HURUN INDIA FUTURE UNICORN LIST 2021

In search of India’s Gazelles and Cheetahs

(02 September, Mumbai 2021)- Hurun India DEBUTS the Hurun India Future Unicorn List. The
objective of the list is to highlight India’s fast growing start-up ecosystem to investors,
governments, family offices, aspiring entrepreneurs and the international community. Hurun
Research Institute has classified these start-ups as Unicorns (start-ups founded after the year
2000 with a valuation of US$1bn), Gazelles (start-ups that are most likely to go Unicorn in the
next 2 years) and Cheetahs (could go Unicorn in the next 4 years). The evaluation is based on
regulatory filings, feedback from other entrepreneurs and some of the active India-focused VC
funds and angel investors.

India is home to 51 Unicorns, up by 25 in 2021, and 32 Gazelles and 54 Cheetahs.

Record breaking Stats: India added circa 3 Unicorns every month over the last year.

India’s future Unicorns are worth US$36bn, equivalent to one third of Delhi’s GDP at current
prices.

The top investors in the Gazelles and Cheetahs in the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021 are
Sequoia, followed by Tiger Global with 37 and 18 investments respectively.

11 co-founders are under the age of 30 and 15 above the age of 50

Online retail store Zilingo is the most valuable Gazelle and online furniture platform Pepperfry is
the most valuable Cheetah.

Double Boost: 5 start-ups that were identified as Cheetahs at the beginning of the year, “skipped”
the Gazelle stage and directly entered the Unicorn club this year.

E-commerce, FinTech and SaaS comprise 49 per cent of the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021

With 31 start-ups, Bengaluru is the start-up capital of India followed by Delhi NCR (18) and
Mumbai (13).

India’s Unicorns are now worth US$168bn, more than the GDP of Telangana at current prices.

RateGain, MobiKwik, MedPlus, Fino Paytech and ixigo are preparing for IPO to raise INR 6,840
crore by the end of this year.

E-commerce start-up Spinny’s revenues grew 92 times yoy.

 At 25 years of age, the founders of gaming start-up Zupee, Dilsher Singh & Siddhant Saurabh are
the youngest in the list.

CoinSwitch Kuber is the only crypto start-up in the list.

Where did they study? Most of the founders of the start-ups featured in Hurun Future Unicorn List
graduated/ post-graduated from either IIT Delhi or IIM Ahmedabad.

The average age of founders in the list was 39 years.

Hurun Research Institute today released the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021

(02 September 2021, Mumbai, India) The Hurun Research Institute today released the Hurun India
Future Unicorn List 2021, a ranking of India’s start-ups founded in the 2000s, worth at least US$200mn,
not yet listed on a public exchange and most likely to ‘go unicorn’ within 2 years (Gazelles) or 4 years
(Cheetahs). The cut-off date was 31 August 2021.

Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021 is a snapshot of India’s start-up ecosystem. This is a list of the
most valuable private equity or venture capital-funded companies in India founded after 2000, ranked
according to their latest funding round valuation.

To enter the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021, the start-up is required to have a value of US$200mn
(INR 1,500 crore).

Anas Rahman Junaid MD and Chief Researcher, Hurun India said, “Preparing the Hurun India
Future Unicorn List 2021 has been one of the most daunting tasks, primary due to the positive
hyperactivity in Indian start-up ecosystems. For instance, 5 start-ups that we had as Cheetahs at the
beginning of our research, jumped straight to Unicorn valuations. The list has inputs from India’s start-
up investor ecosystem including some of the top VC funds and hence could serve as a good source for
investors and family office to understand more some of the most exciting start-ups in the country.”

“2021 also registered start-up IPOs, starting with Nazaara Tech, followed by Zomato and others who
have filed including Paytm, Freshworks, Nykaa and so on. IPOs present exit opportunities for investors
and encourage more Indian High Networth Individuals to allocate a meaningful portion of their
investment into start-ups.”

“India is home to more than 600 million internet users and is expected to have 900 million use by 2025.
The adoption of internet in rural areas will further compliment the rise of technology start-ups. Fintech
companies operating in mobile payments, insurance, blockchain, stock trading and digital lending will
grow further to capitalize the internet penetration.”

“India is the third largest Unicorn ecosystem in the world and the number of Gazelles and Cheetahs in
India is growing at an exponential pace. Over the last year, India added circa 3 Unicorns every month.”

