Whenever a company reaches an evaluation of $1 Billion, it is known to enter the “Unicorn Club”. Every businessman wants to see his company at this position one day and it is difficult to reach there as you may realise. Becoming a member of the prestigious Billion Dollar Club is a pride in itself and is a reputable standard to achieve in the entrepreneurial world.
However, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, running a business is not easy. There are multiple setbacks, the overall downfall of the economy worldwide and slow business proceedings are all hurdles in the business operations. Running a business during the pandemic is a challenge in itself, let alone becoming a Unicorn company.
Analysts are positive on the fact that they have been noticing a rapid change in investor sentiments since July-August of this year. They are claiming that the Indian Unicorn Club expectancy is steadily expanding and will continue to grow in the coming years. According to a report, India is said to have over 100 Unicorn Club members by the year 2025.
Following are three Indian Start-ups that made it to the Unicorn Club in 2020:
ZERODHA:
Zerodha was founded by Nikhil Kamath and Nithin Kamath back in 2010. The Bengaluru-based start-up witnessed massive growth during the pandemic. They recorded that the monthly average users were doubling rapidly and most of them were first-time investors. Investors increased rapidly because of the COVID-19 situation and the decline in stocks pushed them to take advantage.
The overall client base of Zerodha has increased 40 times to 2.8 million over the past 4-5 years.
FIRST CRY:
FirstCry was founded by Supam Maheshwari and Amitava Saha in 2010 and deals with baby products and mother care products. The start-up has recorded a total rise their consumer base amounting to four to five million. The company has over 350 stores in 125 cities across India. The company values at over $1.4 Billion in the current date and it also raised $296 million in Series E funding led by Softbank in February this year.
NYKAA:
Nykaa is a beauty and lifestyle brand which operates through an online retail store. The start-up was launched back in 2012 by the ex-managing director of Kotak Mahindra Capital, Falguni Nayar. As and when the lockdown in India began because of the pandemic, Nykaa stepped up to grab the opportunity and was successful in delivering beauty and lifestyle products to over 15,000 in-codes in all of India.
The company recently received an investment of Rs. 66.6 crores from Stadview capital and with this funding; Nykaa has reached $1.2 Billion in value. Therefore, entering the Unicorn Club!
Other than these, other start-ups entered the unicorn club, some of them are:
- PineLabs
- Postman
- Unacademy
- Razorpay
