Neobank “Open”, a Bengaluru-based startup on Friday became the 100th Unicorn of India, in what is termed as a significant milestone for the government’s push for the startup ecosystem in the country.
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal highlighted the achievement in a tweet.
India Hits A Century In Style! 💯
Bengaluru-based startup become country's 100th Unicorn.🦄
India = Ideas + Innovation + Investmentshttps://t.co/KcNQMIEokA
— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) May 2, 2022
The wave of Unicorns in India has soared to new heights as the country witnessed the birth of its 100th Unicorn on 2nd May 2022. Today, 1 out of every 10 unicorns globally have been born in India.
What is a Unicorn?
The term ‘Unicorn’ refers to the rarest of the rare startups who become Unicorns attaining a valuation of more than USD 1 billion.
While every startup has its unique journey to becoming a unicorn, the minimum and maximum time is taken by a startup to become a unicorn in India are 6 months and 26 years, respectively.
The Indian Startup Ecosystem, the third-largest in the world in the number of Unicorns, as of 5th May 2022, is home to 100 unicorns with a total valuation of USD 332.7 billion.
2021 experienced a huge surge in the number of unicorns, registering a total of 44 startups entering the Unicorn club through the year with a total valuation of USD 93 billion.
In the first four months of 2022, India has given birth to 14 unicorns with a total valuation of USD 18.9 billion.
The entrepreneurial spirit exists throughout the length and breadth of the country and is evident by the spread of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) recognized startups across 647 Indian districts encompassing all 36 States and Union Territories.
Startup India Initiative 2016
Since the launch of the Startup India initiative on 16th January 2016, more than 69,000 startups have been recognized in the country till 2nd May 2022.
Innovation in India is not just limited to certain sectors; we have recognized startups solving problems in 56 diverse sectors with 13% from IT services, 9% from healthcare and life sciences, 7% from education, 5% from professional and commercial services, 5% from agriculture, and 5% food & beverages.
Till FY 2016-17, approximately one unicorn was being added every year. Over the past four years (since FY 2017-18), this number has been increasing exponentially, with a whopping 66% Year-on-Year growth in the number of additional unicorns being added every year.
As we hit the milestone of a century in Indian unicorns, the homegrown startup ecosystem continues to work effectively towards the mission of self-reliance and self-sustainability as they have been in the past.
The vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat is rooted deeply in the Startup Ecosystem and shall continue to prevail in the coming years.