“Although the Indian start-up ecosystem is growing, some of the start-ups, who reach a certain scale
migrate from India, in search for better regulatory incentives and risk capital availability. For instance,
some of the best Enterprise SaaS companies are born in India but “flipped” to the USA. This is a lost
opportunity for India and it is important that these start-ups are incentivised to stay back in the country”

“The list further proves that age is not a barrier for value creation in start-ups. Average age of the
founders of Hurun India Future Unicorns 2021 is 39. Youngest is 25 years old and the oldest founder is
60 years old.”

“The list also evidences the ballooning investor interest for Indian start-ups. More than 300 investors
that include angel investors, corporates, AIFs, family offices and institutional investors have invested
into the Cheetahs and Gazelles. Sequoia is the top investor in these start-ups, followed by Tiger Global”
Table 1: India is the third-largest Unicorn ecosystem in the world
USA China India UK Germany
No. of Unicorns 396 277 51 32 18
Avg. Years to Unicorn 7 6 7.3 6.5 6
Avg. Valuation (US$ bn) 3.1 4.7 3.3 2.7 2.5
No. of Unicorn added 217 98 31 14 10
Source: Hurun Research Institute 2021. Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021

Table 2: Top 10 on the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021

Total Funding Core
Founded
Rank Company Received Competence Headquarters
Year
(US$mn) Main Sector
1 Zilingo 310 2015 E-commerce Singapore
2 Mobile Premier League 230 2018 Gaming Bengaluru
Rebel Foods 340 2011 Shared Pune
3
Economy
4 Cure.Fit 410 2016 Fitness Bengaluru
5 Spinny 230 2015 E-commerce Gurugram
6 RateGain 50 2004 SaaS Noida
7 Mamaearth 70 2016 E-commerce Gurugram
8 CarDekho 250 2007 E-commerce Gurugram
GreyOrange 170 2011 Artificial Singapore
9
Intelligence
10 MobiKwik 170 2009 FinTech Gurugram
Source: Hurun Research Institute 2021. Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021

Sequoia-backed online retail store Zilingo is set to become one of India’s next Unicorns. In 2015, Ankiti
Bose and Dhruv Kapoor started Zilingo, an online B2B platform for small fashion merchants. Zilingo
has raised a total investment of US$310mn to date and is backed by marquee investors such as
Sequoia Capital, Temasek Holdings, Beenext, EDB Investments and others.

Bengaluru -based gaming company Mobile Premier League takes the second spot on the Hurun India
Future Unicorn List 2021. The Bengaluru-based Mobile Premier League was founded by Sai Srinivas
Kiran and Shubham Malhotra in 2018 and has 76 million users in India. Mobile Premier League raised
a total investment of US$230mn from eminent investors such as Sequoia Capital, Moore Strategic
Ventures, SIG, Pegasus Tech Ventures, Founders Circle and others. In April 2021, MPL acquired
GamingMonk for an undisclosed amount to widen its e-sports portfolio.

Rebel Foods, India's first cloud kitchen start-up, ranked third in the Hurun India Future Unicorn List
2021. Founded in 2010 by Jaydeep Barman and Kallol Banerjee Rebel Foods, the restaurant platform
operates cloud kitchens brands Faasos, Behrouz Biryani, Oven Story and others.

Fitness start-up Cure.Fit ranked fourth on the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021. In June 2021, Tata
Digital entered into an agreement to invest up to US$75mn in CureFit backed by global investors such
as Temasek, Accel Partners, Epiq Capital, Unilever Swiss and others.

Pre-owned car platform, Spinny shares the fourth rank on the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021.
The Gurugram -based Spinny was founded by Niraj Singh, Mohit Gupta and Ramanshu Mahuar in
2015. With 900 employees, Spinny currently operates in 9 cities and raised more than US$120mn.
RateGain, a travel technology company ranks sixth on the list. In August 2021, RateGain Travel
Technologies, Software as a Service (SaaS) company in the hospitality and travel industry filed a draft
paper to raise funds through an initial share sale.

Mamaearth, a D2C personal care brand, ranked seventh on the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021.
In 2016, Varun Alagh and Ghazal Alagh founded Honasa Consumer Private Limited, currently known
as Mamaearth. Mamaearth raised a total investment of US$73.6mn from global investors such as
Sequoia Capital, Sofina, Fireside Ventures, Stellaris Venture and Kunal Bahl.

