Universities: Creating a Robust Startup Universe

A startup company with a valuation of over $1 billion is referred to as a unicorn. It is frequently employed in the venture capital sector. Aileen Lee, a venture capitalist, is credited with popularising the word first. Due to their sheer size, unicorn investors typically are private investors or venture capitalists. The United States, China, and the United Kingdom (UK) lead in terms of venture capital investment. However, India has now displaced the UK from third place in terms of adding the number of Unicorns in 2021.

Retail businesses all over the world can benefit from RELEX's AI solutions. The business is a pioneer in the field of retail optimization. It was only recently minted as a unicorn in February of this year and, as of early 2022, is valued at $5.7 billion. Blackstone, Technology Crossover Ventures, and Summit Partners are some of the investment sources. Technology, applied by the software platform Noom, assists users in taking charge of their physical and mental health. With more individuals becoming aware of its advantages, it keeps gaining popularity. Noom was minted as a unicorn in 2021, the same year it was valued at $3.7 billion. Noom has received funding from Silver Lake, Qualcomm Ventures, and Samsung Ventures. A German company called Flink offers grocery delivery. Since the epidemic started, there has been a considerable increase in the demand for supermarket delivery. Flink received money from Mubadala Capital, Bond, and Prosus Venture, and as of 2021, it was valued at $2.85 billion.

Global Unicorn Ecosystem

There are nearly 900 unicorn firms around the globe in 2022, with a total valuation of more than $3.5 trillion. Since the invention of the original phrase, even larger varieties of unicorns have appeared: Decacorns are valued at over $10 billion, and Hectacorns are valued at over $100 billion..

With a $140 billion valuation, China-based ByteDance is the most valuable unicorn business on the list. The business is well-known for Tiktok and Douyin, two well-known video-sharing social media apps. In a similar vein, SpaceX, an aerospace firm created by Elon Musk with a valuation of $100.3 billion, ranks second on the list of unicorn businesses. SpaceX's satellites and rockets have revolutionised space technology. The business builds rockets and spacecraft as well as performs aerial launch operations. With valuations of $42 billion and $40 billion, respectively, Epic Games and Canva hold the top slots on the list. As the name implies, the company Epic Games makes both video games and software. Melanie Perkins, a female entrepreneur, also co-founded Canva, an Australian visual design platform. Stripe, an Irish provider of software and financial services, is another name on the list. The business creates software that enables online payment processing for e-commerce companies. We all know that throughout the pandemic, numerous e-commerce enterprises have prospered, and as a result, Strip's valuation increased to $95 billion. With a $45.6 billion valuation, financial technology company Klarna ranks fourth among unicorn companies. With roots in Stockholm, Sweden, this is one of the major Fintech companies..

Of the top 50 private enterprises, fintech makes up 22% of the total. As was already mentioned, Stripe has the highest valuation of any financial firm. On the list of unicorn companies, other Fintech companies like Klarna and Revolut are the most valuable startups. Internet software and services account for 22% of all unicorns in the top positions. With a $13 billion valuation, cloud-based writing help Grammarly is also one of the top 50 unicorns. Supply chain, logistics, and delivery, hardware, and consumer & retail are other notable sectors that each account for 3% of the economy.

With 56% of all unicorns ranking in the top 50, the USA outperforms other nations. The USA is the country of origin for 28 of the 50 unicorns. According to a study, the USA produced 58 percent of the new unicorns in 2021. In a similar vein, China comes in at number two with 10 businesses among the top 50. The most valued Chinese unicorn is called ByteDance. The UK has three unicorns in the top 50, and all three are in the fintech sector. Additional emerging environments for unicorn firms are Germany, Hong Kong, and India.

Indian Startup Ecosystem and Unicorns 2022

India is becoming the world's fastest-growingstartup companies ecosystem with 104 Unicorn Startups, as of now. In the second half of 2022, the Indian startup ecosystem has added 20 new entrants to the Unicorn club. Unicorns have emerged from diverse sectors such as analytics, edtech, HRtech, social commerce, blockchain, logistics, Artificial Intelligence, fintech, mediatech, gaming, and SaaS among others. With a $21 billion valuation, Byju's Indian education technology is the most valuable unicorn in India.

A PwC report projects that nearly 50 Indian startups have the potential to enter the unicorn club in 2022. In 2021 India witnessed the emergence of 44 startup unicorns against a cumulative number of 33 unicorns from 2011 to 2020.

The Unicorn startup funding attracted approximately $8.5 billion worth of investments in the first half of 2022, 16 per cent less compared to the first half of 2021 which witnessed approximately $10.1 billion being invested in Unicorns. However, the momentum is expected to continue. According to a report from NASSCOM, the Indian Unicorn startups raised a record amount of $24.1 billion in 2021. The report also predicted a massive increase in the number of Unicorns to 200 by 2025.

Unicorn Valuation and the Way Forward

The value of unicorns is typically reliant on how investors and venture capitalists believe they will grow and develop. This implies that their prices are unrelated to their financial results. In reality, many of these businesses rarely make any money when they first start. It may be a difficult task if there are no other business models to compare if the firm is the first of its kind and there are no other competitors in the field.

Unicorns can choose from a range of options when it comes to exit, such as:

● Being Private: Founders tend to keep their unicorn status a secret to maintain control. However, this restricts the room for expansion. Additionally, they frequently have to figure out how to give investors a return on their money.

● Public Offering: Through an Initial Public Offer (IPO), businesses can access the capital they need to expand. Because going public would involve a dilution of ownership, some unicorn executives could be reluctant to do so.

● Attracting a buyer: Business owners and executives can accomplish their objectives more quickly by selling the company than by going public or remaining private.

Although it has been amazing to watch unicorn populations soar over the past two years, this expansion is not anticipated to continue. Many businesses that achieve unicorn status, particularly in the software industry, have been overpriced, which prevents venture capital is from receiving the returns they had once anticipated. It's thought that one unicorn out of ten is overpriced. Companies' values become more transparent once they go public.