Gaining Ground: These start-ups may become unicorns in five years

At least 46 start-ups, founded after 2000, are likely to become unicorns over the next three years (gazelles), according to ASK Private Wealth Hurun India Future Unicorn Index 2024. The study showed that these start-ups have collectively secured substantial funding of $9.7 billion so far.

In the ASK Private Wealth Hurun India Future Unicorn Index 2024, the fintech sector leads with 8 gazelle companies, followed by SaaS with 6. Artificial intelligence and edtech each registered 5 gazelles. Among the top gazelles featured in the index are edtech start-up Leap Scholar, fintech start-up Money View and agritech start-up Country Delight. Following closely are agritech start-up Ninjacart and SaaS start-up MoEngage.

“The gazelles, which are the high-growth potential start-ups, have a cumulative valuation of these gazelles featured in the index experienced a year-on-year decrease of 6%, amounting to $29 billion,” the study showed.

On the other hand, the number of cheetahs has almost doubled over the last 4 years to 106, collectively securing a funding of $12.4 billion. Hurun Report defines “cheetah” as a start-up founded after 2000 that has the potential to become a unicorn in the next five years.

The cumulative valuation of these cheetahs featured in the index experienced a year-on-year increase of 10%, amounting to $29 billion. Leading the cheetah index are the fintech start-ups with 22 representations, closely followed by SaaS with 14 and e-commerce with 11.

From last year’s index, only two gazelles and one cheetah have successfully transitioned into unicorns. Zepto, the Indian grocery delivery start-up, rocketed to unicorn status in August 2023 while InCred Finance smashed through the billion-dollar barrier in December 2023, joining the unicorn club. Homegrown logistics platform Porter achieved the unicorn status recently, surpassing a valuation of $1 billion.

As many as 10 companies were promoted from cheetahs to gazelles. The list includes start-ups such as Atlan, Fibe, Saas Labs, InsuranceDekho, Pocket FM, Pixis, Freshtohome, Bounce, Carbon Clean Solutions, and K12 Techno Services.

Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and Chief Researcher, Hurun India said, “The ASK Private Wealth Hurun India Future Unicorn Index provides essential insights into the current state and future prospects of India’s start-up ecosystem. Amidst a funding winter, inflated pre-2021 valuations, and setbacks from companies like Byju’s, the once golden start-up ecosystem now faces a critical turning point. Despite 44 companies dropping out of the index over the past year, this year’s index welcomes 38 new entrants.”

“This year's index saw notable promotions. Online travel aggregator ixigo, a former cheetah, went public with a 48% premium. In 2022, ixigo was predicted to become a unicorn within five years, and it has now leaped directly to an IPO, bypassing the gazelle status. With a market cap of Rs 6,000 crore, ixigo is on track for a billion-dollar valuation. Zepto, Porter, and Incred Finance achieved unicorn status, while 10 cheetahs were promoted to gazelles, highlighting the resilience and dynamism of India’s start-up landscape,” Junaid said.