India is now the third country in the world with the most unicorn startups. Any startup with a valuation of $1 billion or more is called a unicorn. Until last year, the third spot was held by United Kingdom.

Now, India trails the United States and China in terms of unicorns, a report by Hurun Research Institute on Wednesday showed.

India moves a spot up

In India, 54 unicorns currently exist, with 33 inducted this year. In last year’s report, India took the fourth spot.

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has seen a boom in startups. India’s 33 new unicorns compare to UK’s 14 new startups added to the list this year.

Besides domestic companies, there are currently 65 unicorns founded by Indians abroad, mainly in Silicon Valley. In total, Indians founded 119 unicorns of which 54 are based in India while 65 were founded abroad.

The United States topped the list with 254 new unicorns added this year, taking its total to 487. China took the second spot with 74 new unicorns this year, taking the country’s total to 301. The United Kingdom now has 39 total unicorns, taking the fourth spot.

Germany took the fifth spot with 16 unicorns founded this year, taking its total to 26 followed by France with 12 new unicorns, taking its total to 19.

Top Indian unicorns

In terms of Indian unicorns, Byju’s took the top spot with a total valuation of $21 billion. The second Indian unicorn ranked in the list is the ad-tech firm InMobi with a valuation of $12 billion, followed by Oyo with a valuation of $9.4 billion.

In India, most unicorns are based in Bengaluru, followed by Mumbai, Pune, Thane, and Gurugram. This is Mumbai’s first time in the top 30 list in India – taking the 22nd spot.

China and US together are now home to 74 per cent of total unicorns this year. In US, SaaS unicorns made up 20 per cent of all listed this year. In China, e-commerce unicorns took the lead, accounting for 14 per cent.

According to indiatimes.com. Source of photo: internet