Indian unicorns are privately held start-up companies valued at over $1 billion. The term "unicorn" was coined by venture capitalist Aileen Lee in 2013 to represent the rarity of such successful ventures. India's start-up ecosystem has seen significant growth over the past decade, making it one of the leading start-up hubs globally.
CRITERIA FOR BEING LISTED AS UNICORN:-
Valuation:- The Company has achieved a valuation of at least $1 billion.
Private Ownership: The Company is privately held, meaning it is not listed on any public stock exchange. Innovation: The Company is often innovative, disrupting its industry with new technologies or business models. Growth Potential: The Company demonstrates significant growth potential, often showing rapid revenue or user base growth. Investment: The Company usually has backing from venture capital firms, private equity, or other institutional investors.
These criteria can vary slightly depending on the source or context, but the $1 billion valuation is the most widely recognized benchmark.
Notable Indian unicorns:-
1. Flip cart 2. Ola 3. Zomato
1 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Researching the methodologies of Indian unicorns involves examining how these high-growth start-ups achieve rapid success, innovation, and substantial market value.
Over the past four years (since FY 2017-18), this number has been increasing exponentially, with a whopping 66% Year-on-Year growth in the number of additional unicorns being added every year. As of 03rd October 2023, India is home to 111 unicorns with a total valuation of $ 349.67 Bn.
Findings SWOT Analysis On 7 Indian Unicorns 🦄
SWOT Analysis: - A SWOT analysis is a strategic planning technique used to identify and understand the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats related to a project or business. Here's a breakdown of what each letter means:
2 1. S - Strengths: Internal factors that are favorable to the project or business, such as:
By conducting a SWOT analysis, you can gain a better understanding of your project's or businesses current situation and make informed decisions to address areas for improvement and capitalize on opportunities.
2 Unicorns 🦄 Strength Weakness Opportunities Threats Standardization , A strategy of co- Growing demand for Growing concerns OYO Spirit of Innovation branding , aggregators about safety , Tight margins Focus on budget Competition accommodation High brand Profitability International Rising Competition , Paytm awareness across Concerns , Expansion , Regulatory Changes , India , Paytm Mall’s Value-added High Customer User-friendly Struggles , Services Acquisition Costs interface security concern
Low cost trading , App does not work Explore commodity Earn profit, Groww Good customer properly market , service Digital gold Flipkhart Strong brand Intense competition, Expanding into new Regulatory changes recognition. logistics challenges. markets, diversifying global fluctuations. product offerings. Byju’s Dominant detect High acquisition Global expansion, Competition rewards player, personalized costs. partnership with platform strong user schools engagement. Cred Exclusive rewards Limited target Expanding services Competitors in the platform, strong user audience, beyond credit cards fintech space, engagement. monetization global presence changing consumer challenges behavior Meesho Social commerce Dependency on the Rural market growth Evolving e- platform, social media diversifying product commerce empowering small channels, scalability range landscape,logistics businesses challenges. On comparing who have performed the most out of analyzing their SWOT the performance of the Unicorns mentioned above are as follows:-
OYO: OYO reported a positive trend with a significant reduction in losses by 79% year-over-year to Rs 360 crore for the fiscal year 2023, coupled with a 20% growth in revenue to Rs 5,780 crore. Paytm: Paytm's revenue for FY23 increased by 51% to Rs 7,990 crore, driven by growth in its payments and financial services. However, the company reported a net loss of Rs 1,589 crore, a 30% improvement from the previous year's loss of Rs 2,396 crore. Groww: Groww experienced strong growth in FY23 with its revenue surging to Rs 316 crore, a 100% increase from the previous year.
2 Meesho: Meesho reported a 77% increase in revenue to Rs 5,735 crore in FY23, while losses were halved to Rs 1,675 crore. CRED: CRED saw its revenue jump to Rs 755 crore in FY23, a significant increase from Rs 128 crore the previous year. However, its losses widened to Rs 1,279 crore due to high customer acquisition costs and marketing expenses. BYJU'S: BYJU'S reported a revenue of Rs 4,500 crore for FY23, a 20% increase from the previous year. However, the company faced challenges with profitability, posting a net loss of Rs 2,500 crore. Flipkart: Flip kart’s revenue grew by 25% to Rs 56,250 crore in FY23. The e-commerce giant continued to dominate the Indian market, driven by strong sales during festive seasons and growth in its logistics and financial services segments. Flipkart also managed to reduce its losses to Rs 2,950 crore, showing improved operational efficiency.
SWOT analysis, though widely utilized, has several key shortcomings. It often suffers from subjectivity and biases, relying heavily on personal judgments. The analysis provides a static snapshot that may quickly become outdated due to the dynamic nature of business environments. It can oversimplify complex strategic issues, failing to recognize the interconnectedness of different factors and thus offering only a superficial understanding. SWOT also lacks prioritization, treating all factors equally and diluting focus on critical issues. Additionally, it does not offer actionable strategies on its own, requiring further analysis and strategic planning to translate insights into concrete actions. Finally, it can result in incomplete analysis, often missing deeper insights and broader environmental factors like political, economic, social, and technological influences.
CONCLUSION:-
In 2023, Indian unicorns showed mixed performance. OYO reduced losses by 79% to Rs 360 crore and grew revenue by 20% to Rs 5,780 crore. Paytm increased revenue by 51% to Rs 7,990 crore but reported a net loss of Rs 1,589 crore. Groww doubled its revenue to Rs 316 crore due to a growing user base. Meesho grew revenue by 77% to Rs 5,735 crore, halved its losses, and became profitable in Q2 FY24. CRED saw revenue rise to Rs 755 crore but had widened losses of Rs 1,279 crore. BYJU'S increased revenue by 20% to Rs 4,500 crore but faced a net loss of Rs 2,500 crore. Flipkart grew revenue by 25% to Rs 56,250 crore and reduced losses to Rs 2,950 crore, indicating improved efficiency. These unicorns exhibited resilience and growth potential despite profitability challenges and strategic hurdles.
