India took the second position in the world in 2024 unicorn additions, with six new startups achieving the much-desired billion-dollar valuation status. This took India's unicorns' total valuation over $220 billion, stated a report issued on Thursday.
The report, launched by Nasscom and Zinnov in association with the 'Startup Mahakumbh' event, noted that unicorns represented 33% of the total funding raised in 2024.
India's technology startup scene saw a robust revival during the year, with a 23% rise in total funding. Total tech funding reached a record high of $7.4 billion, while activity in terms of deals saw a significant 27% increase over 2023. Even the number of new tech startups launched doubled more than two-fold (2.1X growth), taking the total number of Indian tech startups to around 32,000–35,000.
Rajesh Nambiar, Nasscom President, highlighted the industry's advancement and said, "The expansion in mature and emerging segments, more so in DeepTech and AI, charts the increasing maturity of the Indian tech startup ecosystem from merely being an opportunity hub to one that is now a strategic power propelling India's digital economy."
He also emphasized the pivotal role of DeepTech startups in powering progress, stating, "Our attention now needs to be on deepening the foundational pillars of this growth, from increasing capital access to creating strong innovation infrastructure, so that our startups can compete anywhere in the world and solve distinctly Indian challenges.
When broken down by funding stage, seed-stage investment grew the most, growing by 29% in terms of share of total funding. Early-stage funding came next with a 25% growth, while late-stage funding grew by 21% over last year.
A whopping 67% of tech startup financing in 2024 went into "mature" sectors—industries with large total funding values and robust deal activity.
DeepTech investment witnessed stunning growth, increasing by 78% to $1.6 billion.
"At the core of India's growth, startups are driving innovation and economic transformation. India is not only a consumer of bleeding-edge technology but a creator, a leader, and an architect of innovation," stated Pari Natarajan, CEO, Zinnov.
In the future, almost 75% of Indian technology startups are positive about the prospects of funding in 2025, while an incredible 98% of the respondents foresee a remarkable increase in revenue next year, the report found.
Read also| India Ranks 2nd in Global Unicorn Creation, Total Valuation Exceeds $220 Billion
