ORIOS VENTURE

PARTNERS

INDIA TECH UNICORN REPORT 2021

A DECADE IN A YEAR
India saw 46 Unicorns in 2021 alone, more than doubling the total number of
Unicorns to 90. Indian startups in 2021 raised a total of USD 42 Bn, up from
USD 11.5 Bn in 2020. India has the 3rd largest start-up ecosystem in the world
with ~60,000 start-ups. The Indian unicorns are flourishing in this fast-paced
and dynamic economy. These startups are not only developing innovative
solutions and technologies but are generating large-scale employment. Today, 1
out of 13 unicorns globally was born in India.

This Report Aims to Cover

o India’s Unicorn Landscape
o India VS The World
o 2021 Unicorn Metrics
o Special Insights – fastest, slowest and most valuable
o Founder Details
Orios Venture Partners - India Tech Unicorn Report 2021
 BUILDING THE UNICORN STORY
Unicorns in 2021 Sector with most Unicorns City with Most Unicorns Fastest Unicorn

46 FinTech Bangalore Mensa Brands

Slowest Unicorn Most Valuable Unicorn Years to Unicorn 2021 Engineer Founders

Five Star
Business Finance Flipkart 7.8 79.8%

Orios Venture Partners - India Tech Unicorn Report 2021

 INDIA SAW 46 UNICORNS IN 2021
TAKING THE TOTAL TALLY TO 90

50 46
Unicorns
45

40

35

30

25

20

15
12
9 10
10

5 4
1 1 1 2 2 2
0
0
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

*Nazara, MapmyIndia and Indiamart turned unicorns after listing Orios Venture Partners - India Tech Unicorn Report 2021
 3RD LARGEST UNICORN HUB IN THE WORLD
ADDING MORE UNICORNS THAN UK IN 2021

Unicorns before 2021 - 233 2021 Unicorns - 254

Total Unicorns - 487

USA

Unicorns before 2021 - 237 2021 Unicorns - 74

Total Unicorns - 301

China 89%
Unicorns before 2021 - 44 2021 Unicorns - 46

Total Unicorns - 90
India

Unicorns before 2021 – 24 2021 Unicorns - 15

Total Unicorns - 39
UK

Source: Economic Times Orios Venture Partners - India Tech Unicorn Report 2021
7.8 YEARS TO TURN UNICORN IN 2021
DOWN FROM 9.9 IN 2020
Year # Unicorns Average # Years to Unicorn* Key Startups

2010 1 10.0

2011 1 7.0

2012 1 5.0

2013 2 13.0

2014 2 11.5

2015 4 5.8

2016 2 4.5

2017 0 -

2018 9 6.9

2019 10 9.9

2020 12 9.9

2021 46 7.8**

*Average # years to Unicorn is the time gap between the founding year and the year in which the startup turned unicorn.
**Five Star Business Finance took 37 years to turn unicorn. Excluding Five Star Business Finance, average # years taken by 2021 unicorns to achieve their status is 7.2

Orios Venture Partners - India Tech Unicorn Report 2021

 33 TURNED UNICORN IN LESS THAN 5 YEARS

14
13 13 13
12

10

8
# Unicorns

8
7 7
6 6
6
5
4
4

2 2 2
2
1 1
0 0 0
0
Less than 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 or
1 more
# Years to Unicorn
Orios Venture Partners - India Tech Unicorn Report 2021
BANGALORE REMAINS THE LARGEST UNICORN HUB
FOLLOWED BY DELHI & MUMBAI

City Unicorns in 2020 Unicorns in 2021 Total

Bangalore 6 18 35

Delhi 3 13 29

Mumbai 1 11 16

Chennai 0 2 4

Pune 1 1 4

Jaipur 0 1 1

Hyderabad 1 0 1

„ Bangalore has the highest number of unicorns and has emerged as the 7th largest unicorn hub of the world
„ Mumbai saw a 3.2x increase in the total number of Unicorns
„ Jaipur joins the list of Unicorn cities in 2021 with CarDekho
Orios Venture Partners - India Tech Unicorn Report 2021
 0
4
8
12

