BYJU’S, Swiggy & Dream11: Hurun’s Global Unicorn Index 2023 unveils India’s top unicorns

Edtech decacorn BYJU’S, foodtech platform Swiggy and fantasy gaming company Dream11 are India’s top unicorns, according to the Global Unicorn Index 2023 by Hurun. The list, which was released on Tuesday, revealed that India retained its position as the country with the third-largest number of unicorns in the world after the US and China.

BYJU’S is also among the top 10 unicorn start-ups across the world that have seen a massive jump in valuations since the pre-COVID-19 era. It is valued at $22 billion. Swiggy and Dream11 are both valued at $8 billion each according to the list.

The report also pointed out that the number of Indian unicorns outside is greater than those based in India.

In addition, the list also revealed that India has 138 unicorns in total, 70 of which were started by Indian co-founders but are headquartered outside of India. 68 are headquartered in India.

India also has the third-highest number of gazelles, but was fifth when it came to the number of Hurun Global 500 companies.

According to Hurun, a gazelle is a start-up funded in the 2000s which is worth over $500 million, is not listed yet, and is most likely to become a unicorn within three years. Hurun Global 500 is a list of the 500 most valuable non-state-controlled businesses in the world.

The report added that China and India have a higher percentage of gazelles and unicorns, which is likely to translate into a higher percentage of Hurun Global 500s in the course of the next 5 years. In the same way, France, Canada, and Australia which have a smaller percentage are likely to lose ground in the Hurun Global 500 list.

On the investor front, Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global Management, and SoftBank are the top unicorn investors. They have invested in 238, 179, and 168 unicorn start-ups respectively.

Others on the list were Goldman Sachs, Y Combinator, Accel, Tencent, and Lightspeed Venture Partners, among others.

Also Read: India has 3rd-highest number of unicorns, gazelles: Hurun’s Global Unicorn Index 2023