Becoming Unicorn Startup amidst the Covid-19 pandemic was very difficult for many startups. When many startups were going through business Slowdowns, Some startups still managed to enter a 1 billion-dollar club.
The seed funding and early-stage investment have been declined due to pandemics. The shift in the Digital Consumption has boosted the Education, Commerce and Healthcare sector though the other sector like Travel& Tourism, Hospitality has been severely impacted due to the lockdown and travel restriction. The world’s third-largest startup ecosystem is seeing a speedy recovery from the third quarter of 2020.
Let’s see the Startups who joined India’s Unicorn Club in 2020-
1. Firstcry
Pune-based Firstcry is an omnichannel retailer which is dedicated to baby care and mother care Products founded by Supam Maheshwari and Amitava Saha in 2010.
Secondly, Softbank vision fund has invested in Firstcry around $300 million for their fresh stake in the company making it the latest entrant in India’s unicorn start-up club.
Thirdly, Softbank will be investing a total of $400 in which Firstcry received $300 million in the first tranche of the investment. So, the remaining $100 million would be released in January 2021 on the second anniversary of the deal.
Softbank vision fund will now hold 40% equity in the Pune-based firm.
Investors
SoftBank Group, SAIF Partners India, Valiant Capital Partners
Valuation: $1.2 Billion
For you: Firstcry Gets $296 Mn From Softbank To Enter Unicorn Club
2. Nykaa
Former managing director of the Kotak Mahindra capital company Falguni Nayar founded Nykaa in 2012. Nykaa is Mumbai based e-commerce platform dedicated to beauty and wellness products.
Going ahead, A fresh investment of $13 million from existing backer Steadview capital has made Nykaa enter in Unicorn start-up club in India. This latest investment values the beauty retailer start-up at an estimated $ 1.2 Billion.
Nykaa’s Total fund tally is about $100 million with fresh investment from the Steadview capital.
The omnichannel beauty retailer has a portfolio of over 3 lakhs plus products and partnerships with 1500 plus brands.
Investors
Techpro Ventures, TVS Capital, Sharrp Ventures, TPG Growth
Valuation: $1.2 Billion
For you: Indian Soon-to-be-Unicorns like Nykaa Marching Ahead to Join the Big League
3. Pinelabs
Noida-based Merchant payment solution start-up recently raised an undisclosed amount from Mastercard however the amount is estimated to be around $100 million.
Thus, making Pinelabs crossed the $1 Billion mark to become India’s newest unicorn start-up in 2020
Pine Labs – the merchant payment solution start-up founded by Lokvir Kapoor, Rajul Garg, Tarun Upaday launched in 1998 was last valued at reportedly $900 million around its $125 million fundraise in May 2018.
The company currently competes with the likes of Razorpay, PayUMoney, Ezetap, MSwipe, etc.
Investors
Sequoia Capital India, New Atlantic Ventures, Altimeter Capital, Temasek, Mastercard
Valuation: $1.5 Billion
For you: Pine Labs becomes India’s first unicorn in 2020 after Mastercard deal
4. Postman
Postman offers the Application Programme Interfaces (API) to developers and businesses Globally
Launched in 2014 by Abhinav Asthana and Ankit Sobti, Postman has raised $150 million at a $2-billion valuation.
The round was led by venture capital and private equity firm Insight Partners while existing investors including CRV and Nexus Venture Partners also joined the round.
Launched in 2014 by Abhinav Asthana and Ankit Sobti, Postman has raised $150 million at a $2-billion valuation.
The round was led by venture capital and private equity firm Insight Partners while existing investors including CRV and Nexus Venture Partners also joined the round.
Secondly, Bengaluru and San Francisco-based startup Postman, which offers application program interfaces (API) to developers and businesses globally, is the newly-minted unicorn in the enterprise technology space.
The company has entered the hallowed unicorn club at just Series C round of investment. Postman joins a clutch of software/enterprise startups from India such as Zoho, Freshworks, Druva, Icertis, InMobi, etc. that hit billion-dollar valuation.
Postman’s API development platform is currently used by more than 11 million developers around the world, across more than 500,000 companies globally.
Location – Bangalore/San Francisco
Investors
Nexus Ventures, Charles River Ventures, Insight Venture Partners
Valuation: $2 Billion
For You: $150 million Series-C round catapults Postman into SaaS unicorn club
5. High radius
HighRadius, which has developed AI-powered fintech software, announced it has raised $125 million in a Series B growth funding round led by ICONIQ Capital.
The AI start-up Highradius has raised $125 million in a Series B growth funding round led by ICONIQ Capital valuing the company more than 1 Billion $. Thus, High radius has entered the prestigious Unicorn start-up Club early in 2020.
Sashi Narahari founded the High radius in 2006
The round values the company at “more than $1 billion,” founder and CEO Sashi Narahari told me, without providing more specifics.
Existing backers Susquehanna Growth Equity and Citi Ventures also participated in the new round. So, with this latest round, Houston-based HighRadius’ total known (venture and private equity) funding climbs to $175 million. It previously raised a $60 million Series A over late 2017 and early 2018.
For You: Indian origin entrepreneur’s startup HighRadius is the latest unicorn in the US
6. Unacademy
Unacademy is an Indian online education technology company based in Bangalore. It was originally created as a YouTube channel in 2010
Secondly, it was founded by Gaurav Munjal, Roman Saini, and Hemesh Singh in 2015, and is headquartered in Bangalore.
Further, This EdTech startup has raised funding of $1.45 Billion on 9th February 2020. Investors who funded this start-up are New Enterprise Associates, Quadrille Capital, Global Bridge Capital.
Also, The company has a network of over 18,000 educators and offers preparation material for several professional and educational entrance exams.
Conclusion-
The e-commerce sector has seen good growth in the Pandemic where buyers preferred to shop online than the Conventional store leveraging a good growth to eCommerce startups. Nykaa and Firstcry have been best in their Nice sector of Cosmetics and baby care respectively. Thus, Nykaa & Firstcry have seen fresh Investments from the existing and new investors contributing to their entry into the Unicorn Club.
Online education has been a critical sector for the Indian education system where all the educators shifted to online mode due to school and College shutdown in a pandemic. Unacademy became the Second Indian Ed-tech startup to enter the 1 billion dollar club after raining funds in the new investment round.
India may see some more Unicorn Startups in 2020 as still two months are left and the Indian Startup ecosystem is recovering from the pandemic impact.
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