List of Unicorn Startups in India

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In the dynamic world of startups, a rare and powerful breed occasionally emerges as unicorns. These are privately held startups that soar past the $1 billion valuation mark, often disrupting industries and redefining how we live, work, and interact with technology. India, known for its entrepreneurial zeal and innovation-driven economy, has become a thriving hub for such unicorns, steadily climbing to claim its spot as the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world as of May 2025.

From fintech to edtech, e-commerce to healthtech, Indian unicorns are transforming their respective sectors and contributing substantially to economic growth, technological advancement, and job creation. In a time marked by rapid change and digital acceleration, these startups stand out as symbols of resilience, ambition, and the limitless possibilities of innovation.

This article dives into the inspiring world of India’s top unicorn startups—ventures that have broken barriers, drawn massive investor interest, and reshaped the country’s business landscape. We’ll explore the industries they dominate, the solutions they provide, and their broader impact on the nation’s economy and global reputation.

What is a Unicorn Startup?

A unicorn is a private company valued at over $1 billion. The term was coined by venture capitalist Aileen Lee, who used the mythical unicorn to stress how rare such startups are. Such companies could be known for innovation, disruptive strategies, and quick scaling, all the way to industry transformation.

Usually, circulating fast are industries including technology, e-commerce, fintech, and healthcare. Major investments from venture capitalists and private equity firms are attracted by these companies as they attempt to solve large problems or enter large markets. Success signals these companies’ financial returns, high risks, innovations, and impacts.

List of Unicorn Startups in India

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Unicorn Startups in India

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Unicorn Startups are the backbone of the market and contribute a large value to the economy of the country. There are various startups which become renowned companies in the nation and have reached the local market very soon. Let’s read about some of the top-known unicorns of India.

InMobi

Founded in January 2007, with its headquarters in Bengaluru, InMobi is a leading mobile advertising platform that has been optimizing ad placements on mobile devices. Business owners get to deliver more targeted and greater advertisement experiences by way of data-led insights and technologies with InMobi.

InMobi was the first company in India to achieve the unicorn status, thus setting an important precedent in Indian startup history. It, as a first mover, showed the way for many to join the unicorn league in the future. In testing its mettle, InMobi’s story of success continues with its subsidiary Glance, which became a unicorn in 2020 itself, thereby further strengthening InMobi’s mantle of being an innovation-heavy growth story.

Flipkart

Flipkart, a company founded by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, is one of India’s more legendary digital marketplaces and is famous for holding a massive sale called the Big Billion Days. Flipkart first became a unicorn sometime between 2011 and 2012, immediately following InMobi.

With over 350 million users interacting with more than 150 million products across 80+ categories, Flipkart has become a household name across India. It got acquired by Walmart in 2018 for a staggering $16 billion, thereby giving it a rapid boost in growth. Flipkart will bring in $37.6 billion in value in 2023, making it the highest-valued startup in India.

BharatPe

BharatPe is a New Delhi-based digital payment platform, and provides QR code-based payments, POS solutions and seller aggregation services to strengthen small and medium-sized businesses throughout India. Powered by Resident Innovation Private Limited, Step BharatPe quickly entered the FinTech room, and on August 4, 2021, a unicorn of $ 2.85 billion was evaluated.

Despite its success, BharatPe has faced unrest due to controversy from co-founder Ashner Grover, including an alleged derogatory call for a Kotak employee and involvement in a financial scam with his wife. At the beginning of 2022, Grover was set on compulsory leave, and his return to the company is uncertain.

Dream11

Dream11 is a Homegrown Fantasy Sports platform that allows Indian sports enthusiasts to get in touch with their favourite games such as cricket, football, hockey, volleyball, handball, futsal and rugby. This allows users to create a virtual team, test their sports knowledge and compete based on performance against a real-life player.

In April 2019, Dream11 entered the Unicorn Club after raising $ 60 million from Stadvu Capital and others. Growth has been remarkable, and the company achieved an evaluation of $ 840 million in November 2021. It has become a prominent player in India’s growing sports-technical ecosystem.

PhonePe

PhonePe is a major digital payment and trader aggregator platform that has played an important role in converting Indians in India. PhonePe was created in 2015 and is headquartered in the headquarters, Maharashtra, Maharashtra, and offers quick, easy and available UPI for millions of people across the country, with the largest market share in the UPI ecosystem.

PhonePe was acquired by Flipkart in April 2016, scaling quickly and achieving unicorn status before 2020. With an innovative business model and more revenue streams, it continues to expand its footprint, which has enabled both consumers and traders in India’s digital economy.

Byju’s

Byju’s is a Bangalore-based edtech platform that has changed the way students learn through interactive online teaching and coaching. The platform was created by Byju’s Ravenron in 2011 and operates on a freemium model, which provides free material with the ability to upgrade to premium learning resources.

