It’s raining unicorns: In 4 days, 6 Indian start-ups join $1 billion club

SUMMARY

A unicorn is a start-up that has a valuation of $1 billion or more.

By CNBCTV18.comApr 12, 2021 1:36:27 PM IST (Published)

In a space of four days, between April 5 and 8, six Indian start-ups joined the unicorn club. These start-ups spanned sectors such as healthcare, social commerce, and fintech, among others. Here’s a look at the six start-ups in order of the date that they turned unicorn: (Caption: StoryTailors)

Meesho: The Bengaluru-based social commerce start-up stated on April 5 that it had raised $300 million (over Rs 2,200 crore) in a new round of funding led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. This has taken its valuation to $2.1 billion. Meesho operates an online sales platform for micro, small and medium businesses across India. The latest investment round also saw participation from its existing investors — Prosus Ventures, Facebook, Shunwei Capital, Venture Highway and Knollwood Investment, a statement said.

CRED: A day after Meesho turned unicorn, on April 6, fintech start-up CRED stated that it had gained unicorn status, raising $215 million in a Series D funding round. The Series D round was led by a new investor, Falcon Edge Capital, and existing Coatue Management LLP. Another new investor, Insight Partners, also joined the cap table with other existing investors like DST Global, RTP Global, Tiger Global, Greenoaks Capital, Dragoneer Investment Group, and Sofina, the company said. With this, the company’s valuation has nearly trebled to $ 2.2 billion. The company, which automates all credit card payments and manages the cards on a single portal, is now officially the second fastest Indian start-up to emerge as a unicorn by achieving the feat in just 29 months of its launch.

PharmEasy: The online pharmacy company, owned by API Holdings, announced on April 7 that it has raised $350 million in a Series E funding round led by Prosus Ventures and TPG Growth, enabling it to become a unicorn. Its existing investors — Temasek, CDPQ, LGT Lightrock, Eight Roads, and Think Investments — also participated in the funding round. API Holdings is now valued at close to $1.5 billion. (Caption: StoryTailors)

Groww: On the same day — April 7 — Bengaluru-based investment platform Groww announced that it had raised $83 million in a Series D funding round, taking its valuation to over $1 billion. Tiger Global led the round, in which Groww’s existing investors — Sequoia Capital India, Ribbit Capital, YC Continuity and Propel Venture Partners — also participated. Started in 2017, Groww claims to have more than 1.5 crore registered users. (Caption: StoryTailors)

Gupshup: The messaging bots start-up hit $1.4 billion valuations, turning into a unicorn, Gupshup said on April 8, after raising $100 million from Tiger Global Management. It is a 10-fold increase in its valuation.

Mohalla Tech: The same day, app developer Mohalla tech — the company that runs Sharechat and Moj — surpassed $2.1 billion valuations and joined the unicorn club after it raised $502 million in a funding round led by Lightspeed Ventures and Tiger Global. Twitter and Snap Inc. also invested in the latest round. (Caption: StoryTailors)