CarDekho, a Gurugram-based auto marketplace ranked eighth on the Hurun India Future Unicorn List
2021. In 2007, brothers Amit and Anurag Jain founded CarDekho as an IT outsourcing firm and turned
it into an online portal for new and used car sales. CarDekho raised US$250mn from investors such as
Sequoia Capital, Ping An, Hillhouse Capital Group, Times Internet, Ratan Tata and others.

Singapore based robotics start-up, GreyOrange shares the ninth rank on the Hurun India Future
Unicorn List 2021. GreyOrange, founded by BITS Pilani alumni Samay Kohli and Akash Gupta in 2009,
raised a total investment of US$70mn across four rounds from investors such as Tiger Global, Blume
Ventures, Peter Thiel, Binny Bansal and others.

Gurugram-based digital payments application MobiKwik shares the ninth rank on Hurun India Future
Unicorn List 2021. Founded in 2009 by husband and wife duo Bipin Preet Singh and Upasana Taku,
MobiKwik leverages big data analytics to address unmet credit needs in digital payments.

Gazelle: Unicorn in the next 2 years

Hurun Report defines “Gazelle” as a start-up founded after the year 2000 and has the potential to go
Unicorn in 2 years. The Gazelles on the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021 have an estimated
valuation ranging from US$500mn to US$1bn. With 6 companies E-commerce lead the Gazelles
followed by FinTech 5 and Artificial Intelligence, Gaming and Shared Economy with 3 each. Zilingo, a
less than six-year-old E-commerce start-up, is the leading Gazelle pack followed by gaming start-up
Mobile Premier League, which was founded in 2018.
Table 3: Gazelles on the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021
Total Funding
Year Core Competence Main
Rank Company Received
Founded Sector
(US$mn)
1 Zilingo 2015 310 E-commerce
2 Mobile Premier League 2018 230 Gaming
3 Rebel Foods 2011 340 Shared Economy
4 Cure.Fit 2016 410 Fitness
5 Spinny 2015 230 E-commerce
6 RateGain 2004 50 SaaS
7 Mamaearth 2016 70 E-commerce
8 CarDekho 2007 250 E-commerce
9 GreyOrange 2011 170 Artificial Intelligence
10 MobiKwik 2009 170 FinTech
11 Navi Technologies 2018 580 FinTech
12 Licious 2015 290 E-commerce
13 Uniphore 2008 220 Artificial Intelligence
14 Ecom Express 2012 490 Logistics
15 Vedantu 2011 190 EdTech
16 Stanza Living 2017 170 Shared Economy
17 Whatfix 2014 140 SaaS
18 Khatabook 2018 210 FinTech
19 Gaana 2011 170 Media & Entertainment
20 Apna 2019 90 Enterprise Services
21 Rupeek 2015 140 FinTech
22 Pristyn Care 2018 80 HealthTech
23 Inshorts 2013 170 Media & Entertainment
24 Bounce 2014 210 Shared Economy
25 Acko General Insurance 2016 220 FinTech
26 Ninjacart 2015 190 AgriTech
27 Livspace 2014 100 E-commerce
28 La Renon 2007 50 BioTech
29 CoinSwitch Kuber 2017 40 Blockchain
30 Games 24X7 2006 30 Gaming
31 Qure AI 2015 20 Artificial Intelligence
32 Zupee 2018 50 Gaming
Source: Hurun Research Institute 2021. Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021

