Hurun Global Unicorn Index 2024 shows that India has 67 unicorns as of right now, down from 68 unicorns this time last year. However, it claimed that India was the nation that produced the greatest number of offshore unicorns, having co-founded 109 unicorns outside of India as opposed to 67 within.
According to the research, “India’s start-up ecosystem has slowed, with the number of unicorns down for the first time since the launch of Hurun list.”
Hurun India’s main researcher and founder, Anas Rahman Junaid, explained the reasons behind the slowdown by stating that the country presently has 67 unicorns. The startup scene in India has stagnated, and for the first time since our list’s inception, there are fewer unicorns. The main reason for this is that, despite the recent record highs in the stock market, there has been little investment in start-ups. Another contributing aspect is that Indian creators co-founded 109 unicorns outside of India as opposed to 67 within, making them the nation that produced the most offshore unicorns.
He said that of the unicorns born outside of India, a resounding majority (95) were in the USA, with the Bay Area leading the way. There were also two in Germany, three in Singapore, and four in the UK.
According to the report, although the emergence of Krutrim, the first AI unicorn from India, is positive, there is still a significant difference between the United States and China, who lead with 60 and 37 AI unicorns, respectively. In fact, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and new energy are the top three industries in China that produce unicorns. Interestingly, the Aerospace or SpaceTech industry shows promise as a vital frontier in which India is deficient in unicorns—a field in which China and the US have made significant progress with ten unicorns apiece.
India is at a critical turning point in its history. If India misses this opportunity, it could lag behind the US and China in AI, New Energy, Semiconductors, and possibly Aerospace, a field that depends on homegrown innovation because of security concerns, according to Junaid.
Global Startups That Are Unicorns
Hurun Research discovered 1,453 unicorns worldwide, distributed among 291 cities and 53 nations. The value of 430 unicorns increased; 171 of them had fresh faces. 170 witnessed a decline in their valuations, 42 of which were “demoted” because their worth fell below the $1 billion threshold. Out of the list, 37 were “promoted,” of which 29 went public and 8 were bought. 895 noticed no alteration in their assessments. They were worth $4.6 trillion in total.
The financial services, healthcare, and company management solutions are being disrupted by the unicorns of the world. Seventy-eight percent of them sell software and services (FinTech, SaaS, AI, etc.), while twenty-two percent have physical products (New Energy, Biotech, F&B, Semiconductors, etc.).
Rupert Hoogewerf, Chairman and Chief Researcher of the Hurun Report, stated: “Over the past year, the world has minted one unicorn every two days, setting a new record of just under 1500 known unicorns worldwide.” China produced more unicorns per week than the US did, with each country producing more than one unicorn per week for every week of the year, despite the economic slowdown.
He continued, “The Global Unicorn Index is the most comprehensive list of the world’s unicorns” since it is built using data from the world’s top investors, the “entrepreneurs behind the entrepreneurs.”
