India has 3rd-highest number of unicorns, gazelles: Hurun’s Global Unicorn Index 2023

India has some of the highest number of unicorns and gazelles, according to Hurun’s Global Unicorn Index 2023. India bagged the third spot with 68 new unicorns, which is third only to the US' 666 unicorns and China’s 316. However, none of the Indian startups made it to the top 10 list.

India’s 68 new unicorns is an increase of 14 unicorns in one year and 47 per cent since pre-COVID. According to the report, the top-most unicorn in India is online educator BYJU’S that is worth $22 billion, followed by food delivery platform Swiggy and fantasy sports platform Dream11, both valued at $8 billion each. 

BYJU’S was also among the top 10 unicorns to see the highest increase in valuation since pre-COVID.

The Hurun report also mentioned that 70 unicorns were started by Indian co-founders outside of India, specifically in the US (64), two in the UK, and 1 each in Germany, Singapore, Indonesia and Mexico. 

India also had the third-highest number of gazelles, but was fifth when it came to the number of Hurun Global 500 companies. 

According to Hurun, a gazelle is a start-up funded in the 2000s, is worth over $500 million, is not listed yet, and is most likely to become a unicorn within three years. Hurun Global 500 is a list of the 500 most valuable non-state-controlled businesses in the world. 

The report added that China and India have a higher percentage of gazelles and unicorns, which is likely to translate into a higher percentage of Hurun Global 500s in the course of next 5 years. In the same way, France, Canada and Australia that have a smaller percentage are likely to lose ground in the Hurun Global 500 list. 

Bengaluru is one of the five cities, apart from San Francisco, Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen, that have more start-ups and are likely to contribute more to the Hurun Global 500s within 5 years. 

Also read: Be prepared to welcome multiple Indian spacetech unicorns before 2030, says Kalaari Capital’s Ravinder Singh