As of today, the valuation of e-commerce giant Flipkart is equal to the mark cap of Indian public sector behemoth Indian Oil. Taxi-service aggregator Ola is valued more than Jet Airways, the second largest airline in India. Between January and September 2015, a whopping $7.3 billion dollars have been invested in Indian start-ups, according to one estimate.
With venture capitalists and private equity firms from all around the world eager to invest in the bustling Indian start up ecosystem, valuations are going through the roof. Here is a look at some of the most popular Indian start-ups and their astronomical valuation.
1. Flipkart
Launched in October 2007, Flipkart has achieved a lot more in its eight-year existence than most companies achieve over decades. Valued at over $15 billion, it is not only the most valuable start-up in India by a huge margin, but also ranked the 7th most valuable venture-backed private company in the world, according to The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Venture Source. Founded by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, both IIT Delhi graduates, the e-commerce platform has garnered over $3.15 billion in funding. Today, both entrepreneurs have a net worth north of the $1 billion mark.
2. Snapdeal
Snapdeal is three years younger to Flipkart. Launched initially as an offline couponing business by Wharton graduate Kunal Bahl and IIT Delhi alumnus Rohit Bansal, Snapdeal was eventually reconstituted as an online marketplace. This move proved to be path breaking for the company, which went on to observe a year-over-year growth of almost 600% and is now valued at $5 billion.
3. Ola
Ola’s role in revolutionising cab service in India cannot be overlooked. Its founders, the young IIT Delhi graduate Ankit Bhati and CEO Bhavish Agarwal, were sensitive to the state of cab transportation in India – expensive, untimely, and populated by brash drivers. Today, Ola, valued at $5 billion, has over four million cabs and millions of OlaAutos in its fleet.
4. InMobi
Founded by CEO Naveen Tiwari, InMobi is a giant in the world of mobile advertising. The performance-based network was founded in 2007 and is now headquartered across various countries and caters to a mix of Indian and non-Indian markets. Initially, Tiwari dabbled with various services as he felt mobile phones were going big before finally settling on an advertising platform. Today, InMobi is valued at $2.5 billion.
5. Quickr:
The early entrant into the free classified ad category, Quickr is now valued at $ 1.5 billion. The company which had just finished second round of investments of $ 60 million grabbed headlines recently as it acquired CommonFloor, online retail portal for an undisclosed amount.
6. Paytm:
Alibaba backed payment wallet owned by One 97 Communications was valued at $ 1.5 billion in January. Although, there is no official word on it, its current valuation is thought to be close to $ 4 billion by those believed to have direct access to the Chinese retail giant.
7. Mu Sigma:
The data analytics firm Mu Sigma which is a venture set up by a former Booz Allen Hamilton employee is now valued at more than $ 1 billion with just eight years into business and a seed funding of $200,000. The Bangalore based company has attracted many foreign investors including Master Card.
8. Zomato:
The online restaurant discovery app which recently rolled out its food delivery offering from restaurants at a nominal fee in order to compete with the likes of Swiggy and Foodpanda is valued at $900 million. The company started with a website but later shifted to apps as well.
9. Shop Clues:
The company is currently valued between $450-550 million, according to a company executive after it received third round of investments in January. The company currently lags behind giants like Flipkart and Amazon in the retail space but enjoys greater market share in tier 2 and tier 3 cities.
10. Jabong
Another e-commerce venture, Jabong was launched in 2013 and has capitalised on the immense success the online retail sector has seen over the past few years. In its first year, the company shipped over 14,000 articles on a daily basis, with most clientele purchasing articles from small towns and is currently valued at $500 million.