As we head into the second month of 2022, the Indian startup ecosystem has already added nine new entrants to the coveted $1 billion valuation club. The country is already cheering in its new unicorns
(advanced analytics), (edtech), (HRtech), (social commerce), (blockchain), (home interior and renovation), (B2B ecommerce), (logistics), and the latest being (conversational AI).And, there is more to come. According to a PwC report, over 50 Indian startups have the potential to enter the unicorn club startups valued at over $1 billion each in 2022.
The year 2021 saw the emergence of 44 startup unicorns against a cumulative number of 33 unicorns from 2011 to 2020.
Given the record-breaking year of 2021, in terms of fund inflow and the emergence of unicorns from the Indian startup ecosystem, 2022 is expected to continue the momentum. Lets have a look at the nine unicorns of 2022.
Fractal
New York, US, and Mumbai-headquartered artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced analytics solutions provider ?Fractal?, in January, announced raising $360 million from TPG Capital Asia, the Asia-focused private equity platform of global alternative asset firm TPG.
The definitive investment agreement between the parties is expected to close by the first quarter of 2022. According to media reports, Fractal was valued at over $1 billion as part of the funding round.
The current round will take the total equity capital raised by the company to $685 million and see TPGs Puneet Bhatia and Vivek Mohan join Fractals board of directors.
LEAD
Edtech startup
(previously LEAD School)in January raised Series E funding of $100 millionat a valuation of $1.1 billion. Thefirst edtech unicorn of 2022is also the first school edtech player to enter the coveted club.The round was led by WestBridge Capital and saw participation from GSV Ventures. The companys valuation has doubled in the last nine months on the back of strong growth in its operating and financial metrics. The current round is its fifth round of institutional funding since 2017.
LEAD will use the capital to achieve its vision of providing quality affordable education to 25 million+ students, with an annual revenue run-rate of $1 billion. Its immediate focus will be on product and curriculum innovation, growth in its footprint, and hiring top talent across functions.
In the long term, the company plans to go deeper into the country to serve students in lower-fee schools and expand internationally in similar geographies.
Darwinbox
Hyderabad-based HRtech startup
raised$72 millionin a funding round led byTechnology Crossover Ventures (TCV), along with participation from existing investorsSalesforce Ventures, Sequoia India, Lightspeed India, Endiya Partners, 3One4Capital, JGDEV, and SCB 10X.The companys valuation post the Series D round has crossed the $1 billion mark, with the total investment raised thus far crossing$110 million. DealShare has grown200 percentsince its last fundraise from Salesforces Ventures, about a year ago.
Founded in late 2015 by Chaitanya Peddi, Jayant Paleti, and Rohit Chennamaneni, Darwinbox aims to use the funds for global expansion by accelerating its platform innovation agenda, strengthening its product, engineering, and customer success teams, along with scaling its go-to-market (GTM) presence in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and MENA (the Middle East and North Africa).
The team added that they aim to take Darwinbox public by 2025.
DealShare
Social commerce platform
raised$165 million in the first close of its Series E round from Dragoneer Investments Group, Kora Capital, and Unilever Ventures. Existing investorsTiger Global and Alpha Wave Global(Falcon Edge) also participated in the round.This capital infusion saw DealShare entering the coveted billion-dollar unicorn club after its valuation rose to over $1.6 billion.
Founded in September 2018 byVineet Rao, Sourjyendu Medda, Sankar Bora, and Rajat Shikhar, three-year-old startup DealShare uses a community-driven approach to offerhigh-quality, low-priced essentials for mass consumers at competitive prices, especially in Tier II and III cities.
Polygon
Ethereum scaling project
(previously Matic Network) raised$450 millionin its first major VC financing round led bySequoia Capital India, with participation from Tiger Global, SoftBank, Galaxy Digital, Republic Capital, Makers Fund, Alameda Research, Alan Howard, Alexis Ohanian, Steadview Capital, Elevation Capital, Animoca Brands, Spartan Fund, Dragonfly Capital, Variant Fund, and Kevin OLeary.The funds will be raised through a private sale of Polygons native MATIC token. The Web3 startup’s market cap was$14.4 billion at the time of publishing.
In a statement, Polygon claimed the fundraise will allow the team to consolidate its lead in the race to scale Ethereum, obviating the need for alternative blockchains and paving the way for mass adoption of Web3 applications.
Livspace
Omnichannel home interior and renovation platform,
raised $180 million in Series F with KKR participating as the lead investor.The latest funding round, which elevated Livspace to the coveted unicorn club, also saw participation from existing investors such asIngka Group Investments(part of largest IKEA retailer Ingka Group),Jungle Ventures, Venturi Partners, and Peugeot Investments, among others.
With the funding, Livspace will expand to new markets, focus on brand building in India and Singapore, continue investing in its platform technology and digitally integrated supply chain, and hire, develop, and nurture talent across the board to support both new and existing businesses.
ElasticRun
, a B2B ecommerce startup that supplies goods to kiranas, raised$300 million in its Series E funding round at a $1.5 billion valuationfrom investors such as SoftBank and Goldman Sachs. Existing investor Prosus Ventures also took part in the round, the startup said.
ElasticRun will use the capital toexpand and grow its operations.It may close theSeries E round with a much higher capital infusionif it receives any more interest till March 21, when the subscription ends, according to its filing.
Founded bySandeep Deshmukh, Saurabh Nigam,andShitiz Bansalin2016, ElasticRun operates in over 300 cities in India and works with over 125,000 retail outlets. It helps kiranas place bulk orders for goods online, as well as provides an analytics and aggregation platform.
Xpressbees
Third-party logistics provider
raised $300 million in a Series F funding round at a valuation of $1.2 billion. The round was led by private equity funds Blackstone Growth, TPG Growth, and ChrysCapital. Existing investors, Investcorp and Norwest Venture Partners, also participated in the latest round.With this round, the total amount of capital raised by Xpressbees exceeds $500 million. Avendus Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Xpressbees on this transaction.
Xpressbees, in a statement, said it will use the fresh capital to become a full-service logistics organisation, support the business in its next phase of growth, product development, and hire talent.
Uniphore
, aChennaiandCalifornia-based conversational automation startup, raised$400 million in a Series Eround of funding.
The round, which brings Uniphores total funding to more than half a billion ($610 million), is led by American venture capital (VC) firm NEA and raises the companys valuation to $2.5 billion.
VC and growth equity firm March Capital and other existing investors along with new entities also chipped in.