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India witnessed its 100th entry this 2022. We bring to you, 10 most successful women-led unicorns that the nation as witnessed.
Unicorns are no longer the mythological, mystical animal that marks its appearances in fairytales. The term now has a financial meaning of its own.
A unicorn company is essentially a private-owned, start-up that has crossed the $1 Billion mark without being listed on the Stock Market. The term unicorn was coined by Aileen Lee, the renowned venture capitalist from U.S, owing to the rarity of the emergence of such a company.
But the statistical rarity, that had prompted Lee to come up with the term, might not be the case now. According to a report, there are 1203 unicorn companies worldwide, as of October 2022 with a total cumulative valuation of $3,895 billion.
India which recorded its first entry in the unicorn club in 2011, witnessed its 100th entry this 2022. A report by RazorPay reveals that in the first quarter of 2022, India has registered 18 unicorns. We bring to you, 10 most successful women-led unicorns that the nation as witnessed.
Byju’s valuation: $18+ Billion Year Founded: 2011
Byju’s is no more an unknown name for any of us. An online tutoring company, it specializes in educational technology (EdTech). The power couple Byju Raveendran, and Divya Gokulnath established it in 2011. With a current valuation of $18 billion, the tutoring app has developed into one of India’s most valuable unicorns over the years.
Divya Gokulnath’s contribution as a former educator has been instrumental for the growth of the company from the very beginning. Byju’s reached a new height when it earned sponsorship rights for the FIFA World Cup 2022.
*Nykaa’s Valuation: $12.86+ Billion Year Founded: 2012
Nykaa is regarded as the first Indian startup led by a woman. Due to its extensive range of beauty categories, the Falguni Nayar-led company quickly gained popularity amongst Indian customers. The Nykaa IPO saw an 81.78 percent oversubscription rate, allowing the company to increase its valuation to more than $12 billion.
Guess, the unskippable YouTube advertisements worked after all!
MyGlamm’s Valuation: $1.2+ Billion Year Founded: 2014
Priyanka Gill is a wonder woman! She is the co-founder of The Good Glamm group, and the founder-cum-CEO of POPxo. Alongside being a successful entrepreneur, she also happens to be a journalist, and an angel investor. POPxo was launched in 2014 to provide personal care, beauty, and fashion-related content to millennial women. It soon rose to popularity owing to their quirky, and fun, posts, and became the largest digital community for women.
Recently, they came up with an innovative strategy for marketing, where you win a free lipstick for every time you answer their survey. Not to mention, it was an instant hit! Who doesn’t love a free lipstick, after all?
The Good Glamm Group Valuation: $1.2+ Billion Year Founded: 2021
Naiyya Saggi is regarded as one of the most successful Indian young female entrepreneur. She is also known as the founder of BabyChakra, co-founder and president of MyGlamm, and co-founder of The Good Glamm Group with Priyanka Gill.
The Good Glamm Group consists of leading digital media platforms like POPxo, ScoopWhoop, Baby Chakra, and MissMalini. Their new initiative, Good Creator Co. is an influencer platform that helps brands create campaigns with measurable ROI and enables its content creators to make money.
Mamaearth’s Valuation: $1.2+ Billion Year Founded: 2016
Back to nature- is just the phrase to describe Mamaearth. Ghazal’s brand, of which Shilpa Shetty has been the ambassador, is well-known amongst Indian households. It offers a comprehensive selection of beauty and skincare products that use natural, or traditional recipes of DIY skincare routines.
In 2016, Ghazal, and her husband Varun Alagh, established Mamaearth with the objective to eliminate chemical toxicity in the beauty industry. But surprisingly, their ads promote their products as an alternative to the hassles of home-made mixes. Smart marketing much?
LEAD Valuation: $1.1+ Billion Year Founded: 2012
LEAD’s co-founder, and co-CEO is Smita Deorah. Alongside Sumeet Mehta, she established it in 2012. LEAD is a school education-technology company. Based on technology that aims to change the education system in India, and provide children with high-quality education, it is one of the biggest names in the world of Ed-tech. It became the 6th ed-tech company to enter the unicorn club, and the 1st school ed-tech to do so.
With Covid-19 striking the world, one can realize the immense potential such companies hold in enabling smart, and easy, learning to the ones who have access to it.
MobiKwik Valuation: $1+ Billion Year Founded: 2009
We have all used Paytm or Gpay. But before them came MobiKwik. It is one of the most well-known payment service providers in India that, holds one of the largest digital wallets, and mobile phone-based payment systems. It was founded by Upasana Taku, and Bipin Preet Singh in 2009.
In 2012, they introduced their payment gateway subsidiary called Zaakpay, that allows online merchants to collect payments from their customers in any format. Moreover, in MobiKwik Zip launched in May 2019, that works on the Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) scheme, they aim to give the general Indian mass their first experience of a credit.
But don’t keep someone waiting for their money, people!
Hasura’s Valuation: $1+ Billion Year Founded: 2017
Hasura, which initially focused on delivery services of home-cooked food, changed its services to the software world. Rajoshi Ghosh, and Tanmai Gopal established the company in 2017. 5 years later, it entered the unicorn club, not long after bringing $100 million up in series C financing.
Ofbusiness’ Valuation: $1+ Billion Year Founded: 2016
One of India’s best startups for supplying raw materials, the company is known for its low prices on a wide range of goods. In July 2021, Ofbusiness became a unicorn, and is currently valued at $1.5 billion. Oxyzo, Ofbusiness’s financial services division, is also a unicorn that was valued as a unicorn in March 2022.
Pristyn Care’s valuation: $14 Billion
Year founded: 2018
Dr. Garima Sawhney, alongwith Harsimbar Sing, and Vaibhav Kapoor founded Pristyn Care in the year 2018. It entered the $1 billion club when it raised $100 million in funds in 2021. What began as a health-tech start-up soon entered the primary healthcare scene with the acquisition of health-care start-up Lybrate, which is backed by Ratan Tata.
Even though, only 15% of Indian unicorns have women as their founders, these companies are a solid testimony of the fact that women are equally efficient to run a business. If you yearn for financial independence, you can be an entrepreneur too! All it needs is passion, dedication, and well, some amount of funding.
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Researched by Ridhima Jain
*Please note that Nykaa registered itself on Stock Market in 2022.
The author is a Gen-Z kid who resorts to writing to vent out about the problematic ways of the world. Having majored in Theatre, English, and Psychology, I take a guilty pleasure in complex read more...
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