The year of the unicorns

/ 4 min read

Last year, despite the pandemic ravaging Indian economy, there was one silver lining: India saw the rise of 11 new unicorns. Here is a list.

Illustration by Anirban Ghosh
Credits: Illustration by Anirban Ghosh

Last year, the Covid-19 pandemic dealt a major financial blow to many businesses across sectors. But the pandemic has had a silver lining: In 2020, India saw the rise of 11 new unicorns—which are basically privately-held companies that have reached a valuation of $1 billion, or more. This is the highest ever in a single year. In the last four months of this year alone, however, India witnessed about 10 new companies achieving unicorn status. The list includes PharmEasy, Meesho, Gupshup, Groww, Cred, Innovaccer, Sharechat, Digit Insurance, Five Star Business Finance, and Infra.Market.

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Here is a list of those 11 unicorns of 2020.

Education technology (edtech) companies were among the most funded players last year, including Unacademy which raised $150 million in a funding round led by Japan’s SoftBank in September. The investment valued Unacademy at $1.45 billion, making it the second edtech company after Byju’s to be part of India’s unicorn club. Unacademy started first as a YouTube channel for educational videos and now provides live interactive classes.

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Lock screen platform Glance, which is a subsidiary of InMobi, in December raised $145 million from Internet giant Google and existing investor Mithril Capital, catapulting the company to unicorn status. The Glance app uses artificial intelligence to create personalised content of news, sports, entertainment, and video games in multiple languages such as English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Bahasa on the lock screen of Android smartphones.

Last year, the eight-yearold Nykaa raised ₹166 crore as primary investment from Steadview Capital at a valuation of $1.2 billion, making its entry into the unicorn club. Having started in 2012, the beauty and fashion retailer was a late entrant into the e-commerce market, but being a specialised retailer helped it stay strongly in the game. Nykaa retails over 2,500 brands across beauty and fashion through its online and offline stores