Unicorn refers to a privately held startup that has achieved a $1 billion valuation. A mandatory criterion of being termed a ‘unicorn’ is that the entity has to be only privately owned. The term ‘unicorn’ originally refers to the single-horned mythical animal and is used to emphasize the rarity of startups having a $1 billion valuation.
A December 2021 report by the Hurun Research Institute had said India is the third-largest host to unicorns globally but trails the US and China by a wide margin. A report by PwC said $35 billion was raised by Indian startups in over 1,000 rounds of funding in 2021, which was 1.5 times higher than the previous year. Edutech, software as a service and fintech sectors witnessed the highest activity.
Here are eight start-up companies that have potential to earn the coveted ‘unicorn’ status in 2022:
- Livspace
Livspace is an interior design startup that offers a platform that connects people to designers, services, and products. Livspace has raised a total of $251.7M in funding over 9 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on Nov 10, 2021. Livspace is funded by 18 investors including Saint-Gobain and Trifecta Capital Advisors. The omnichannel home interior and renovation platform has been operating in 13 Indian cities, along with an office in Singapore since 2019. The seven-year-old company was valued at $500 million when it raised $90 million in December 2019. However, the company is in talks with investors to raise $200 million, which will increase its post-money market valuation to $1.3 billion, thereby entering the unicorn club in early 2022.
- Ecom Express
Ecom Express is a logistics solutions company that allows for customization, scalability, and delivery service processing.This New Delhi-based firm has raised a total of $485.4M in funding over 6 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on Mar 9, 2021. Converted to a public company in November, 2021, their IPO had an approximate $1.8 billion evaluation.
Ecom Express is funded by 4 investors, CDC Group and Partners Group being the most recent. Ecom Express invested in Paperfly on Jan 13, 2021.
- Practo
Practo is a medical health platform that connects patients with healthcare providers through booking appointments, check-ups, and consultations. With a $228.2 million funding, the company has 14 investors, pegged at a market valuation of $905 million.
- Ninjacart
Ninjacart is a business-to-business fresh produce supply chain that connects farmers, manufactures, and brands to retailers directly. Ninjacart has raised a total of $358.2M in funding over 14 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on Dec 13, 2021. Funded by 20 investors, Flipkart and Qualcomm Ventures are the newest. Backed by Walmart, this Bengaluru-headquartered startup has hit a valuation of approximately $700 million.
- Khatabook
Founded in 2018, Khatabook is a company providing an accounting service for small and medium-sized businesses. It operates the Android-based Khatabook app that enables companies to keep a digital log of their financial transactions and accept payments online. With a market valuation of more than $600 million, this Bangalore-headquartered company has 36 investors with a funding of $186.5 million. The digital-ledger app had 10 million-plus downloads within a year of launch, along with more than 3 million active merchants on its platform and has around 7 million registrations. The M.S.Dhoni-backed fintech startup has gained a total revenue of INR 19.1 Cr in the financial year ending on March 31, 2021.
- Whatfix
Whatfix is a digital platform that helps businesses simplify their training and support efforts with accessible contextual information. Founded by Vara Kumar Namburu and Khadim Batti in 2013, its customers include beer-maker Heineken, online fashion retailer Myntra and online retailer Takealot. The San Jose-headquartered company raised a funding of $139.8 million, with Japanese group Softbank being its latest investor. Whatfix did not disclose its market valuation but a person close to the matter pegged it at $600 million.
- Inshorts
Inshorts is an aggregator app that summarizes news articles in 60 words and covers a wide-range of topics, including tech and business.Founded in 2013 by Azhar Iqubal, Deepit Purkayastha and Anunay Arunav, the company has a market valuation of $550 million. Vy Capital and Tanglin Venture Partners are its most recent investors, increasing its funding to $164.9 million. The app has more than 15M downloads across Android and iOS, and 3B page views per month (Android).
- Pepperfry
Pepperfry is an online home and lifestyle shopping store selling products with cash on delivery facilities, based in Mumbai. Pepperfry was valued at around $462 million as per Fintrackr’s estimates. The decade-old company was founded by Ambareesh Murty and Ashish Shah has raised a total of $285.3M in funding over 10 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on Nov 23, 2021. Pepperfry is funded by 13 investors, with V. Ravichandar and Burjorjee Family Trust being the latest.
Note: These are predictions based on approximations and publicly available data. They do not hold any value in the market. All figures are obtained from Crunchbase.
