Startups That Turned Unicorns in 2020

In 2020, find out which companies had joined the billion-dollar club. And became the startups turned unicorns. Moreover, also read what is that had made them valuable.

The billion-dollar club or commonly known as unicorns is a very prestigious club. And, even for the companies having a long history, takes time to reach the $1 billion mark. But the companies that we have mentioned in the article has made it, in a very short period of time.

The Unicorns

Following are the startups that have turned to unicorns in 2020:

Pine Labs

In January 2020, the company has raised an undisclosed amount from Mastercard. And with this deal, it has become a Unicorn company, joining the billion-dollar club.

Furthermore, reportedly the funding amount is somewhere around $150 million dollars.

And with this, Pine Labs is now valued at $1.5-1.6 billion.

In 1998 Lokvir Kapoor, Tarun Upaday, and Rajul Garg, founded the Pine Labs. The company provides merchant platform services. And makes software for PoS (point of sale) machines.

Moreover, till now the company has more than 70,000 retailers across India. And, have the likes of Shopper’s Stop, Pantaloons, and Amway as their customers.

FirstCry

It is an online store for baby product retailing, based out of Pune. In February 2020, the company raised $296 million from Softbank. Moreover, $100 million is also in the queue to be invested in 2021.

And, with this investment, Firstcry becomes the unicorn company of India. Furthermore, with a valuation of 1.2 billion.

In 2010, Supam Maheshwari and Amitava Saha, founded the FirstCry. Till today the company has over 380 stores across India. Out of which 350 stores are franchise.

In 2016 FirstCry acquired BabyOye, owned by the Mahindra Group. And with this acquisition, FirstCry became the market leader in India.

Nykaa

It is a Mumbai based retailer of beauty, wellness, and fashion products. In May 2020 Nykaa has raised around $91 million. Moreover, from their existing investor Steadview Capital.

And with this Nykaa is now valued at $1.2 billion, becoming a unicorn company.

In 2012 Falguni Nayar, founded the Nykaa. First, it was launched as an eCommerce portal, serving a range of beauty and wellness products. Later in 2015, the company expanded. And also embraced the omnichannel model, along with its eCommerce platform.

Postman

It is a Bengaluru based SaaS company. The company helps developers with API integration and development. In June 2020, the company has secured $150 million of funding.

And with this, now the valuation of Postman is $2 billion.

In 2014 by Abhijit Kane, Ankit Sobit, and Abhinav Asthana, founded the Postman. To date, Postman is used by over 11 million developers around the globe. And it has the likes of Microsoft, Twitter, and goibibo, as their customer.

Zerodha

It is a Bengaluru based, financial service company. The company offers retail and institutional broking. Along with, currencies and commodities trading, mutual funds, and bonds.

This year they did a self-assessed valuation of about $1 billion. It is based on the ESOP buyback exercise. Where the company did the valuation of each share at more than four times the book value of ₹700 per share.

And with this, Zerodha has entered the unicorn club.

In 2010 by Nithin Kamath, founded the Zerodha. The company contributes 2% of daily upwards of retail volume across Indian stock exchanges.

Unacademy

It is also a Bangalore based, online education platform company. In September 2020, the EdTech startup has raised $150 million. Moreover, the investment is from SoftBank.

And with this, the company now has a valuation of $1.45 billion. Thus, enters India’s Billion Dollar exclusive club.

In 2015, Gaurav Munjal and Roman Saini founded the Unacademy. The company had a very humble beginning. Where the Founder Gaurav Munjal started online teaching through his YouTube channel. Now the company has grown and has a network of over 18,000 teachers. And a student base of more than 350,000 on their platform.

Razorpay

It is a financial technology headquartered in Bengaluru. The company provides payment solutions. It allows its customers to accept, process, and disburse payments. In October 2020, the company has raised $100 million from GIC and Sequoia Capital India.

With this, the company now has a valuation of around $1 billion, converting it to a unicorn company.

In 2014, Harshil Mathur and Sashant Kumar founded the RazorPay. Now, the company serves more than 5 million businesses across the country. Its valued customers include Airtel, Facebook, Ola, etc. The company has shown excellent growth in 2020. In a pandemic, people did online payments more than normal times.

Conclusion

Sure, the year 2020 was difficult. And in this pandemic, the above Companies have made India proud. Moreover, while India was facing a major financial slowdown. But these startups have shown the true spirit of India. And, became unicorns!

But, most of the mentioned companies are not that old. Therefore, growing fast is also commendable.

The entrepreneurs of India are the face of India’s growth. And, it’s because of the business grit of Indian entrepreneurs, foreign investors look upon India. That’s why they search for investment opportunities in good startups.

The youth of the country is looking at the golden age of India. So, grab the opportunity before it’s too late!

Thank you for reading the article. If you found this article interesting, then also read the article- Rat Race- Let’s change the way we work.