0
4
8
12
16
20
Fi Fi
nT nT
ec ec
h h

11

18
E- E-
C C
om om
m m
er er
ce ce
6

15
Sa
aS Sa
M aS

13
5

ar
ke M
tp ar
la ke
ce tp
la

10
H ce
4

ea
FOLLOWED BY E-COMMERCE

lth
Te H
ch ea
lth

5
Te
M ch
4

ed Ed
ia T
& ec
E h

5
nt Ed
er T
ta ec
in h
3

m
en
t 4
Lo
gi D
2C
3

st
ic
s
3

G
G am
am in
in g
2

g
3

Fo
od C
Te ry
pt
ch o
2

Pr
India 2021 Unicorn Sectors

op
D T
All Indian Unicorns - Sectors

2C ec
3

h
1

H
R Lo
Te gi
ch st
2

ic
s
1

C
FINTECH CONTINUES TO DOMINATE

ry
pt H
o R
2

Te
Pr ch
1

op
T ec Fo
h
1

od
C Te
M on ch
1

ob su
El ili m
ec ty er
S
1

tr M er
ic ed vi
Ve ia ce
C & s
1

hi
on cl
es E
su nt
1

m er
ta
er in
S m
er en
vi
t
1

ce
s
1

Orios Venture Partners - India Tech Unicorn Report 2021

 2021 UNICORN EXITS (IPO/ACQUIRED)
2021 was a landmark year for Indian startups going public. Indian Unicorn exits in 2021
A total of 11 Indian startups (including 8 unicorns) raised
Unicorn IPO Listing Returns after Listing**
~USD 7.16Bn through public offerings.
Nazara**** March 2021 16.37%
One97 Communication (PayTM) raised India’s largest
ever IPO with an issue size of INR 18,300 cr. (~USD Zomato July 2021 +19.52%
2.46Bn). Further, Zomato has the highest market CarTrade* August 2021 -46.56%
capitalisation (USD14.8Bn), among the listed Indian Freshworks*** September 2021 -39.63%
startups, followed by Nykaa (USD 13.5Bn) & Freshworks
Nykaa November 2021 5.06%
(USD 6.9Bn).
PolicyBazaar November 2021 -17.42%
PayTM November 2021 -31.71%
The following unicorns are expected to exit through public
offerings in 2022: Mapmyindia**** December 2021 6.08%

„ Delhivery „ Ola Unicorn Exit Comments

„ Flipkart
„ Ixigo „ Byju’s „ Pinelabs Messenger services were
Hike* January 2021
stopped. Current status is unclear.
„ OYO „ PharmEasy „ Cars24
„ Droom „ Snapdeal BigBasket May 2021 Acquired by Tata for USD 1.2Bn

BillDesk August 2021 Acquired by PayU for USD 4.7Bn

*Status not clear/No longer a Unicorn
**Returns from Date of Listing to 31st December 2021 Note: Reliance Retail acquired a controlling stake in
***Listed on NASDAQ, USA listed unicorn Just Dial for ~USD 479Mn*
****Nazara and MapmyIndia turned unicorns after listing Orios Venture Partners - India Tech Unicorn Report 2021
MOST VALUABLE UNICORN - FLIPKART
Overview of the Business
„ Flipkart is one of India’s leading e-commerce marketplaces. It was
founded in October 2007. This online venture was initially started
as an online bookstore and later expanded to more products $37.6Bn Raising its seed round in 2008,
Walmart-owned Flipkart is the most
„ As of now, the company offers 80 million+ products spread across valued start-up in India. Flipkart was
Valuation of
more than 80 categories such as mobile phones & accessories, valued at $37.6 Bn after raising $3.6
the company (July ’21) bn in July 2021
computers and accessories, laptops, books and e-books, clothes
and accessories, sports and fitness, baby care, games and toys,
jewelry, footwear, and the list goes on

•According to Binny on factors which INVESTORS

differentiated Flipkart, “Factors which I would
say that were monumental for us was taking
a technology first approach in everything we
did, whether it was on the marketing side, the
supply-chain side or even on the pricing side.
I think the one takeaway for everybody was
that technology is the way to scale…The next
would be setting the bar really high for talent.
So, the other thing we learnt earlier on was
Binny Bansal & that the only way to scale was to hire great
talent.”
Sachin Bansal
(Co-Founders)

Orios Venture Partners - India Tech Unicorn Report 2021

FASTEST UNICORN – MENSA BRANDS
Overview of the Business
„ Mensa is trying to build a ‘tech-led house of brands’ and are
currently working with 12 brands
„ They scale the brands they work with by leveraging its expertise in $1.2Bn Took only 6 months to turn Unicorn
in Nov’21 round after raising the first
e-commerce, technology, marketing, category management and Valuation of $50Mn round in May ‘21
demand planning the company (Nov ’21)
„ They take brands global and drive their D2C sales. Mensa's aim is
to exponentially grow brands in the Home, Apparel, Beauty and
Personal Care verticals

“We want to create what I would say is a modern

INVESTORS
age version of a Unilever or an Inditex of digital
first brands”.

“Our deep focus on technology and digital brand

building, as well as our people, has allowed us to
grow 3X of our initial plan and we at Mensa
Brands are primed to build global breakout
brands from India.

