Overall, Indian startups raised $10 Bn+ in 2023, according to Inc42’s Indian Tech Startup Funding Report 2023. However, only two new unicorns – Zepto and InCred – were seen in the past year, marking the lowest number of unicorns in a calendar year after 2017
Bhavish Agarwal’s AI startup Krutrim becoming the first unicorn of 2024 to join the club, but these are still early days for the new year. Krutrim is something of an anomaly given the huge promise it holds in the future, so we don’t expect too much similar frenzy around high valuations and unicorns in 2024
Most new unicorns will likely emerge from the fintech sector, closely followed by ecommerce and enterprise tech, especially the SaaS segment, per Inc42’s Indian Tech Startup Funding Report 2023
The year 2023 came and went without good tidings for the startup ecosystem. After the FOMO-driven funding frenzy during the pandemic, the splurge became a drip due to global headwinds and investors becoming ultra-cautious about backing profitable businesses, investing at high valuations and returns and exits.
The result: A big drop in mega-rounds, cutbacks at startups across sectors and just a couple of new unicorns.