Only five startups became unicorns in 2025, the same number as last year, even as growth-stage funding recovered and larger cheques returned to the market. The flat count points to a continuing reset in startup valuations and a clear shift among late-stage companies towards tapping public markets earlier rather than pursuing valuation-led private rounds.
Data from Venture Intelligence shows that $3.2 billion was invested in growth-stage startups, typically Series B and C, during the year, up from $2.6 billion in 2024. Despite the increase in capital, only five companies crossed the $1 billion valuation mark – broking platform Dhan, B2B e-commerce firm Jumbotail, pet food brand Drools, logistics player Porter and payments company Juspay.
The number is well below the peak seen in 2022, when 22 startups achieved unicorn status, underscoring how far the ecosystem has moved away from the high-valuation cycle of the pandemic years.
Investors say the slowdown in unicorn creation is not a concern. Deepak Gupta, founder of WEH Ventures, told Fe that the focus on headline unicorn numbers had diminished after the funding correction of 2022–23. According to him, the current phase reflects healthier operating performance and more disciplined capital deployment rather than valuation inflation. He added that the unicorn count increasingly fails to capture a key structural shift underway in the market.
Choosing Public Markets Over Private Hype
Several companies that might earlier have become unicorns through private funding are now choosing to list instead. Logistics firm Shadowfax, for instance, raised its last private round at a valuation of $712 million in February and later filed draft IPO papers, reportedly targeting a valuation of about $965 million. Mattress and furniture brand Wakefit listed earlier this month at around $650 million. Co-working operator Smartworks debuted on the markets in July at a valuation of roughly $590 million, while flexible workspace provider IndiQube sought a valuation of about $550 million when it filed for an IPO earlier this year.
This trend has capped private-market valuations while accelerating the transition of scaled startups to public markets, effectively bypassing the traditional unicorn milestone.
Rise of Private Equity and Profitability
Another notable shift this year has been the growing role of private equity investors in late-stage funding. All five unicorns minted in 2025 raised their most recent rounds primarily from private equity firms or large corporate investors rather than mainstream venture capital funds. Investors attribute this to increased PE interest in profitable or near-profitable businesses, particularly in consumer-facing and financial services segments.
Market participants say private equity funds, now managing larger pools of capital, are becoming more comfortable backing technology-led businesses, provided growth expectations are realistic and governance standards are clear. Valuations, they add, are more rational, with revenue multiples and growth assumptions better aligned to public market benchmarks.
As capital discipline tightens, founders are also recalibrating how success is defined. Gupta said the term unicorn has lost much of its signalling value globally and is becoming less relevant in India as well. Instead of chasing billion-dollar paper valuations, founders are increasingly focused on building durable companies capable of delivering billion-dollar outcomes over longer periods.