“More than 50% of our brands are led by women

founders and that Mensa supports small- and
Ananth Narayan medium-sized businesses across the country.”
Founder

Orios Venture Partners - India Tech Unicorn Report 2021

SLOWEST UNICORN – FIVE STAR FINANCE
Overview of the Business
„ The company provides secured business loans of around Rs 2-10

$1.4Bbn
lakh to micro-entrepreneurs Founded in 1984, the company took 37
years to reach the Unicorn status. It has
„ The loans are given based on the company’s evaluation of the
also filed for an IPO with a valuation of
borrower household cashflows coupled against the security of the Valuation of over $3 bn.
borrower’s house collateral the company (Mar ’21)
„ Five star Business in 2021 raised USD 234mn at a valuation of
USD 1.4Bn to become a unicorn. The Company was focused on
consumer and auto loans when it was founded (1984). The
company shifted focus to SMEs in 2005 and saw its business
grow. Since 2012, the company has grown 20 times

INVESTORS
“We have created a niche for ourselves
empowering small businesses and the self-
employed across corners of India”

“What is happening today is that the lenders and

companies who come now into this field don't
have this time to learn. They learn only after
when they grow to a INR 1,000 crores or INR
2,000 crores value. By that time the mistake is
already done. To rectify that mistake, it takes
D Lakshmipathy, more time,”
Chairman and MD

Orios Venture Partners - India Tech Unicorn Report 2021

 INDIA HAS SEEN 4 DECACORNS SO FAR
„ Flipkart, the Bangalore based e-commerce „ Byju’s is India's largest ed-tech company
company, is India’s most valuable start-up, offering personalized learning programs for
with a valuation of USD 37.6Bn classes 1 - 12 (K-12), and aspirants of
competitive exams like JEE, IAS etc.
„ Flipkart became a unicorn in 2012 and a
decacorn in January 2018 „ Byju’s became a unicorn in 2018 and a
decacorn in 2020
„ In August 2018, Walmart acquired a 77%
controlling interest in Flipkart for USD 16Bn „ In 2021, Byju’s has spent ~USD 2.5Bn in
acquiring 10 companies
„ Flipkart’s key subsidiaries include Myntra, Flipkart Byju’s
PhonePe and eKart amongst others „ Byju’s is also exploring options to offer its
Initial Public Offering in 2022

$10Bn
„ PayTM is a FinTech company specialising in „ Oyo Rooms, founded by Ritesh Agarwal, is
digital payments, e-commerce and financial a Gurgaon based aggregator for budget
services hotels in India

„ PayTM became a unicorn in 2015 and PayTM OYO Rooms „ Oyo became a unicorn in 2018 and a
further became a decacorn in 2018 after the decacorn in July 2019
secondary shares sale of ESOPs
„ Oyo filed its DRHP in October 2021 seeking
„ PayTM announced its IPO in November 2021 to raise ~USD 1.2Bn through the IPO
of ~USD 2.46Bn
„ Oyo rooms is currently operating in more
than 80 nations globally

Orios Venture Partners - India Tech Unicorn Report 2021

13 FEMALE UNICORN FOUNDERS
8 OF THEM IN 2021

Falguni Nayar Gazal Kalra Ruchi Kalra

Founder and CEO – Nykaa Founder – Rivigo Founder – OfBusiness

Divya Gokulnath Ghazal Alagh Saritha Katikaneni

Founder – Byju’s Founder – MamaEarth Founder – Zenoti

Orios Venture Partners - India Tech Unicorn Report 2021

 13 FEMALE UNICORN FOUNDERS
8 OF THEM IN 2021

Ruchi Deepak Rashmi Verma Priyanka Gill Upasana Taku

Founder – Founder – MapmyIndia Founder – Glamm Founder – MobiKwik
ACKO Insurance

Radhika Aggarwal Kavitha Garima Sawhney

Founder – ShopClues Subramaniam Founder – Pristyn Care
Founder – Upstox

“I think there is an absolutely big need for women to promote themselves, to be confident, to know that you have to compete. All this requires pushing yourself,
and making sure you get heard. And when women nominate themselves, that’s a very good sign. That shows self-confidence.”
- Kiran Mazumdar Shaw
(Chairperson, Biocon)
Orios Venture Partners - India Tech Unicorn Report 2021
 80% UNICORN FOUNDERS ARE ENGINEERS
Unicorn Founders - Unicorn founders from top
Engineering Background Indian institutions

Non-Engineers
20.17%

45 105
IIM/ISB IIT Graduates
Graduates
79.83%
Engineers

„ The number of engineer unicorn founders is almost four times the number of non-engineer Unicorn founders
„ The top institutes of the country have been the pioneers with 105 founders from IITs
„ 2/3rd of the Indian Unicorns have at least one or more founders from IITs, IIMs or ISB

Orios Venture Partners - India Tech Unicorn Report 2021

 THANK YOU

ORIOS VENTURE
PARTNERS