India adds 23 new unicorns in 2022, overtakes China for the second consecutive year: report

Nine of the 23 unicorns added in the year have emerged from cities outside of the top 3 metros, indicating a shift to more democratic funding geographically, the report noted

India overtook China by adding 23 unicorns in 2022 while the neighbouring country created 11 such startups with valuation of $1 billion or more, according to a report released on March 15.

For the second time in a row, India topped China by creating 23 unicorns in 2022, taking the total number of such high-value companies to 96, as against China's 11 in the year, said a report by IVCA-Bain & Co.

However, this year's number is just half of the unicorns created in 2021 when it stood at a record 44, which took the overall number to 73 in that year.

According to the report, nine of the 23 unicorns added in the year have emerged from cities outside of the top 3 metros, indicating a shift to more democratic funding geographically. This means that funding to startups in non-metros grew to 18% of the total inflows share.

The year also many investors raising their largest ever India-focused funds, the report said, adding the SaaS (Software as a Service)-based and fintech players maintained the deal value while consumer tech declined.

The year 2022 saw a recaliberation in venture capital investments in the country as increasing macroeconomic uncertainty and recessionary fears affected investment momentum, said the Bain & Company's annual report in collaboration with the Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association (IVCA).

The report said the country added 23 unicorns notwithstanding the 33% compression in the deal value faced by the domestic startup ecosystem, from $38.5 billion in 2021 to $25.7 billion in 2022.