India could have 50 more startups with unicorn status in 2022: Report

According to a report given by PwC India, the country has 50 startups that have shown potential to enter the prestigious unicorn club in 2022. By the end of this year, at least 100 new-age companies are expected to be valued above the USD 1 billion mark.

In 2021, the country saw a significant surge in company valuations in both the listed as well as unlisted space, which was driven by liquidity. The startup ecosystem in the country was injected with over USD 10 billion in the October-December quarter alone.

PwC’s partner for startups & deals, Amit Nawka was quoted saying that the base of the companies in late-stage and growth stage agreements have seen significant improvement in 2021, depicting a larger set of companies that have the potential to reach unicorn status.

He further stated that market sentiments are favoring startups, and with the large base of such well-performing firms, the number of unicorns is expected to go beyond 100 by the end of this year.

A report given by the Hurun Research Institute in December 2021 had claimed that India is the third-largest nation for unicorns in the world, but trails behind the U.S. and China by a rather wide margin.

Notably, startups in India had managed to raise over USD 35 billion in 1,000 rounds of funding last year, which was 1.5 times higher than in 2020. Software as a Service (SaaS), EdTech, and fintech sectors have been the highest performing areas during this period.

Delhi National Capital Region (NCR), and Bengaluru were deemed to be the funding hotspots, with nearly three-fourths of the total fund-raising activities by private equity funds and venture capital firms taking place in these cities.

The report listed companies like Whatfix, Khatabook, Ninjacart, Ecom Express, Inshorts, Pepperfry, and Livspace as among the top 50 potential unicorns due to their history of having raised capitals of over USD 100 million so far.

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https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/50-more-startups-with-the-potential-to-be-unicorns-in-2022-report-122011700362_1.html