It's Indeed a 'Techade'
W e entered 2022 with bang and couldn't have expected any better for India’s startup ecosystem. Having raised $11.7 Bn in the first quarter of the year in venture capital funding, the country has already made a fortune of 14 unicorns this year, including its 100th unicorn. From the first unicorn in 2011 to completing a century of startups valued at a billion-dollar or more in almost a decade, Indian entrepreneurship has achieved a historic feat. This gives an average of 10 unicorns a year, however, the real push came in the last 16 months or so. Since the start of 2021, India has minted more than half of its 100 unicorns – 58 to be precise.
An Indian ecommerce unicorn's valuation more than doubled last year to $5 billion, after marquee investors such as SoftBank and Fidelity pumped in hundreds of millions of dollars. They aimed to ride a boom in India's tech startups, which raised a record $35 billion in new funds in 2021, but the tide has since withdrawn, as corporate governance concerns loom large for investors facing a new uncertainty in global markets. This is just one of the many examples of once Unicorn firms, tumbling through now. There is a notable slowdown and some industry moguls have coined the term ‘Zombie Unicorns’ for such startups. With more than 60,000 startups in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has labelled the current decade a 'techade', in which he added, 'New unicorns are coming up every few weeks.' However, April was the first month in more than a year that India had no new 'unicorns', a term for startups with valuations above $1 billion.
This needs to change in the forth coming months. Indian companies seldom lay back in peace, as they inevitably face periodic challenges. Most often, it is the decline in demand, and the consequent supply side disruptions. The recent pandemic ensured that they faced both simultaneously. India Inc has managed to tackle this double whammy well. Its only to see whether the short term glory will turn into a spotlight success for these unicorns. Do let us know what you think.
An Indian ecommerce unicorn's valuation more than doubled last year to $5 billion, after marquee investors such as SoftBank and Fidelity pumped in hundreds of millions of dollars. They aimed to ride a boom in India's tech startups, which raised a record $35 billion in new funds in 2021, but the tide has since withdrawn, as corporate governance concerns loom large for investors facing a new uncertainty in global markets. This is just one of the many examples of once Unicorn firms, tumbling through now. There is a notable slowdown and some industry moguls have coined the term ‘Zombie Unicorns’ for such startups. With more than 60,000 startups in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has labelled the current decade a 'techade', in which he added, 'New unicorns are coming up every few weeks.' However, April was the first month in more than a year that India had no new 'unicorns', a term for startups with valuations above $1 billion.
This needs to change in the forth coming months. Indian companies seldom lay back in peace, as they inevitably face periodic challenges. Most often, it is the decline in demand, and the consequent supply side disruptions. The recent pandemic ensured that they faced both simultaneously. India Inc has managed to tackle this double whammy well. Its only to see whether the short term glory will turn into a spotlight success for these unicorns. Do let us know what you think.