Cheetah: Unicorn in the next 4 years

Hurun Report defines “Cheetah” as a start-up founded after the year 2000 and has the potential to go
Unicorn in the next four years. The estimated valuations of Cheetahs in the Hurun India Future Unicorn
List 2021 range from US$200mn to US$500mn. India is home to 54 Cheetahs, who have received a
cumulative investment of US$6bn. With 13 start-ups, FinTech leads the Cheetahs list, followed by e-
commerce with 11. Electric vehicle start-ups Ather Energy and Twenty Two Motors are the other
Cheetahs on Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021.
Table 4: Cheetahs on the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021
Total Funding
Year Core Competence Main
Rank Company Received
Founded Sector
(US$mn)
1 Pepperfry 2011 250 E-commerce
2 DealShare 2018 150 E-commerce
3 Mswipe Technologies 2011 100 FinTech
4 Xpressbees 2015 280 Logistics
5 NoBroker 2014 210 E-commerce
6 ElasticRun 2015 130 Enterprise Services
7 MedPlus 2006 320 HealthTech
8 FarEye 2013 150 SaaS
9 Ixigo 2006 70 E-commerce
10 Freshtohome 2015 150 E-commerce
11 CleverTap 2013 80 SaaS
12 Ather Energy 2013 100 Electric Vehicle
13 Capital Float 2013 140 FinTech
14 WinZo 2018 110 Gaming
15 GoMechanic 2016 60 E-commerce
16 Practo 2008 230 HealthTech
17 Bira 91 2015 160 Food & Beverages
18 Dunzo 2015 130 Logistics
19 Boat 2016 120 Consumer Goods
20 Square Yards 2013 70 PropTech
21 ClearTax 2011 70 FinTech
22 Smartworks 2016 40 Shared Economy
23 Locus 2015 30 Artificial Intelligence
24 Jupiter 2019 70 FinTech
25 MyGlamm 2015 130 E-commerce
26 Quizizz 2015 50 EdTech
27 InCred 2016 250 FinTech
28 Bankbazaar.com 2008 120 FinTech
29 FINO Paytech 2006 40 FinTech
30 OkCredit 2017 80 FinTech
31 Pratilipi 2015 80 Media & Entertainment
32 Twenty Two Motors 2016 70 Electric Vehicle
33 Wakefit 2016 30 Consumer Goods
34 Lendingkart 2014 260 FinTech
35 Shadowfax 2015 120 Logistics
36 Purplle 2011 90 E-commerce
37 Classplus 2018 90 EdTech
38 SirionLabs 2012 60 SaaS
39 OlaMoney 2017 50 FinTech
40 MedGenome 2013 140 HealthTech
41 Capillary Technologies 2008 100 SaaS
42 Rapido 2015 130 Shared Economy
43 Aye Finance 2014 260 FinTech
44 HomeLane 2014 60 E-commerce
45 Coverfox Insurance 2013 50 E-commerce
46 Shuttl 2015 120 Shared Economy
 47 Darwinbox 2015 30 Software & Services
48 WayCool 2015 80 Agritech
49 Turtlemint 2015 80 E-commerce
50 Zivame 2011 70 Apparels & Accessories
51 Ezetap 2011 50 SaaS
52 WOW Skin Science 2016 50 Consumer Goods
53 Smallcase 2015 60 FinTech
54 OneCard 2019 15 FinTech
Source: Hurun Research Institute 2021. Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021

Sector analysis

With 18 start-ups on the list, FinTech contributed the most number of companies in the list, followed
by E-commerce 17 and SaaS 7. E-commerce, FinTech, Shared Economy and SaaS contribute more than
half of the companies featured in the list. EdTech, Gaming, Logistics and Artificial Intelligence are the
other promising sectors in the Indian start-up ecosystem. In 2020, despite the unprecedented
challenges due to Covid-19, the FinTech, E-commerce and Shared Economy sectors raised investment
to the tune of US$2.8bn, US$2.5bn and US$1bn respectively.

Table 5: Top 10 Sectors on the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021
Cumulative
No. of No. of No. of
Rank Core Competence Main Sector Valuation
Companies Gazelles Cheetahs
(US$mn)
1 FinTech 18 6,640 5 13
2 E-commerce 17 7,950 6 11
3 SaaS 7 2,820 2 5
4 Shared Economy 6 2,690 3 3
5 Gaming 4 2,280 3 1
5 Artificial Intelligence 4 2,150 3 1
5 Logistics 4 1,570 1 3
5 HealthTech 4 1,510 1 3
9 Media & Entertainment 3 1,380 2 1
9 EdTech 3 1,150 1 2
9 Consumer Goods 3 760 - 3
Source: Hurun Research Institute 2021. Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021

India is one of the largest FinTech markets in the world with highest FinTech adoption rate of 87 per
cent higher than the global average rate (64 per cent). The FinTech start-ups on the List have raised a
total investment of US$2.8bn. Digital Payments are the flag bearing segment in the Indian FinTech
market. After the introduction of IMPS in 2010 and UPI in 2016, India has currently more than 375
payment start-ups. Mobikwik is the most valued fintech Gazelle followed by Bengaluru based Navi
Technologies.

E-commerce is the most favoured sector on the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021 with 17 start-
ups. Of this, 6 are Gazelles and 11 are Cheetahs. The Government of India’s FDI policies that allows
100 per cent FDI in B2B, E-commerce and 100 per cent FDI under automatic route under the
marketplace model of B2C E-commerce, helped the E-commerce sector’s strong growth during the
unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic.
For the last two years, Indian SaaS start-ups have seen tremendous growth in the Software-as-a-
Service (SaaS) industry. RateGain is the most valued Indian SaaS Gazelle. Of the 7 SaaS start-ups in the
list, only two are headquartered in India and the rest are based in the USA.

