From Startups to Unicorns: 5 Fintech Companies Shaping India’s Future

India’s fintech sector is booming, outpacing global growth rates. With a market valued at over $100 billion, which companies are poised to become the next fintech unicorns? The Indian fintech market is the third largest and one of the fastest growing in the world. Consulting firm BCG estimated fintech startups in India’s ecosystem at over $100bn in 2024, noting that the sector's revenue grew by 56% annually over two years - 2022 and 2023. This is noticeably higher than the growth rate of global fintech companies, whose revenue grew by 13% per annum over the same period.

Given the high potential of the Indian market and lower financial inclusion compared to Western countries, new fintech startups are emerging rapidly every year. BCG estimates that the number of fintech companies valued between $1 million and $100 million grew from 200 in 2020 to 713 in 2024. The number of fintech unicorns with valuations above $1bn nearly tripled over the same period, rising from 7 to 20. Companies in the Soonicorns category (valuation between $0.5m - $1bn) numbered 17 in 2024 as compared to 5 in 2020.

According to BCG, after obtaining fintech unicorn status, an Indian fintech company goes public on average in 3.5 years. Initial public offering filings have doubled in recent years, from 75 per year in 2018-2019 to 120-140 between 2021 and 2023.

The Indian market undoubtedly remains a promising platform for fintech startups. Based on our research, here are the top 5 rapidly growing fintech companies in India that have the potential to become future unicorns.

Juspay: The Bengaluru-based company was founded in 2012 and can now be categorised as Soonicorns. This fintech startup in India is one of the key players in payment integration. Notably, the company provides such a service as mobile checkouts to e-commerce platforms that facilitate online shopping and payments for consumers. Last year, the company launched its first payment platform for SMEs in Europe and the US. To expand outside India, Juspay is negotiating to raise funding, aiming to become the first unicorn in 2025.

Pension Box: Founded in 2021, the company was the first online retirement planning platform. The platform offers a range of products that allow individuals to save up for retirement and make investments according to their future pension plans. The fintech unicorn in India was founded by two brothers Kuldeep Parashar and Shivam Parashar. They tackled retirement planning for their parents during the pandemic and found a big gap in the Indian market: millions of citizens did not have any pension plan. After launching a pension app in 2022, the brothers raised $160K in investor money, and in 2024, the company partnered with major HR platform Pocket HRMS - this collaboration opened up access to private retirement planning to employees of Indian companies.

Viva Money: A rising star in the online lending market, in late 2023 Viva Money launched India's first app that provides personal lines of credit to users. The fintech unicorn in the Indian landscape is evolving, and Viva Money is positioning itself as a strong contender in this space. The online lending platform is so far available to the residents of three states - Karnataka, Gujarat, and Maharashtra - and is also planning an rapid expansion to other states. Users have already experienced the benefits of the new product: a credit limit of up to ₹2,00,000, a grace period of up to 51 days, and the convenience of the seamless app - the process from applying for a loan to receiving money is remote and paperless. In its first year in the Indian market, Viva Money had 35,000 individuals as customers and is expected to grow to 1,60,000 in 2025 with a loan portfolio of ₹15500 million.

Kredmint: The online lending platform for SMEs was founded in 2022 by former top managers of unicorn Paytm. The same year, the company raised $2 million in funds. Among emerging fintech unicorns in India, Kredmint stands out by offering SMEs diverse financing solutions through strategic lender partnerships, from funding the company's own operations to providing loans to its vendors and customers, for example through Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) instalment schemes. Over 3,00,000 merchants have become customers of the company and the number of invoices has reached 1.2 million.

Kashware: A Gurgaon-based company has come up with an innovative solution that integrates all the cards, wallets (including crypto wallets), and payment applications of a user into a single secure application and a single card. All accounts are consolidated into a single ecosystem, enabling seamless payments. The company's flagship product – KashwareKard – is India's first all-in-one card product. There are various bonus programmes and rewards for using this card for payments. The fintech startup was founded in 2019 and has raised funding totalling $1.3 million in 5 rounds in 2020 and 2021. The company may raise new funds in 2025.

With India's fintech space growing at an incredible pace, these companies are on track to make a big impact. It’s only a matter of time before we see the next wave of unicorns emerge.