51 'Gazelles' and 71 'Cheetahs' are Likely to Become Unicorns in the Next 2-4 Years According to a report by Hurun, 122 startups in India are anticipated to join the unicorn club. In the report, individuals who might reach a billion-dollar valuation in two years are referred to as gazelles, while those who might do so in four years are referred to as cheetahs.
By Sujata Sangwan •
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According to a report by the research firm Hurun, 122 startups in India are expected to join the country's unicorn club. The report said that there are 71 'cheetahs' - startups that could reach the milestone in the next four years - and 51 'gazelles' - startups that are expected to become unicorns in the next two years.
As per Hurun, the evaluation is based on regulatory filings, comments from other entrepreneurs, and a few active VC funds and angel investors with an interest in India.
A $1 billion company is referred to as a unicorn.
Future unicorns in India are valued at $57 billion, up 16% from the previous year.
The report added that, among others, the logistics startup Shiprocket, which is backed by Zomato, the quick commerce company Zepto, the electric vehicle manufacturer Ather Energy, the mobility startup Rapido, and the agritech company Ninjacart are among the top contenders to join the unicorn club.
The 122 enterprises on the list include 15 companies with female co-founders. Five companies that could join the unicorn club in the next two years are led by women entrepreneurs, and ten startups that could join in the following four. The only company in the index with two female co-founders is Pratilipi.
Kaivalya Vohra, a founder of Zepto, is the index's youngest founder at the age of 19. Aadit Palicha, his co-founder, is just a few months older at 20.
K Satyanarayana, co-founder of Ecom Express, is the oldest co-founder in the index at 61 years old. The index's Indian startup founders are 38 years old on average.
The index included 13 gazelles from the financial industry, followed by five from SaaS, four each from ecommerce, edtech, and the sharing economy. The gazelle pack was led by Shiprocket, then by Turtlemint, Zepto, Ather Energy, and Vivriti Capital.
Estimated values for 'cheetahs' and 'gazelles' in the ASK Private Wealth Hurun India Future Unicorn Index 2022 range from $200 million to $500 million and from $500 million to $1 billion, respectively.
71 cheetahs that have raised a total of $7.7 billion in fundraising reside in India.
Cheetahs recognised in the ASK Private Wealth Hurun India Future Unicorn Index 2022 collectively are valued at $17.9 billion, up 13% from the previous year. Fintech dominated the cheetah index with 14 firms, followed by ecommerce with 10 startups.
The 122 future unicorns on the list have an average of 675 employees and employ 82,300 people. According to the report, 22 of the future unicorns each have more than 1,000 people, with Square Yards having 5,390 and Ecom Express having 3,600, respectively.
