India’s startup boom slows down; only three new unicorns in 2023: Report

New Delhi, June 28 (KNN) India’s startup ecosystem in 2023 is experiencing a slowdown as new additions in the unicorn list declined sharply, according to the ASK Private Wealth Hurun Indian Future Unicorn Index 2023.

The report released on Tuesday pointed out that India added only three unicorns - privately held companies with a valuation of over USD1 billion in 2023 against 24 in the year-ago period. The overall number of unicorns also declined to 83 from 84 in the year-ago period.

ASK Private Wealth's chief executive and managing director Rajesh Saluja pointed out that unsustainable business models adopted by startups have led to a dip in valuations.He stressed that funding to the right companies continues.

Hurun India's chief researcher Anas Rahman Junaid, however, said that the Indian startup story has high potential and he sees the overall number of unicorns in India touching 200 in the next five years.

“China has over 1,000 unicorns and if India were to grow economically, startups will be very important,” he said.

Junaid said the overall number of startups in the list, which has startups valued at over USD 50 million, stands at 147 in 2023 compared to 122 in the year-ago period. A total of 18 companies got dropped off the list last year, but there were over 40 new additions as well.

Saluja informed that the overall funding to the startups on the list grew by 6 per cent to USD 18.8 billion.  (KNN Bureau)