India’s startup ecosystem, now the third-largest in the world after the US and China, continues to attract global investor interest.
The top unicorns have collectively raised billions of dollars across multiple funding rounds, disrupting sectors such as ecommerce, mobility, fintech, and renewable energy. These startups have become household names, driven by visionary founders and aggressive expansion strategies.
Here’s a detailed look at the top 10 most funded unicorns in India, based on total funding received, along with insights into their founding journey and business focus.
Flipkart
Founded in 2007 by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, Flipkart is the pioneer of India’s ecommerce revolution. What started as an online bookstore evolved into a multi-category ecommerce marketplace offering products across electronics, fashion, groceries, furniture, and more.
With a deep understanding of Indian consumer behavior, Flipkart introduced innovations like cash on delivery, easy returns, and Big Billion Days sales. Its $16 billion acquisition by Walmart in 2018 marked the largest deal in India’s startup ecosystem and brought a fresh wave of capital. Over time, Flipkart has raised over $15 billion in funding from investors including Tiger Global, Tencent, GIC, and SoftBank.
With aggressive investments in supply chain, logistics, and newer segments like travel and healthcare, Flipkart is gearing up for an IPO and remains Amazon’s biggest rival in the country.
Ola
Ola, founded in 2010 by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, began as a ride-hailing platform but quickly diversified into a full-stack mobility and EV ecosystem.
Operating in over 250 cities in India and abroad, Ola offers cabs, autos, bikes, and rentals. It later launched Ola Electric to manufacture electric scooters and is now developing electric cars and batteries through its massive Futurefactory.
The company has raised $5 billion from marquee investors such as SoftBank, Temasek, Warburg Pincus, and Tiger Global.
Ola’s dual approach to traditional transport and electric mobility positions it uniquely in India’s green transition. Despite regulatory hurdles and pandemic challenges, it remains one of the most valuable startups in India and is preparing for an IPO.
Paytm
Founded in 2010 by Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Paytm started as a mobile recharge platform and gradually transformed into one of India’s largest fintech super-apps. It offers digital payments, UPI, bill payments, ticket bookings, financial services, and operates Paytm Payments Bank.
Backed by global giants like Ant Group, SoftBank, and Berkshire Hathaway, the company has raised $4.5 billion to date. It made a high-profile entry into the public market with a $2.5 billion IPO in 2021. Although the post-IPO period was rocky, Paytm has refocused on monetization through merchant payments, credit offerings, and financial product distribution.
With 300M+ users and 20M+ merchants, Paytm continues to be a driving force in India’s digital economy.
Eternal
Eternal is one of the most secretive yet highly funded unicorns in India. Reportedly founded by a team of former FAANG engineers and IIT alumni, Eternal has raised $4.4 billion despite operating largely in stealth.
It is speculated to be working on cutting-edge deep-tech, possibly in the fields of quantum computing, cloud infrastructure, or generative AI. Though little is known publicly, Eternal has created immense buzz in the venture capital community due to its aggressive hiring from top tech firms and its ability to attract large rounds without any consumer-facing product.
It represents a new breed of unicorns prioritizing core technology over scale-driven consumer businesses.
OYO
OYO was founded in 2013 by Ritesh Agarwal, who became one of the youngest unicorn founders in the world. Initially positioned as a budget hotel aggregator, OYO redefined the fragmented hospitality space by offering standardized stays at affordable prices.
Using a tech-enabled franchise model, OYO onboarded thousands of hotel partners across India and later expanded into over 80 countries. With $4 billion in total funding from SoftBank, Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed, and Airbnb, OYO has experienced rapid scaling and equally dramatic pullbacks due to quality issues and the COVID-19 impact.
In recent years, it has focused on profitability, product revamps, and IPO readiness. OYO’s journey reflects both the boldness and growing pains of Indian startups going global.
Swiggy
Swiggy was launched in 2014 by Sriharsha Majety, Nandan Reddy, and Rahul Jaimini to solve India’s food delivery inefficiencies. What started with a small team in Bengaluru is now a nationwide brand delivering food, groceries, essentials, and even alcohol.
Swiggy’s investments in dark stores under Instamart and its pivot to quick commerce have paid off significantly. With $3.58 billion raised from Prosus, Accel, SoftBank, and others, Swiggy is building a logistics-first platform capable of serving multiple use cases. While it battles Zomato for food delivery dominance, Swiggy is increasingly betting on hyperlocal commerce, AI-driven logistics, and expanding its user base through product innovations like Swiggy One membership.
PhonePe
Founded in 2015 by Sameer Nigam, Rahul Chari, and Burzin Engineer, PhonePe was initially incubated inside Flipkart and later spun off as an independent entity. It has raised $2.6 billion from Walmart, General Atlantic, and Tiger Global and is one of the largest UPI payment apps in India.
PhonePe’s strength lies in its robust backend infrastructure, seamless interface, and large merchant network. It has also forayed into financial services with offerings in insurance, gold, mutual funds, and most recently, its own app store called Indus Appstore to compete with Google Play.
With its headquarters moved to India and IPO plans in motion, PhonePe is poised to be a fintech giant not just in payments but across the financial spectrum.
Zepto
Zepto was founded in 2021 by Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra, two teenage Stanford dropouts, and quickly became a poster child for India’s quick commerce boom.
The company promises grocery delivery in 10 minutes using dark stores located strategically in metro areas. Zepto has raised $2.1 billion in record time from investors like Nexus Venture Partners, Y Combinator, and Glade Brook Capital. The startup has grown rapidly across cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Delhi while maintaining a sharp focus on unit economics and high-margin SKUs.
Zepto’s operational efficiency and speed have helped it gain market share in an increasingly competitive quick commerce space dominated by Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and BigBasket Now.
Udaan
Udaan was launched in 2016 by Flipkart veterans Vaibhav Gupta, Amod Malviya, and Sujeet Kumar to digitize B2B commerce in India. The platform connects small retailers with manufacturers and wholesalers across categories such as electronics, FMCG, pharma, and lifestyle.
Udaan has raised $2.1 billion from DST Global, Tencent, Lightspeed, and others, building out a vast logistics and credit infrastructure to support its users. The startup also provides working capital loans to merchants, empowering millions of kiranas and local businesses to buy inventory online.
Udaan is a rare example of a B2B unicorn solving grassroots challenges with technology while maintaining scale and speed.
ReNew
ReNew Power, now known as ReNew, was founded in 2011 by Sumant Sinha with the goal of accelerating India’s transition to clean energy.
The company develops, builds, and operates utility-scale wind and solar energy projects and is one of the few climate tech unicorns from India. ReNew has raised $2.04 billion from global institutions like Goldman Sachs, CPPIB, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and JERA. It has over 13 GW of renewable energy assets and was listed on Nasdaq via a SPAC deal.
The company is now investing in green hydrogen, battery storage, and hybrid energy solutions, playing a key role in India’s net-zero goals. ReNew represents the shift toward sustainable innovation and investor appetite for green infrastructure.
