 "Funding among Indian startups declined by a marginal 7 per cent in the first nine months of 2024 to $7.6 billion from $8.2 billion during the same period last year.")
About 60 per cent of unicorn startup founders in India are first timers who tasted success in their first attempt, said a study.
A unicorn is a startup that is valued at over $1 billion.
PrivateCircle Research, in an analysis, also said that out of the 261 Unicorn founders analysed in the report, 29 per cent took two attempts to build their first unicorn, while another 6 per cent took three tries.
For instance, Zepto founders built KiranaKart before landing on the idea of the quick commerce app.
Kunal Shah famously sold Freecharge to Snapdeal before launching the $6.4 billion-worth fintech Unicorn CRED. Vineet Rao built two companies (SpectraVR and Shopwest) before founding Dealshare.
PrivateCircle has considered a list of 110 Indian unicorns excluding companies like Ola Electric, Krutrim, Xpressbees, Glance, Globalbees, and Oxyzo -- which are the second or third unicorns started by the same founder.
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“However, it was interesting to note that the second companies of a Unicorn founder achieved Unicorn status in a median time of 1.5 years -- which is much faster than the time taken to build their first unicorn,” said the report.
The report further said, “This isn’t just about success, it’s about resilience, learning from failure, and leveraging those experiences to scale greater heights. Serial entrepreneurs come into their second or third ventures with insights, experience, and often better access to networks and capital.”
As serial entrepreneurs go on to build billion-dollar companies, the Indian startup ecosystem has also evolved to embrace failure more than ever before.
VCs and investors are now looking for founders who have experienced failure and come back stronger, seeing them as possessing grit, adaptability, and the ability to pivot when needed.
“As India’s startup ecosystem matures, we are likely to see a greater number of serial entrepreneurs launching new ventures. The lessons they bring from previous ventures will continue to elevate India’s position in the global startup landscape,” said the report.
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