India stands at fourth place in global unicorn ranking
The latest report by CB Insights says India has 16 unicorns and is slightly behind the United Kingdom, which has 19. At the top spot is the US, followed by China.
India occupies the fourth position globally in terms of the number of 'unicorns' present in the country with the US taking the top spot, according to the latest report by CB Insights tracking companies with valuation higher than $1 billion.
According to CB Insights, there are 361 private companies around the world valued at over $1 billion and India has 16 of them taking four percent share. India is a shade below the UK, which has 19 unicorns with five percent share.
The US leads in the share of unicorns at 49 percent - a one percentage point rise since CB Insights' last analysis in March 2019. China is in second place with its share falling to 25 percent from 28 percent over the same time frame.
India has a modest number of unicorns compared to the global markets and there are expectations that many more startups with valuations below $1 billion are expected to join this list in the current year. In 2019, there were two startups which joined Unicorn list in India – Delhivery and BigBasket.
The top valued unicorn in India, as per CB Insights data is Paytm with a valuation of $10 billion followed by Snapdeal at $7 billion and Ola, which stands at $6.2 billion. The rising star among the unicorns in India – Oyo Rooms is valued at $4.3 billion.
According to CB Insights, the 361 unicorns are worth over $1.1 trillion and have raised a combined total of nearly $275 billion. Last year, 120 new companies joined the global unicorn club — a 67 percent increase from the 71 new unicorns in 2017.
The world’s most valuable private company is China’s Bytedance with a valuation of $75 billion following an investment by SoftBank in November 2018. At second place is Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing at $56 billion, followed by e-cigarette maker Juul Labs at $50 billion. The co-working giant WeWork is valued at $47 billion and accommodation marketplace Airbnb at $29 billion taking the fourth and fifth spot.
In terms of category, as per the list of CB Insights, internet software and services has 13 percent of the unicorns followed by fintech at 12 percent and ecommerce and direct-to-consumer at 12 percent.
CB Insights says 18 unicorns are considered decacorns worth more than $10 billion.
