The ‘burden of hope capital’ continues

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April started with a big bang. The announcement of six new unicorns in the first week left the ecosystem in a tizzy, taking the official count to 10 for the year. In the next few weeks, India’s startup ecosystem will blow past the 11 unicorns added in all of last year.

Investment bank Avendus last month estimated that India “will add at least 20 unicorns this year.” Given that we have just completed the first quarter, this now seems a conservative estimate, even after factoring in the pandemic’s second surge. 

The new unicorns have emerged from across sectors—fintech (Cred, Groww), social media (Sharechat), ecommerce (Meesho, Pharmeasy), and enterprise communications (GupShup). These companies have collectively mopped up about $1.6 billion, and are worth about $10 billion combined.