Shared Economy consists of business segments such as co-working, co-living, shared mobility and
furniture rentals. Rebel Foods is the most valued Gazelle in this sector followed by Stanza Living. The
companies from the Shared Economy sector has raised a cumulative investment of US$1bn. Noida
based shared workspace provider, Smartworks is the leading Cheetah in this sector.

Where they are headquartered

With 31 start-ups on the list, Bengaluru is the start-up capital of India, followed by Mumbai and
Gurugram. Bengaluru is the home to 11 Gazelles and 20 Cheetahs, with a cumulative valuation of
US$12.4bn. The top 3 cities headquarters 68 per cent of companies in Hurun India Future Unicorn List
2021.

Table 6: Top 5 Indian cities on the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021
No of Cumulative
Rank City Main Company
Companies Valuation (US$mn)
1 Bengaluru 31 Mobile Premier League 12,360
2 Mumbai 13 Apna 4,810
3 Gurugram 12 Spinny 5,690
4 New Delhi 5 Ecom Express 2,160
4 Noida 5 RateGain 2,420
Source: Hurun Research Institute 2021. Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021

Women-led start-ups

12 start-ups on the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021 are co-founded by women entrepreneurs.
Women entrepreneurs co-founded five Gazelles and seven Cheetahs on the Hurun India Future
Unicorn List 2021. Likewise, six women entrepreneurs co-founded Unicorn start-ups in India.

Table 7: Women-led start-ups on the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021

Rank* Company Women Entrepreneur Gazelle/Cheetah

1 Zilingo Ankiti Bose Gazelle
2 Mamaearth Ghazal Alagh Gazelle
3 MobiKwik Upasana Taku Gazelle
4 Ecom Express Manju Dhawan Gazelle
5 Acko General Insurance Ruchi Deepak Gazelle
6 WinZo Saumya Singh Rathore Cheetah
7 MyGlamm Priyanka Gill Cheetah
8 Square Yards Kanika Gupta Cheetah
9 Bankbazaar.com Rati Shetty Cheetah
10 Pratilipi Sahradayi Modi Cheetah
11 SirionLabs Kanti Prabha Cheetah
12 Zivame Richa Kar Cheetah
Source: Hurun Research Institute. Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021 * Ranking based on estimated
valuation
Interesting facts

 Bengaluru is the eighth start-up investment destination in the world.

 Cure.Fit Healthcare founder Mukesh Bansal was previously the co-founder of fashion E-
commerce platform Myntra.
 Only two start-ups on the list are based on new energy - Ather Energy and Twenty Two
Motors.
 In August 2021, Khatabook raised US$100mn investment at a valuation of US$600mn.
 80 per cent of start-ups on the list are consumer-facing and only 22 per cent of start-ups
have physical products.

Mergers and Acquisitions

 Tata Digital acquired India's largest Digital Health Platform, 1mg for INR 1,200 crore
(US$165mn).
 FinTech Gazelle, Khatabook acquired Mumbai based Saas start-up Biz Analyst in a deal
valued at US$10mn.
 In April 2021, Mobile Premier League acquired GamingMonk for an undisclosed amount to
widen its e-sports portfolio.
 In August 2020, Accel-backed Spinny acquired Mumbai based used car marketplace Truebil.
 Fitness and wellness platform Cure.Fit acquired three start-ups namely TREAD, Fitternity and
Onyx in 2021.
 Sachin Bansal's Navi acquired DHFL’s general insurance business for about INR 100 crore
from Wadhawan Global Capital.
 Stanza Living acquired Delhi NCR based student accommodation provider YourShell.
 Edtech start-up Vedantu acquired Ahmedabad based AI-enabled personalized learning
platform Pedagogy in a cash and stock deal.

The Revenue Growth of Indian Gazelles and Cheetahs

28 start-ups in the list doubled their revenue from the previous year. E-commerce Gazelle Spinny’s
revenue skyrocketed 92 times in FY2020 to INR 18 crore from INR 19 Lacs in FY2019. E-commerce
Cheetah DealShare and FinTech Gazelle Navi Technologies’ revenues jumped by 19 times and 16 times
respectively.

