There was a time when a startup with a valuation of $1 billion or more was considered be a rare kind, almost a mythical thing and that’s why it was called a unicorn. In the past few years unicorns have become pretty common, more like horses. Further, from a few years the venture capital industry is looking to tighten its grip and bring back the valuations back to earth. But, just last year investments poured heavily skyrocketing the valuations of many companies.
The unicorn club is growing by the day, over 57 startups around the globe took the status of a unicorn in 2017. With India and China being the hotbeds of startups, let’s a look at the top 5 unicorns operating in the countries
China
Didi Chuxing
Didi Chuxing, formerly known as Didi Kuaidi, was formed from the merger of China’s cab hailing firms Kuaidi Dache and DiDi Dache. The company offers is services across 300 cities in China. The company last raised $18,227.8 million in its last round of investment in December last year. Further, the company has been backed by the likes of Tiger Global management, Softbank Corp, Matrix Partners, among others.
Valuation: $56 billion
Unicorn since 2013
Xiaomi deals in self deployed high end smartphones with a comparatively lower price point. Its product range includes MI and Redmi smartphones, MI Television, Routers and MI ecosystem including smart home products wearables and other accessories. The company is further being backed by the likes of Digital Sky Technologies, QiMing Venture Partners, Qualcomm Ventures, among others.
Valuation: $46 billion
Unicorn since 2011
Meituan-Dianping
China Internet Plus, also known as Meituan-Dianping was formed by the merger of Meituan and Dianping. Meituan was a china based group discount platform while Dianping was a location based dining information and group buying platform. The company is being backed by the likes of DST Global, Trustbridge Partners, Capital Today and others. In its last round of investment, it raised over $7300 million.
Valuation: $30m billion
Unicorn since 2015
Lu.com
Shanghai Lujiazui International Financial Asset Exchange, also known as Lu.com enables two online lending platforms. The company was launched in 2012 and provides financing and lending services for SMBs and individual clients. Lu.com is acked by Ping An Insurance CDH Investments, and the Bank of China.
Valuation: $18.5 billion
Unicorn since 2014
Tuotiao
Headlines Today, also known as Toutiao, is a news app that uses data mining and recommendation technologies. It analyses data from users’ social networking accounts and individual reading habits to offer customised suggestions. They last raised over $3100 million and are currently backed by the likes of Sequoia Capital China, SIG Asia Investments, Sina Weibo, among others.
Valuation: $11 billion
Unicorn since 2017
India
Flipkart is an Indian ecommerce platform offering some of the best prices and a hassle-free experience with options of paying through Cash on Delivery, Debit Card, Credit Card, and Net Banking processed through secure and trusted gateways. In its last round, the ecommerce platform raised $7,475 million of investment and is currently being backed by the likes of Accel Partners, SoftBank Group, Iconiq Capital, among many others.
Valuation: $11.6 billion
Unicorn since 2012
Operated by Jasper Infotech, Snapdeal is another ecommerce platform offering a plethora of products like Flipkart. In its last round it raised $1776.2 million and is backed by the likes of SoftBank,Blackrock, Alibaba Group, among others
Valuation: $7 billion
Unicorn since 2014
One97 Communications is a mobile internet company. Its flagship product Paytm is a digital goods and mobile commerce platform. It is also a payments provider to ecommerce merchants using RBI approved semi closed wallet. They further invest in early stage companies though One97 Mobility Fund (OMF). The company in its last round raised $2770 million and is backed by the likes of Intel Capital, Sapphire Ventures, Alibaba Group, among others.
Valuation: $5.7 billion
Unicorn since 2015
Ola
Formerly known as Olacabs, Ola is a cab hailing company providing cabs, bikes, sharing services. They recently started their operations in Australia and are a global competitor to highest valued unicorn Uber. The company is being backed by the likes of Accel Partners, SoftBank Group, Sequoia Capital and others
Valuation: $3.65 billion
Unicorn since: 2014
ReNew Power Ventures
ReNew Power is a company dealing in renewable energy market with the intention of making clean energy, reducing carbon footprint. The company’s mission is to play an important role in the growing needs in the sector. The company further holds expertise in solar and wind power solutions. The company is further being backed by Goldman Sachs, JERA, and Asian Development Bank.
Valuation: $2 billion
Unicorn since 2017