India's Unicorns

The number of unicorns - privately held, up-and-coming companies valued at US$1 billion or more - has been growing rapidly in India. According to CB Insights, there are currently more than 60 unicorn companies in the country - 35 of which were added in 2021. Seven more joined the unicorn herd since the start of February 2022. Four more were added in January of 2022.

New additions to the list dealt in software and logistics to a higher degree. Newly minted unicorns Hasura and Amagi are delivering API access and cloud hosting, respectively, while Xpressbees and Elastic Run focus on supply chain solutions.

E-learning platform Byju's is currently the most valuable unicorn in India at a valuation of $22 billion. It took the top spot after former front runner One97 Communications, makers of Paytm, went public last year. The companies second and third on the list deal in food delivery (Swiggy) and accomodation (Oyo).

Backers of these highly-valued companies include Chinese tech giant Tencent, who invested in Byju's and Dream11, while Japanese player Softbank is bankrolling Oyo and Ola Cabs, among others.

The oldest unicorn on the list is Indian e-commerce pioneer Snapdeal, which became a unicorn in May of 2014 and is currently valued at the lowest possible amount - $1 billion - again. Ola Cabs and mobile marketer Inmobi are almost as old, also having become unicorns in 2014.