44 Startups in India Will Turn Unicorns Within Three Years: Hurun Global Gazelle Index China and the USA lead the index with 238 and 200, together accounting for 70 per cent of the world's known Gazelles
By S Shanthi
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According to the recently released Hurun Global Gazelle Index 2022 half-year report, 44 startups in India will turn into Unicorns, that is, hit a valuation of $1 billion, within three years. Named Gazelles, these startups were founded in the 2000s, are worth over $500 million and are not listed on a public exchange yet. This second edition of the Hurun Global Gazelle Index also says that there are 621 Gazelles in the world, based in 33 countries and 151 cities.
The findings further reveal that the USA and China lead the index with 238 and 200, together accounting for 70 per cent of the world's known Gazelles. "200 Gazelles in China made the cut this year, 29 more than last year. Of these 200, 61 were new faces. India stands third with 44 Gazelles," it says.
It also adds that by city, San Francisco is the world's Gazelle capital with 68 in the index based there and Shanghai is a strong second ahead of Beijing and New York.
According to the research, these Gazelles were set up in 2015, with the vast majority selling software and services and only 26 per cent selling physical products. 58 per cent are selling to businesses, whilst 42 per cent are consumer-facing, says the report by the Hurun Research Institute, which has been tracking Unicorns since 2017 and Gazelles since 2018.
"Gazelles are one of the most important unicorn pipelines. The more a city or country has, the more active their start-up ecosystem is, making it more likely they will produce more unicorns in the future. I hope this list of the world's Gazelles can help young entrepreneurs find role models for their businesses," said Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report Chairman and Chief Researcher.
"There are now 621 'known' Gazelles in the world, up a remarkable 18 per cent from just six months ago, suggesting that we are currently in the midst of the world's most exciting period of entrepreneurship ever, with founder teams, investors and governments coming together to promote startups. We managed to find one new Gazelle every day of the first half of the year. This is surprising, perhaps, when considering that the first six months of the year saw stock markets down $13 trillion," he added.
The report says that half of the world's Gazelles come from fintech, biotech, SaaS, healthtech and e-commerce. "These past six months fintech and enterprise services have grown fastest, attracting the world's top young talent and smartest capital. Few if any of the Hurun Gazelles are household names, but make no mistake, these are the startups most likely to become the next Douyin or SpaceX," he added.