Table 8: Top 10 revenue growth on the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021
YoY Revenue Core Competence
Rank Company Gazelle/Cheetah
Growth (%) Main Sector
1 Spinny 9211% E-commerce Gazelle
2 DealShare 1883% E-commerce Cheetah
3 Navi Technologies 1648% FinTech Gazelle
4 Rapido 839% Shared Economy Cheetah
5 Dunzo 818% Logistics Cheetah
6 Pristyn Care 666% HealthTech Gazelle
7 Mobile Premier League 665% Gaming Gazelle
8 WinZo 591% Gaming Cheetah
9 Bounce 531% Shared Economy Gazelle
10 Rupeek 401% FinTech Gazelle
Source: Hurun Research Institute. Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021
Top funded start-ups

Cumulatively, Gazelles and Cheetahs in the list raised US$12.1bn. With a US$580mn investment, Navi
Technologies is the most funded Gazelle in India, followed by Ecom Express (US$490mn).

Table 9: Top 10 fundraised Gazelles and Cheetahs on the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021
Total Fund
Latest Funding
Rank Company Raised Key Investors
Round
(US$mn)
Private Equity Gaja Capital, Sachin Bansal,
1 Navi Technologies 580
Round International Finance Corporation
Venture CDC Group, Partners Group,
2 Ecom Express 490
Round Warburg Pincus, Peepul Capital
Tata Digital, Temasek Holdings,
3 Cure.Fit 410 Series D
Chiratae Ventures
Sequoia Capital, InnoVen Capital,
4 Rebel Foods 340 Series E
Goldman Sachs, Coatue
Warburg Pincus, PremjiInvest,
5 MedPlus 320 Series C
Goldman Sachs, TVS Capital Funds
Sequoia Capital, Temasek, Sofina,
6 Zilingo 310 Series D
Beenext
InnoVen Capital, 3one4 Capital,
7 Licious 290 Series F
Vertex Ventures
SAIF Partners, Chiratae Ventures,
8 Xpressbees 280 Series E
Alibaba Group
SAIF Partners, A91 Partners,
9 Aye Finance 260 Series E
CapitalG, Falcon Edge
Alteria Capital, Bertelsmann India
10 Lendingkart 260 Series D
Investments, India Quotient
Source: Hurun Research Institute. Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021

Top investors

The start-ups in Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021 have raised US$12.1bn funding till now from
more than 300 investors. With 37 investments, Sequoia is the leading investor in the List followed by
Tiger Global Management with 18 investments.

Table 10: Top 10 investors on the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021
No. of
No. Investor Main Investments
Investments
Zilingo, Mobile Premier League, Rebel Foods,
1 Sequoia 37
Mamaearth
2 Tiger Global Management 18 GreyOrange, Vedantu, Apna
3 InnoVen Capital 17 Rebel Foods, GreyOrange, Licious
4 Accel 13 Cure.Fit, Stanza Living, Vedantu
5 Trifecta Capital Advisors 12 Vedantu, Ninjakart, Livspace
6 Falcon Edge Capital 10 Stanza Living, Bounce, Khatabook
7 SAIF Partners 10 Acko General Insurance, Xpressbees, NoBroker
8 Matrix Partners 8 Stanza Living, Ola Money, Mswipe Technologies
9 Blume Ventures 8 GreyOrange, Spinny, Dunzo, Locus
10 Chiratae Ventures 8 Cure.Fit, Bounce, Xpressbees
Source: Hurun Research Institute. Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021
Portfolio of Hurun India Rich List Entrepreneurs

Some of the Hurun India Rich List entrepreneurs have invested in the Gazelles and Cheetahs in the
Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021. CRED founder Kunal Shah tops the list with 9 start-up
investments followed by Binny Bansal 5 and Ratan Tata 4. Infosys co-founders Nandan Nilekani (3),
NR Narayana Murthy (2) and Kris Gopalakrishnan (1) have also invested into invested start-ups in the
list.

Table 11: Portfolio of Hurun India Rich List entrepreneurs on the Hurun India Future Unicorn List
2021
No. Angel Investor No. of Investments Main Investments
1 Kunal Shah 9 Spinny, CoinSwitch Kuber, Khatabook
2 Binny Bansal 5 Cure.Fit, Rupeek, Acko General Insurance
3 Ratan Tata 4 Cure.Fit, Livspace, Mswipe Technologies
4 Nandan Nilekani 3 Ninjakart, FarEye, Spinny
5 Sachin Bansal 3 Navi Technologies, Ather Energy, Inshorts
6 NR Narayana Murthy 2 Acko General Insurance, Coverfox Insurance
7 Hemendra Kothari 2 Acko General Insurance, Locus
8 Pawan Munjal 2 GoMechanic, Rapido
9 Kris Gopalakrishnan 1 Acko General Insurance
10 Ranjan Pai 1 InCred
Source: Hurun Research Institute. Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021

Foreign headquartered Indian Gazelles and Cheetahs

Eight companies, four Gazelles and four Cheetahs, on the list, have overseas headquarters, 5 in the
USA and 3 in Singapore. Singapore based E-commerce start-up Zilingo tops the table and is followed
by robotics start-up GreyOrange.

