The Hurun Global Unicorn List 2020, released by the Hurun Research Institute, is the second edition of its ranking of the world’s billion-dollar tech ‘start-ups’ founded in the 2000s and not yet listed on a public exchange. The USA topped the index with 233 unicorns, followed by China with 227 and the UK and India.
The research located 586 unicorns across the globe in 29 countries and 145 cities, with an upsurge of 92 this year. The average age of these unicorns is estimated at nine years, with 90 per cent selling services and 60 per cent consumer-facing. It was also found that most of these unicorns were engaged in disruptive technology, while the remaining five per cent belonged to traditional sectors. The total value of all known unicorns in the world is US$1.8 trillion, equivalent to the GDP of Italy.
Top countries with the world’s unicorns
| Rank | Country | Unicorns (+new) |
| 1↑ | USA | 233 (+30) |
| 2↓ | China | 227 (+21) |
| 3↑ | UK | 24 (+11) |
| 4↓ | India | 21 (+0) |
| 5↑ | South Korea | 11 (+5) |
| 6↓ | Germany | 10 (+3) |
| 7↑ | Brazil | 8 (+4) |
| 7↓ | Israel | 8 (+1) |
| 9↓ | France | 7 (+3) |
| 10↑ | Switzerland | 5 (+2) |
| 10↓ | Indonesia | 5 (+1) |
| 12- | Japan | 3 (+1) |
| 12* | Canada | 3 (+3) |
| 14↓ | Singapore | 2 (+0) |
| 14↓ | Sweden | 2 (+0) |
| 14↑ | Australia | 2 (+1) |
| 14↑ | Spain | 2 (+1) |
| 14↑ | Malta | 2 (+1) |
| 19↓ | Finland | 1 (+0) |
| 19* | Lithuania | 1 (+1) |
| 19↓ | Argentina | 1 (+0) |
| 19* | Nigeria | 1 (+1) |
| 19↓ | Luxembourg | 1 (+0) |
| 19↓ | Philippines | 1 (+0) |
| 19↓ | Estonia | 1 (+0) |
| 19↓ | Ireland | 1 (+0) |
| 19↓ | Colombia | 1 (+0) |
| 19* | Malaysia | 1 (+1) |
| 19* | Austria | 1 (+1) |
Source: The Hurun Research Institute
India’s Top 10 Unicorns
Top 10 Indian unicorns make up 78% of the total value of India’s unicorns, while Paytm alone claims nearly 22% of the total valuation share of these unicorns, with a valuation of US$16bn.
Top 10 Indian unicorns make up 78% of the total value of India’s unicorns, while Paytm alone claims nearly 22% of the total valuation share of these unicorns, with a valuation of US$16bn.
India’s Top 10 Hurun Global Unicorns 2020
| Rank | Name | Valuation (US$bn) | Headquarters | Sector |
| 1 | Paytm | 16 | Noida | FinTech |
| 2 | OYO Rooms | 8 | Gurgaon | E-commerce |
| 3 | BYJU’s | 8 | Bengaluru | EdTech |
| 4 | Ola Cabs | 6 | Bengaluru | Shared Economy |
| 5 | Swiggy | 3.5 | Bengaluru | On-Demand Delivery |
| 6 | Zomato | 3.5 | Gurgaon | On-Demand Delivery |
| 7 | Paytm Mall | 3 | Noida | E-commerce |
| 8 | ReNew Power | 3 | Gurgaon | New Energy |
| 9 | BigBasket | 2.5 | Bengaluru | E-commerce |
| 10 | Udaan | 2.5 | Bengaluru | E-commerce |
Source: Hurun Research Institute
India’s Unicorns
Paytm– Paytm is a leading Indian online payments company, founded by Vijay Shekhar Sharma in 2010, with an initial investment of US$2mn. Paytm is also the most valued Indian start-up.
- Current Valuation- US$16bn
- Rank- 13th in the Hurun Global Unicorn List 2020
OYO Rooms– Online Hotel booking platform OYO Rooms
- Current Valuation- US$8bn
BYJU’s– Byju Raveendran led ed-tech startup BYJU was founded in 2011. It is India’s largest ed-tech startup, as of date.