With over 15 million users worldwide and more than 900,000 paid customers, Byju’s has become a global player in online education. The innovative approach and strong growth have inspired the evaluation to be an impressive $ 16.5 billion, making it one of the most valuable EDTech start-ups in the world.

OLA

OLA is a large Indian ride-sharing company created on December 3, 2010. In 2019, it had increased to a large network of more than 1.5 million drivers in 250 cities in India, which became a domestic name for practical and cheap city transport.

Expanded beyond India, OLA entered international markets such as Australia and New Zealand in 2018, and later began operations in the UK, introducing Auto Rickshaws to meet local commuting needs. OLA has continued to new and expand, and given shape to the future of mobility in both India and globally.

OYO Rooms

The OYO rooms, created in 2013 by 21-year-old Ritesh Aggarwal, quickly became one of India’s top trips and one of the country’s biggest budget guest brands. OYO participants offer passengers with existing hotels to offer cheap, quality rooms, often starting at $ 999.

By working closely with the hotel owners, OYO optimises the blank space to provide cost-effective migration for budget-conscious customers. Together with partnerships with hotels, OYO has also invested in its own characteristics, expanded its footprint, and reformed India’s hospitality landscape.

Swiggy

In 2014, Nandan Reddy, Sriharsha Majiti and established by Rahul Jaimini, which has evolved into India’s most valuable online food order and delivery platform. Swiggy is known for its quick and reliable service, and has changed millions of Indians to enjoy their favourite food.

Early in 2019, the Swiggy store launched and expanded beyond food distribution, offering general product delivery to customers. Today, the app claims more than 5 million installations, reflecting its widespread popularity and reliable appearance in India’s rapidly growing digital marketplace.

Zomato

Zomato was created by Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chadha in 2008, and began as a restaurant aggregator, providing detailed information, menu and user reviews to help people search for food options. Over time, it expanded to food distribution, collaboration with restaurants all over India all over India.

Despite the challenges generated by the epidemic, which seriously affected the food technology industry, and continued to increase flexibility. Today it stands as one of India’s most important unicorn distribution, explaining how people detect food and like.

Freshworks

Established in 2010 in Chennai, Freshworks offers innovative customer commitment designed for all sizes of companies. San Mateo now provides headquarters, a mother-in-law products company in the United States that provides a 360-degree view of customers, making it easier for companies to effectively link and maintain their customers.

Freshworks helps businesses get a quick return on investment. In July 2018, it became India’s first mother -i -Law Unicorn start, marking an important milestone in the country’s technical scenario and changing customer commitment to mother -I -law companies all over the world.

upGrad

upGrad is an online learning platform that offers industry-packed courses for students with higher education. In partnerships with top global universities, including upGrad, a bachelor’s degree, MBA, computer science, machine learning and more, offering a diverse category of programs designed to prepare students for the labour market.

On August 6, 2021, upGrad achieved unicorn status after the upGrad collected $ 185 million in financing, marking a major milestone in India’s Edtech region and highlighting the growing demand for online education.

MakeMyTrip

MakeMyTrip was established by Deep Kalra in 2000 and has evolved into one of the major online travel companies in India. Headquartered in Gurgaon, it offers a wide range of services, including aircraft, buses, trains and rental cars, such as holiday packages, hotel bookings, cinema tickets and transport options.

MakeMyTrip works in more than 14 cities around the world with more than 30 franchise stores, and 28 Indian cities have a strong presence. The popular route planner feature provides information on more than a million routes throughout India, making the travel schedule uninterrupted and practical.

Nykaa

Nykaa was established in 2012 by Falguni Nair and is an important cosmetic e-commerce platform with headquarters in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Nykaa offers a wide range of cosmetics, skin care and wellness products, known for its user-friendly app and website.

By 2020, Nykaa had become a unicorn start-up, claiming over 200,000 products from 2000 national and international brands. The company also runs more than 26 offline stores all over India. Nykaa’s popularity has increased further, which has been expanded by Bollywood celebrities Alia Bhatt and Katrina Kaif, who have been brand ambassadors.

Policybazaar

Established by Yashish Dahiya, Alok Bansal and Avnesh Neerjar in 2008, the policy market started as a website for insurance comparison and developed rapidly in one of the most reliable insurance companies in India. It offers a wide range of insurance products, including life, health, motor and travel insurance.

Policybazaar is run through both a website and a mobile app, so that users can easily compare and choose between top insurance providers. Today, it is India’s largest insurance market and has also gained popularity in the UAE, inspired by its innovative marketing strategies and customer-centred perspectives.

Conclusion

Finally, a unicorn start-up prize of more than $ 1 billion in today’s commercial landscape, especially rare and a transformative success. The concept that the initiative is aimed at capitalist Ellen Lee emphasises the concept of the unique combination of innovation, rapid growth and disruptive capacity in these companies. In industries such as technology, fintech, e-commerce and health services, Indian unicorns, such as InMobi, Flipkart, PhonePe and Bayju, have set benchmark indices, have made an impact in their areas and have continued to drive the digital economy of the country.