In addition to being a vibrant tech support industry, India is home to one of the
world’s largest young populations and scrumptious cuisine. However, there is a
significant amount of innovation going on within the Indian startup community.
More than 5,000 investors are currently active in the Asian country, and it currently
hosts around 38,000 different Indian startups. By 2021, India’s ecosystem had
generated 38 unicorns in recent years.
Having attracted money from outside, Indian startups aren’t unfamiliar with the
concept. The Indian startup ecosystem raised $6.6 Billion in 2018 but managed to
raise $10 Billion in 2020 despite the Covid-19 pandemic. This indicates that that the
Indian ecosystem is thriving and moving forwards at a fast pace.
Check out our list of the top 10 Indian startups to watch in 2021 down below.
CASHFREE
This Bangalore-based fintech startup provides financial services. Online payment
and getting paid are made easier with Cashfree.
Over 50,000 businesses in India rely on Cashfree for finance-related solutions.
Payment collections, expense reimbursements, and loan disbursements are some of
the solutions offered by this company.
This fast-growing startup was founded in 2015 and has over 200 professionals
employed in the company.
Big Basket, Cred, Big Basket, Zomato, HDFC Ergo, and Ixigo are some of the most
famous companies that Cashfree caters to.
CRED
Founded in 2018 CRED is an Indian startup that rewards consumers for paying their
credit card bills and leveraging their credit. Through the CRED app, users can now
receive “CRED coins” as a reward for paying their bills.
You can reclaim these coins for products, contests, or workshops later on.
Customers can purchase a variety of premium products on the startup’s website with
the help of credit. To improve consumers’ financial behavior, the startup believes in
incentivizing people.
CRED was reportedly valued at $2.2 billion by TechCrunch, making it the youngest
Indian startup to achieve such a level of valuation. Over 6 million people use the
service, which represents 22% of all credit cardholders.
The startup’s plans go far beyond providing their customers with temporary reward
coins. Another feature that CRED plans to introduce as part of its plans, is to have
an online store.
VERNACULAR.AI
This startup aims to become the best voice automation and artificial intelligence
platform in the world by catering to AI and Voice/AI businesses exclusively. Services
given by this start include Speech recognition, Voice Assistant, and Consumer
Research.
This startup plans to be the least invasive by handling complex service issues with
the least amount of human interference. A $5.1 million investment has been raised
by the company since it was founded in 2016.
Vernacular.ai plans to hire 100 more employees by 2021 end to increase their team
strengths per Economic Times. A number of the employees of the company have
multifunctional expertise, which means they are headed for becoming one of the world’s
leading Voice AI platforms.
Vernacular.ai is also likely to scale up its operations as voice and automation technologies
and are set to grow in the future.
DIGITAL INSURANCE
This startup offers products that are simplified so that insurance products can be
viewed differently among members of the general public.
Founded in 2016 this startup made it to the unicorn club by getting funding of $18
million. Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma are also among the prime investors who
invested $340K in the company’s first funding round in the year 2020.
The startup chairman confirmed this in a statement that despite the troubled
insurance industry in 2020, the company grew by 30%. And due to its lower
operating costs and excellent business metrics, Digital Insurance, a
Bangalore-based startup, is expected to break even in 2021.
In addition to numerous awards, Digital Insurance has also been listed in the
“Fintech 250 List”, the “Hottest Startups in India 2019”, and more.
GROWW
Groww is a digital investment platform via which customers can invest in Mutual
funds, IPO, and many more investigation options can be utilized using this digital
tech application.
In light of this realization, Groww was founded in 2016 and has been used by 15
million people to date. Groww is not just used in metropolises but is spread across
India as it serves people from all sections of society, ranging from working-class and
young, to people seeking investment opportunities, according to one of the founders,
Lalit Keshre.
This startup raised 83 million dollars in 2021 when it entered the unicorn club. The startup
plans to use this amount to invest in new products, hire new talent, and build education
platforms to help investors get the most from their investments.
A growing number of millennials are learning to invest their money wisely through Groww.
Also, there are a number of other websites that are popular among young investors, such as
Zerodha and PayTm Money but Groww tops them all.
UDAAN
Founded by the founders of Flipkart in 2016 this tech-based startup provides B2B
e-commerce solutions to more than 3 million users in 900 cities. Thousands of
Indian sellers are connected through this platform.
In addition to Boat Lifestyle, PepsiCo, LG, ITC, and other big-name companies, this
company has signed up thousands of brands. The company gained unicorn status
within a short period of time, in 2018.
Udaan managed to raise $280 million from its existing and new investors. Over $3.1
billion has been raised in capital so far by the group.
Founder of Udaan, Vijay Udaan, believes the pandemic COVID-19 accelerated the evolution
of the unorganized Indian market to become a digitally-led industry.
Pickily is the company’s new app designed to break into B2C markets, according to
Entracker. A mobile app offering FMCG products in different locations in Bangalore is now
live on Google Play Store.
RUPEEK
Founded in 2015, this startup in Bangalore plans to monetise $2 trillion worth of gold
by making use of the nation’s economic potential. This startup is based on a
branchless model which enables it to lower its operating costs and pass the savings
on to the end-user.
Technology-enabled, low-risk, asset-backed financial products developed next to
banks are enacted to disrupt the gold loan disbursement process.
In addition to Sequoia Capital and Bertelsmann, GGV Capital is also financing the
company. The company employs over 700 persons and serves over a hundred
thousand customers in 25 cities.
MONEYTAP
Founded in 2015 in Bangalore, MoneyTap is an Indian start-up. The startup offers its
clients a flexible personal credit line through its app – all with the convenience of
being able to access it anywhere, anytime.
Certain circumstances may allow you to pay back the loan within 36 months. There
is a lot of value in this, and it’s done fairly by the company.
This company has so far been able to raise $40.3 million from six investors, which is
a substantial amount of startup funding. Modern lives revolve around convenience,
which MoneyTap offers with a bang, which will carry the company into 2021 and
beyond.
MoneyTap is a leading example of India’s startup scene because it makes easy
credit available to those with financial limitations.
CROPlN
Founded in 2010, based in Bangalore, India, CropIn is a technology startup in the
agricultural industry.
When it comes to global sustainability, this is a major issue, and to create a digital
infrastructure for farmers and make farms digital company’s efforts have won
multiple awards. To drive efficiency in farming, sensor technology, artificial
intelligence, and analytics are part of their solutions.
With a total investment of $32.6 Million from twelve different sources, CropIn has
received a healthy level of funding from outside sources.
An interesting fact about this business is that Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is
one of the investors behind it. With CropIn’s commitment to modernizing agriculture,
it’s likely that its services will only increase in demand.
STARFIN
Based in New Delhi, India, Stashfin is a fintech startup founded in 2016. The
company has since developed its offering of digital lending into a substantial
segment of the finance market.
Their whole business model is to make it easy and quick for you to receive your
payment. With a credit card, you won’t have to worry about everyday transactions
and you can even convert your line of credit into a card.
A group of 14 investors contributed to this funding, which was distributed in three
rounds. A total of $75 Million has been raised by the company in five years- a
significant amount of startup funding.
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