The resilient, fast-growing, liberalized economy of India has become home to several prominent startups that have achieved unicorn valuation i.e., a valuation of the company above $1 billion. From education to fintech to ecommerce, these unicorn startups come from a variety of sectors in the economy. By providing innovative solutions, making the best use of technology and keeping a customer-centric approach, these startups have achieved tremendous growth since their inception and have managed to adapt and deal with the tough challenges encountered in the business environment. Their success stories continue to inspire many people and help promote an entrepreneurial mindset throughout the country.
Without further ado, here is our list of the 10 highest valued startups in India 2021:
BYJU’S ($16.5 billion)
The most valuable EduTech company in not only India but the entire world, BYJU’S was founded in 2011. It is an online tutoring app that provides paid educational content for classes 4-12 and training for examinations such as IIT-JEE, GRE, GMAT, IAS etc. Its early-learn app, in collaboration with Disney, provides education videos for classes 1-3. With its acquisition of Aakash Education Services and recent $350 million funding round, it has become the 11th most valuable startup globally. It has renowned investors such as Tencent Holdings, Sequoia Capital, Blackstone etc. and it generated a total revenue of $390 million USD in 2020.
One97 Communications ($16 billion)
One97 Communications is a leading fintech company of India, and is the parent company of Paytm. It was founded in 2000 in Noida, and is one of the highest valued fintech companies today. Paytm does not only serve as a digital payments wallet, but has also forayed into ecommerce with Paytm Mall, stockbroking with Paytm Money, gaming with Paytm First and offers many other digital services to its customers. It is planning to raise 12000 crores through its proposed IPO scheduled in the October-December quarter or this year.
OYO Rooms ($9 billion)
Founded in 2013, OYO Rooms is a multinational hospitality chain of leased and franchised hotels, homes and living spaces. It has budget hotels and homes that aim to provide an affordable stay to travelers in India and abroad. In 2019, it registered a total revenue of $951 million, making it one of the leading companies in the hospitality industry. It also is in a strategic partnership with Airbnb that allows OYO to list their hotels on Airbnb’s platform, and is set to grow further globally.
Ola Cabs ($6.3 billion)
Ola is a multinational provider of ridesharing, vehicle rental and taxi services, and is one of the largest cab services in India. It was founded in 2010, and achieved a revenue of $360 million in 2019. It has investments from several venture capitalists such as Softbank, Tencent and Tiger Global. Despite facing competition from Uber, Meru and other cab services, it has grown to become one of the most successful startups worldwide.
Zomato ($5.4 billion)
Zomato is a leading restaurant aggregator and food delivery service that was founded in 2008. It offers information about restaurants and food delivery in the Zomato app. It served 24 countries and was available in 10000+ cities in 2019. It acquired its competitor UberEats by offering 10% of its equity. It had a revenue of nearly $350 million in 2020, and is one of the leading food delivery services in India.
Dream 11 ($5 billion)
Dream 11 was founded in 2011, and it is an Indian fantasy sports platform that allows people to make their own teams in cricket, football, basketball, hockey and kabaddi. It had 800 million users in 2020, and a total revenue of $103 million in 2019. It is the first Indian gaming company to become a unicorn startup, and it benefits from the growing popularity of esports throughout the world.
Swiggy ($5 billion)
An archrival of Zomato, Swiggy is also a leading food delivery service provider in India. It was founded in 2014, and had a revenue of about $390 million in 2020. It also launched its grocery delivery service: Swiggy Genie, during the pandemic. It has partnerships with Burger King for delivery services, and with ICICI Bank for its digital wallet Swiggy Money. It serves 300+ cities in India, and is a rising startup that provides strong competition to Zomato.
BrowserStack ($4 billion)
BrowserStack is a platform that allows developers to test their websites and mobile apps on different browsers, operating systems and mobile devices in real-time. Its latest series B funding has helped it enter the list of the top 10 highest valued startups of India. It has 2 million registered developers and 25000 paid users on its platform. It first raised external capital in 2018, and is one of the leading profitable tech startups in India.
Udaan ($3.1 billion)
Udaan is a B2B company engaged in ecommerce, and helps in transaction logistics between buyers and sellers in its platform. It allows manufacturers from over 80 cities to deliver and sell products to above 800 cities in India. It was founded in 2016, and is the fastest company to become a unicorn startup in India. Its total revenue is estimated to be around 20-25 million USD, and has tremendous growth potential with increasing adoption of ecommerce and online purchasing.
Delhivery ($3 billion)
Delhivery is an Indian supply chain and delivery services company. It was founded in 2011, and offers logistics services to several ecommerce companies. It claims a capacity of delivering over 1.5 million packages a day, and has 40000 employees and 15000 vehicles to support its ambitions in supply chain management. It aims for an IPO in the future, and is one of the largest and fastest-growing startups in India.
To conclude, these are the highest valued startups in India 2021. Additionally, Walmart’s foreign subsidiaries FlipKart and PhonePe were also Indian-owned startups, while Snapdeal suffered a major drop in valuation pushing it out of the list. All these companies are a testament to the rising and robust startup culture in India, and an inspiration to existing and future entrepreneurs in the country. If you liked this article, please share and comment below.
