The year 2022 has proved to be exceptional for the Indian startup economy. It has reached a crucial milestone by entering more than 100 startups into the unicorn club in 2022. As many as 19 Indian startups have entered the unicorn club in 2022. The Indian startups have a combined valuation of $340 billion and raised funding of more than $93 billion over the years.
Although all the 19 startups are exceptional, here are 5 unicorn companies from India that are unique in their own way.
PhysicsWallah
PhysicsWallah is an ed-tech startup from Noida that raised $100 million in a Series A funding round. It is India’s 101st startup to enter the unicorn club and reach the billion-dollar valuation mark.
Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari founded the startup in 2020 with an aim to prepare students for NEET and IIT/JEE examinations. It started off as a YouTube channel in 2016 and soon expanded into an app and website in 2020. Its success lies in its 10,000 students that have cracked JEE and NEET exams in 2020 and 2021.
The future aim is business expansion, branding, introducing more courses, and starting learning centers all over India.
Open
Open is a neo-banking startup that provides expense management, business banking, and payment management services to small and medium businesses in India. The business was founded in 2017 by Ajeesh Achuthan, Anish Achuthan, Deena Jacob, and Mabel Chacko. This Indian unicorn startup is Banglaore based and marked the 100th unicorn startup from India.
The company raised $50 million from IIFL in the recent funding round that helped it cross the $1 billion mark. Its previous investors, Temasek, Tiger Global, and 3one$ Capital, also participated in this funding round.
Games 24*7
Games 24*7 is a gaming platform for some of the most popular brands like the online card game RummyCircle and the sports fantasy game My11 Circle. The online gaming fever is such that Games 24*7 notes that there are more than 30 million registered users on Rummy Circle, and almost 50,000 users are added on a daily basis. Furthermore, the game My11 Circle has total downloads of 6 million.
Bhavin Pandya and Trivikram Thampy founded this Mumbai-based startup in 2006. The valuation soared to $2.1 billion, which was 3X more than its valuation in June last year.
Amagi
Amagi focuses on targeted advertising solutions, cloud broadcast, and streaming on TV platforms. The startup helps content owners monetize live linear channels and launch and distribute on free-ad-supported video and TV service platforms.
Srinivasan KA, Srividhya Srinivasan, and Baskar Subramanian founded the startup in 2008. It became the 11th unicorn startup from India when it raised $95 million in funding in a round led by Accel. Some of its previous investors, like Norwest Venture Partners and Avataar Ventures, also participated in this round.
Uniphore
It is a conversational automation startup that combines conversational AI, Robotic Process Automation, and workflow automation. The startup’s goal is to revolutionize customer experiences using conversational automation.
Ravi Sarogi and Umesh Sachdev started Uniphore in 2008, and in 2022 it became the 8th startup to enter the unicorn club this year. The startup secured its place in the club when it raised $400 million in a round led by NEA and reached a valuation of $2.5 billion.
So, these were some of the startups that caught our eye. What about you? Which unicorn startup from India caught your eye?