- Current Valuation- US$8bn
- Rank- 31st in the Hurun Global Unicorn List 2020
Ola Cabs– Founded in December 2010, Ola Cabs is a ride-sharing app. SoftBank, Tiger Global, Tencent, Matrix Partners, and DST Global are the major shareholders in the Unicorn startup.
- Current Valuation- US$6bn
- Rank- 49th in the Hurun Global Unicorn List 2020
Swiggy– Online food delivery startup Swiggy started its operations in Augut 2014.
- Current Valuation- US$3.5bn
Zomato– India’s leading food delivery platform, Zomato was founded by Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah in the year 2008
- Current Valuation- US$3.5bn
- Rank- 96th in the Hurun Global Unicorn List 2020
Paytm Mall– Launched in 2016 as an e-commerce platform, Paytm Mall is a venture of Paytm.
- Current Valuation- US$3bn
- Rank- 108th in the Hurun Global Unicorn List 2020
ReNew Power– Sumant Sinha led ReNew Power started its operations in January 2011 in the renewable energy sector.
- Current Valuation- US$3bn
- Rank- 108th as per the list
Zerodha– A Fintech company, Zerodha’s was founded by the Kamath brothers, Nithin and Nikhil Kamath in 2010.
- Current Valuation- US$3bn
- Rank- 108th in the Hurun Global Unicorn List 2020
BigBasket– It is one of India’s leading online grocery store which started its operations in October 2011
- Current Valuation- US$2.5bn
Udaan – A B2B startup, Udaan was founded in 2016 by Flipkart’s ex-employees Amod Malviya, Vaibhav Gupta, and Sujeet Kumar
- Current Valuation- US$2.5bn
- Rank- 156th in the Hurun Global Unicorn List 2020
BillDesk– Founded by Karthik Ganapathy, Ajay Kaushal and MN Srinivasu in 2000, BillDesk is a fintech company.
- Current Valuation- US$2bn
- Rank- 170th in the Hurun Global Unicorn List 2020
Delhivery– Gurgaon based startup Delhivery began its operations in the year 2011 after it was founded by Bhavesh Manglani, Kapil Bharati, Mohit Tandon, Sahil Barua and Suraj Saharan.
- Current Valuation- US$2bn
- Rank- 170th in the Hurun Global Unicorn List 2020
Mu Sigma– The Bengaluru based big-data company is led by Dhiraj C Rajaram, an engineering graduate. The company took off its operations in 2004
- Current Valuation- US$2bn
- Rank- 170th in the Hurun Global Unicorn List 2020
Lenskart– E-commerce company involved in eyewear products, Lenskart is currently exploring the digital and AI tools to reach out to its current and potential customers.
- Current Valuation- US$1.5bn
PolicyBazaar- Fintech company PolicyBazaar was founded by IITians Alok Bansal, Avaneesh Nirjar and IIM graduate, Yashish Dahiya.
- Current Valuation- US$1.5bn
- Rank- 257th in the Hurun Global Unicorn List 2020
FirstCry– It was founded by Amitava Saha, Sanket Hattimattur and Supam Maheshwari in 2010.
- Current Valuation- US$1.2bn
- Rank- 339th in the Hurun Global Unicorn List 2020
Dream11– It is India’s becoming India’s first gaming company to enter the Unicorn club.
- Current Valuation- US$1bn
- Rank- 351st in the Hurun Global Unicorn List 2020
Hike– Popular as a messenger app, the communication platform was started by Kavin Bharti Mittal in 2012
- Current Valuation- US$1bn
Ola Electric– The company, which deals in EV products, was founded by Anand Shah and Ankit Jain in 2017
- Current Valuation- US$1mn
- Rank- 351st in the Hurun Global Unicorn List 2020
Rivigo- The Gurgaon-based logistics company was founded by IIT graduates Deepak Garg and Gazal Kalra in 2014
- Current Valuation- US$1bn
- Rank- 351st in the Hurun Global Unicorn List 2020
India is home to 21 unicorns, valued at $73.2 billion
The average age of Indian unicorns is seven years, of which two are less than four years old
Ola Electric is the youngest unicorn on the list, being founded in 2017
Hurun Report India MD and Chief Researcher Anas Rahman Junaid said: “India officially has 61 unicorns, but only 21 are headquartered in India, with the remaining started up by Indians overseas. We hope Hurun Global Unicorn Report 2020 would inspire entrepreneurs in India to create billion-dollar startups, serving the Prime Minister’s call for ‘aatma nirbhar’ Bharat”.