Table 12: Foreign headquartered Indian Gazelles and Cheetahs on the Hurun India Future Unicorn
List 2021
Core Competence
Rank Company Country Gazelle/Cheetah
Main Sector
1 Zilingo Singapore E-commerce Gazelle
2 GreyOrange Singapore Artificial Intelligence Gazelle
3 Uniphore USA Artificial Intelligence Gazelle
4 Whatfix USA SaaS Gazelle
5 FarEye USA SaaS Cheetah
6 CleverTap USA SaaS Cheetah
7 Capillary Technologies Singapore SaaS Cheetah
8 SirionLabs USA SaaS Cheetah
Source: Hurun Research Institute. Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021

Youngest start-up founders

The average age of Indian start-up founders in the list is 39. The list includes 11 start-up founders
under the age of 30. The youngest start-up founders are Dilsher Singh (25) and Siddhant Saurabh (25)
of gaming Gazelle, Zupee. The oldest start-up co-founder in the list is Ecom Express’s K Satyanarayana
(60). 15 start-up co-founders are above the age of 50.
Table 13: Youngest start-up founders on the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021
Name Age Start-up founded Gazelle/Cheetah
Dilsher Singh 25 Zupee Gazelle
Siddhant Saurabh 25 Zupee Gazelle
Aditya Prasad 28 OkCredit Cheetah
Neetish Sarda 28 Smartworks Cheetah
Sanjay Dasari 28 WayCool Cheetah
Gaurav Kumar 29 OkCredit Cheetah
Harsh Pokharna 29 OkCredit Cheetah
Vaibhav Khandelwal 29 Shadowfax Cheetah
Ramanshu Mahaur 29 Spinny Gazelle
Anunay Pandey 29 Inshorts Gazelle
Azhar Iqubal 29 Inshorts Gazelle
Source: Hurun Research Institute. Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021

Alumni of start-up founders

Based on the start-up founders in the list, IIT Delhi is the leading undergraduate institute with 17 co-
founders followed by IIT Bombay with 15 co-founders. IIM Ahmedabad (13) is the most favoured post-
graduate institute of start-up co-founders on the list. With 4 start-up co-founders each, Harvard
University and Stanford University are the top foreign university in the top 10.

Table 14: Alumni graduation of start-up founders on the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021
No. of Start-up
Alumni Graduation Main Start-ups
founders
IIT Delhi 17 MobiKwik, CarDekho, Spinny, Shuttl
IIT Bombay 15 Vedantu, Khatabook, Games24x7, Rupeek
IIT Kanpur 13 Mobile Premier League, Cure.Fit,Livspace
University of Mumbai 13 Whatfix, boAt, Acko General Insurance
IIT Kharagpur 12 Inshorts, Stanza Living, Rapido, Locus
Delhi Technological University 9 Mamaearth, Stanza Living, Xpressbees
BITS Pilani 9 Mobile Premier League, GreyOrange, Locus
IIT Madras 9 Ather Energy, Darwinbox, Waycool, Ezetap
IIT Roorkee 7 Vedantu, DealShare, Wakefit, Classplus
University of Delhi 6 Acko General Insurance, boat, MyGlamm
Source: Hurun Research Institute. Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021
Table 15: Alumni post-graduation of start-up founders on the Hurun India Future Unicorn List
2021
No. of Start-up
Alumni Post Graduation Main Start-ups
founders
IIM Ahmedabad 13 Spinny, Xpressbees, Navi Technologies
Indian School of Business 6 Livspace, Wakefit, boAt, WayCool, Shuttl
IIM Lucknow 5 Rebel Foods, Xpressbees, Square Yards
IIM Calcutta 5 Pepperfry, Turtlemint, WinZo
IIT Bombay 4 Vedantu, Khatabook, Games24x7, Rupeek
Harvard University 4 WayCool, HomeLane, Ezetap
Stanford University 4 MobiKwik, Apna, Capital Float
IIM Bangalore 4 Aye Finace, ixigo, HomeLane
London Business School 3 MobiKwik, Livspace, MyGlamm
IIT Kharagpur 3 Inshorts, Stanza Living, Rapido, Locus
IIM Kozhikode 3 Ninjakart
BITS Pilani 3 GreyOrande, Pratilipi, Locus
XLRI Jamshedpur 3 Mamaearth, Shuttl, ElasticRun
Source: Hurun Research Institute. Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021

