India is an exciting place to be for Startups. Indian ventures are attracting a lot of attention and funding, and the next few years will see several Unicorns grow out of India.
The most dynamic space has been FinTech, as India emerged with the second-highest product absorption rate at 59% against the global average of 39%. Leading the way in this sector are Paytm, Paytm Money, PhonePe, MobiKwik, PayU, ET Money, among others.
In the Q3 of 2019, 193 deals were closed, totalling US$3.2 Billion. Sequoia Capital, the California headquartered VC, led the funding spree closing over 13 deals, mostly in the FinTech space.
It was followed by Accel (10 deals), Tiger Global Management (7 deals), GrowX Venture Management (6 deals), SAIF Partners (5 deals), Steadview Capital Management (4 deals), Lightspeed (4 deals), Trifecta Capital (4 deals), Omidyar Network (4 deals), Chiratae Ventures (4 deals).
The top 20 highest funded start-ups in India are:
1. Ola Cabs
Total Funding: US$3.8 Billion
Industry: Ride Aggregator
Founded in 2010, Bengaluru-based Ola Cabs is a ride-hailing mobile App-based platform offering a range of cabs, two-wheelers, and other options for urban commuters. The company continues to penetrate the Indian urban market and is expanding its operations to the UK, Australia, and New Zealand.
2. Snapdeal
Total Funding: US$1.8 Billion
Industry: E-Commerce
Founded in 2010, New Delhi-based Snapdeal is an e-commerce platform offering a wide range of products in a very competitive space. The company is backed by the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, Taiwanese company Foxconn and the Japanese venture capital firm Softbank. It competes with Flipkart and Amazon, among others.
3. Oyo Rooms
Total Funding: US$1.7 Billion
Industry: Hotel Reservations
Founded in 2013, Gurugram-based Oyo is the world’s third-largest and fastest-growing hospitality reservation company. The service offers budget and affordable hotel reservations through its mobile-App. Oyo is expanding its operations within China, UAE, Malaysia, Nepal, and Indonesia.
4. Swiggy
Total Funding: US$1.5 Billion
Industry: Food Delivery
Founded in 2014, Bengaluru-based Swiggy offers doorstep food delivery services curated from select restaurants in over 100 Indian cities. The company has over 218,000 employees.
5. BigBasket
Total Funding: US$989.5 Million
Industry: E-Commerce; Delivery Service
Founded in 2011, the Bengaluru-based BigBasket offers doorstep delivery of a wide range of food and grocery store products.
6. BYJU’S
Total Funding: $969.8 Million
Industry: Edtech
Founded in 2011, the Bengaluru-based BYJU’S is an online learning and tutoring service. The company employs over 8,000 people, and in March 2019 was valued at $5.5 Billion, the world’s highest valuation for an edtech company.
7. Delhivery
Total Funding: US$819.6 Million
Industry: Supply Chain Management; Logistics
Founded in 2011, Gurugram-based Delhivery is a third-party logistics service provider focusing on courier pick-up, delivery, and online shipping services. With over 50,000 employees, Delhivery services over 1200 cities in the country.
8. Paytm Mall
Total Funding: US$795 Million
Industry: E-Commerce
Founded in 2016, Paytm Mall, a Delhi-NCR-based online e-commerce platform, is a subsidiary of Paytm.
9. Zomato
Total Funding: US$755.6 Million
Industry: Online Restaurant Reservations; Food Delivery
Founded in 2008, Gurugram-based Zomato is a popular Indian restaurant, bars, and cafes aggregator and food delivery start-up. Employing over 5,000 employees, Zomato competes with Swiggy to meet the rapidly growing demand for home and office food delivery services.
10. Grofers
Total Funding: US$471.8 Million
Industry: E-Commerce
Founded in 2013, Gurugram-based Grofers caters to online order fulfilment of food and groceries. Employing over 3,000 employees, Grofers competes with BigBasket for the Indian consumer market.
11. Policy Bazaar
Total Funding: US$346.6 Million
Industry: Insurance
Founded in 2008, Gurugram-based insurance aggregator Policy Bazaar offers financial services from leading insurance companies in Life, Health, Car, and Two-wheeler Insurance services. The company employs over 10,000 people.
12. CureFit
Total Funding: US$294.6 Million
Industry: Health & Fitness
Founded in 2016, Bengaluru-based CureFit is a health and fitness startup offering focused gym services through Cult.Fit, health foods through Eat.Fit, and mental wellness products and services through Mind.Fit.
13. Blackbuck
Total Funding: US$285.2 Million
Industry: Supply Chain Management; Logistics
Founded in 2015, Bengaluru-based Blackbuck (Zinka Logistics Solutions Private Limited) operates a fleet of over 250,000 trucks offering trucking services to over 10,000 clients in 2,000 plus locations in India.
14. Udaan
Total Funding: US$284.9 Million
Industry: B2B Marketplace
Bengaluru-based Uddan is a B2B online marketplace connecting small and medium traders across 80-100 cities, with deliveries in over 800 locations in India.
15. Rivigo
Total Funding: US$245.6 Million
Industry: Logistics; Transportation
Gurugram-based trucking company Rivigo offers services in over 4,000 locations in India with a 5,000+ fleet of high-tech trucks.
16. CarDekho
Total Funding: US$177.5 Million
Industry: New and Used Cars Marketplace
Founded in 2008, Gurugram-based Car Dekho is an online car search platform offering purchase and sale of new and used cars.
17. InCred
Total Funding: US$175.1 Million
Industry: FinTech; Financial Services
Founded in 2016, Mumbai-based InCred is a Non-Banking Financial Services Company (NBFC) offering loans to individual consumers and SMEs.
18. LendingKart
Total Funding: US$167.6 Million
Industry: FinTech; Financial Services
Founded in 2014, Ahmedabad-based LendingKart is a financial services company offering unsecured business loans.
19. 1mg
Total Funding: $163.4 Million
Industry: Online Pharmacy
Founded in 2015, Gurugram-based 1mg is India’s leading online pharmacy supplying its medical products and pathological collection services to over 1,000 locations in the country.
20. Xpressbees
Total Funding: US$157.6 Million
Industry: E-Commerce Logistics
Founded in 2015, Pune-based Xpressbees is a logistics services provider with over 2,000 offices and over 20,000 employees.
