growth, branding, the opening of more offline learning centers, and the introduction of more course options.
The edtech company Physics Wallah raised $100 million in its initial fundraising round last week, becoming India’s 101st unicorn. According to a statement made last week, according to an ET report, the company is worth $1.1 billion.
Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwar established the Edtech Company Physics Wallah, better known as PW, in 2016 as a youtube channel before later creating the app and website in 2020.
According to a statement from PW, the money will be used for business growth, branding, the opening of additional offline learning centers, and the introduction of more course options.
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Purplle (Beauty & personal care products retailer)
Taneja, Suyash Katyayani, and Rahul Dash launched the business in 2012. With seven million monthly active users and more than 1,000 products on its marketplace, including five private labels, Purplle competes with Nykaa, a more established competition.
Online retailer Purplle became India‘s 102nd unicorn just two days after the Edtech platform Physics Wallah became the country’s 101st unicorn. Last week, Purplle raised $33 million from Paramark Ventures, giving the business a $1.1 billion valuation.
Premji Invest, Blume Ventures, and Kedaara Capital, which are already investors, also took part in the round. With the most recent round included, the company has now raised $215 million. Verlinvest and Goldman Sachs are two of its prior backers.
Purplle stated that it would use the money for marketing, advertising, and enhancing its technology and brand.