Methodology

The Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021 is compiled by the Hurun Research Institute with a 31st
August 2021 cut-off. Hurun defines a ‘future Unicorn’ as a start-up founded in the 2000s that has
reached of valuation of less than US$1bn and greater than US$200mn, but not yet listed on a public
exchange.

Hurun Research believes the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021 to be the most serious attempt to
capture India’s future Unicorns into one list.

Valuing start-up can be tricky. The very nature of these super-fast growing companies makes valuations
hard to pin down, but to ensure consistency of the valuations, the Hurun research team used the most
recent valuation based on a sizeable round. Countries and cities are ranked according to the start-up
head office.

The Hurun research team used databases that specialize in recording rounds of investments by the
professional investment world, cross-checking the data with some of the world’s top investment houses,
industry experts, start-up co-founders and media sources.

Future Unicorns can drop out from the list either by going public (IPO), being acquired by another
company, or dropping in valuation below US$200mn.

Disclaimer. All the data collection and the research has been carried out by Hurun Research. This
report is meant for information purposes only. Reasonable care and caution have been taken in
preparing this report. The information contained in this report has been obtained from sources that are
considered reliable. By accessing and/or using any part of the report, the user accepts this disclaimer
and exclusion of liability which operates to the benefit of Hurun. Hurun does not guarantee the accuracy,
adequacy or completeness of any information contained in the report and neither shall it be responsible
for any errors or omissions in or for the results obtained from the use of such information. No third party
whose information is referenced in this report under the credit to it assumes any liability towards the
user with respect to its information. Hurun shall not be liable for any decisions made by the user based
on this report (including those of investment or divestiture) and the user takes full responsibility for their
decisions made based on this report. Hurun shall not be liable to any user of this report (and expressly
disclaim liability) for any loss, damage of any nature, including but not limited to direct, indirect, punitive,
special, exemplary, consequential losses, loss of profit, lost business and economic loss regardless of
the cause or form of action and regardless of whether or not any such loss could have been foreseen.
About the Hurun Report

Hurun Report promotes entrepreneurship through its lists and research. Best-known for its rich list
series, 500 most valuable companies’ series and Unicorn series, Hurun last year hit 8 billion views on
the Hurun brand, up 50 per cent yoy.

Hurun Report Inc. has three key divisions: Hurun Research, Hurun Conferences, and Hurun Media.

About Hurun India

“Promoting Entrepreneurship Through Lists and Research”

Hurun India commenced operations in 2012 and has been bringing to light stories of successful and
emerging Indian entrepreneurs ever since, felicitating them at a bouquet of Hurun events hosted Pan-
India.

Hurun India serves as India’s definitive voice celebrating wealth creation, innovation, and growth. Last
year, Hurun further expanded its repertoire by releasing the Hurun Global Rich List 2021, a ranking of
the 3,228 US dollar billionaires, the so-called ‘Nine-Zero Club’, currently in the world, and the ninth India

Rich List which ranks the 827 richest individuals in India, allowing for comparisons between some of
the most dynamic economies in the world. The purpose of this list is to try and tell the story of modern
India through the eyes of an entrepreneur. For the full details, please refer to on www.hurunindia.net.

The Hurun India Philanthropy List ranks the most generous individuals in India and is now on its 5th
anniversary. Indians give much more generously than many have previously understood.

The Hurun Real Estate Rich List ranks the top real estate developers in the country and is now on the
4th anniversary.

In 2018, Hurun Report launched the Hurun India Women Rich List, aimed at celebrating the success
stories of some of the most amazing women wealth creators and inheritors.

In 2019, Hurun India Art List was launched, aimed at tracking some of the most successful artists who
are alive today by way of cumulative auction prices. This we believe is a watershed moment in the art
history of India, where we expect more entrepreneurs to start collecting.

In 2019, Hurun Luxury Consumer Survey was debuted to understand and speak about the spending
habits of ultra-high net worth individuals.

In 2020, Hurun India Unicorn List was debuted to track and speak about the top young wealth creators
of the country.

For the full details, please refer to on www.hurunindia.net.

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