Top10 Investors in the Indian Unicorns
| Rank | Investor | No. Of Unicorns | HO Country |
| 1 | Softbank | 9 | Japan |
| 2 | Alibaba Group | 5 | China |
| 2 | Tiger Global Management | 5 | USA |
| 4 | Sequoia | 4 | USA |
| 5 | DST Global | 3 | China |
| 5 | Tencent | 3 | China |
| 5 | General Atlantic | 3 | USA |
| 5 | Temasek Holdings | 3 | Singapore |
Source: Hurun Research Institute
Key Facts
- INDIANS FOUNDED A FURTHER 40 UNICORNS OUTSIDE INDIA, CHINESE FOUNDED FURTHER 16 OUTSIDE CHINA.
- WORLD’S TOP THREE UNICORNS FROM CHINA: ANT GROUP US$150BN, ON BACK OF SHANGHAI AND HK IPO PLAN, BYTEDANCE UP US$5BN TO US$80BN, DESPITE RECENT US GOVT THREAT TO TIKTOK, AND TAXI-HAILING APP DIDI CHUXING US$55BN
- SPACEX, WHICH JUST SUCCESSFULLY DELIVERED TWO ASTRONAUTS TO THE ISS, FIFTH IN WORLD, WORTH US$36BN
- SAN FRANCISCO-BASED PAYMENTS PLATFORM STRIPE BIGGEST GAINER, ADDING US$13BN AND 5 PLACES TO 5TH PLACE
- NO UNICORNS: ITALY, RUSSIA, MEXICO AND HOLLAND LARGEST COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD BY GDP WITHOUT A UNICORN
- USA AND CHINA ADDED 30 AND 21 UNICORNS IN THE PAST YEAR, EQUIVALENT TO THE NUMBER OF UNICORNS IN INDIA OR UK
- FINANCIAL SERVICES AND RETAIL SECTORS MOST DISRUPTED BY UNICORNS, FOLLOWED BY MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT, BUSINESS MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS, HEALTHCARE, LOGISTICS AND AUTOMOBILES
- E-COMMERCE LED WITH 89 UNICORNS, FOLLOWED BY AI (EG AUTONOMOUS DRIVING AND FACIAL RECOGNITION) AND FINTECH (EG PAYMENT SOLUTIONS) WITH 63 EACH. OTHERS INCLUDE SAAS 53, SHARED ECONOMY 33 AND HEALTH TECH 28
- BIGGEST LOSERS: JUUL LABS AND WEWORK, DOWN US$36BN AND US$27BN
- SEQUOIA WORLD’S MOST SUCCESSFUL UNICORN INVESTOR, INVESTING INTO ONE IN FIVE OF THE WORLD’S UNICORNS, FOLLOWED BY TENCENT, SOFTBANK AND IDG. HILLHOUSE AND ACCEL BROKE INTO TOP 10 FOR THE FIRST TIME
- 943 CO-FOUNDERS OF WORLD’S UNICORNS, AVERAGE AGE 42
- 33 UNICORNS FOUNDED WITHIN 3 YEARS, AVERAGE AGE 9YRS
- 80% SELL SOFTWARE AND SERVICES, 20% PHYSICAL PRODUCTS
- 59% ARE CONSUMER-FACING, 41% B2B
- 18 OF 20 SPIN-OFFS FROM LARGE CHINESE COMPANIES, LED BY ALIBABA AND JD
- AFRICA HAS ONE UNICORN: NIGERIA-BASED PAYMENTS GATEWAY INTERSWITCH WORTH US$1BN. HALF OF UNICORNS IN ASIA
- TOTAL VALUE OF ALL KNOWN UNICORNS IN WORLD US$1.9 TRILLION
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