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<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Many people in the West will wake up this morning and scratch their heads in bewilderment at the news that <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/r-google-in-initial-talks-to-buy-indian-startup-inmobi-source--2015-3">Google may be about to pay $1 billion for India's InMobi</a>.They have never heard of InMobi.That's a shame, because it is probably the single biggest mobile ad network company on the planet.If Google bought it, it would solidify the search giant's domination of mobile advertising in an almost unassailable way. It would make Google No.1 for mobile ad revenues for years to come. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/google-is-in-danger-of-letting-facebook-steal-the-mobile-ad-market-2014-12">Google's mobile ad business is already twice as big as its nearest competitor</a>, Facebook, for instance.It would probably attract the attention of regulators - and the complaints of Google's competitors - because Google's massive market share for mobile ads would be so overwhelming. Google already has 90% market share for search in some areas such as Europe. It is already the biggest mobile ad company on the planet, with revenues in the billions (the company doesn't break out its mobile sales numbers).InMobi, under CEO Naveen Tevari, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/inmobi-raises-200m-from-softbank-to-overtake-google-in-mobile-advertising-2011-9">has taken $220.6 million in funding</a> and has about 900 employees around the globe.<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/inmobi-ceo-naveen-tewari-talks-profits-and-acquisition-strategy-2012-6">Tevari told Business Insider in 2012</a> that his company serves a staggering 93.4 billion impressions monthly, across the planet. That probably makes InMobi an even bigger player in mobile app advertising than Google's AdMob network is. Google bought AdMob for $750 million - so you can see that on a valuation basis InMobi is a step above even that.For a long time, InMobi was regarded as too big to acquire. We thought it would eventually stage some sort of IPO. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/inmobi-ceo-naveen-tewari-talks-profits-and-acquisition-strategy-2012-6#ixzz3U4VnmDEt">Indeed, Tevari previously told Business Insider</a>, "We think this could be a standalone company." Growth has been "so fast and so large, we're one of only a handful of players that exists in this space."InMobi was founded in 2007 at the dawn of the smartphone advertising age.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Anne Frisbie" title_caption="Anne Frisbie" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55001fcbdd0895eb708b4603-960/0f9c5ee.jpg"></div></div></div> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/smartphone-impact-brain-body-sleep-2015-2">This is what happens to your brain and body when you check your phone before bed</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="BvMjVqcjoHdZBG6tTpXy8UkhB5_46U_c" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

Google could be about to do a $1 billion deal that would solidify its domination of mobile advertising for years

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>India-based InMobi is the huge mobile <keyword id="35666" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="advertising">advertising</keyword> network with an estimated <a href="http://graphics.wsj.com/billion-dollar-club/">$2.5 billion valuation</a>, which, in the words of Forbes, <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/abehal/2015/11/26/indias-inmobi-is-giving-facebook-and-google-a-run-for-their-money/#55df2069795d">"is giving Facebook and Google a run for their money</a>" thanks to its impressive reach to more than <a href="http://www.inmobi.com/company/">1 billion monthly app users.</a>The sheer scale of&#xa0;InMobi's network is one of the reasons the company manages to attract top talent from the likes of Facebook and Google. InMobi has also been linked as a potential acquisition target for the likes of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/inmobi-says-it-is-not-for-sale-2015-3">Google</a> and <a href="http://marketingland.com/report-microsoft-to-buy-global-mobile-ad-platform-inmobi-159641">Microsoft</a>, although the company has dismissed these reports as rumors.InMobi CEO Naveen Tewari tells Business Insider that he is aiming for InMobi to become one of the largest tech companies in the world over the next five to 10 years. He ruled out an IPO this year, however, saying the public markets wouldn't allow the company to "innovate as aggressively as we want to for the next couple years."But beyond the size and growing buzz around the company,&#xa0;Tewari&#xa0;said there are two&#xa0;other important aspects to the culture inside InMobi that&#xa0;makes the firm&#xa0;such an attractive workplace compared to some of its better-known tech rivals.The company has ripped up the rulebook when it comes to quarterly performance reviews, and he tells us InMobi staff take "great pride" that they are building a global tech platform that isn't based in Silicon Valley - even the employees based in its San Francisco office.<h2>InMobi pays 100% bonuses because quarterly performance reviews breed "mediocrity"</h2>Tewari explains that around three-to-four years ago, the company realized it would only succeed if its culture was designed to nurture innovation. To do that, InMobi needed to hire people it could trust and give them the freedom they require to create new products.That kind of freedom, Tewari said, is usually expected at&#xa0;companies based in Silicon Valley - but in marketplaces like India, those cultures have not necessarily existed before.But where InMobi differs from lots of its Silicon Valley counterparts is that it has done away with any sort of bonus or annual leave policies.<div></div>"We started paying everyone&#xa0;100% bonuses. We removed any sort of performance management system where you put down your goals for the quarter, or the year, then try measuring against those goals because when you are dealing with innovation, that has no meaning," Tewari said.He thinks performance management&#xa0;systems are "the most pathetic thing to ever be created" because they only promote "mediocrity," sometimes preventing people from achieving more."Essentially we've created an environment where people can be free to create a new product that can change the world of advertising. Now we've seen an unbelievable level of results based on that, people in small teams that have created some great innovations for us, we are really excited by what we see," he added.For example, <a href="http://gadgets.ndtv.com/apps/news/inmobi-unveils-miip-mobile-commerce-discovery-platform-in-india-724575">last year the company unveiled a discovery platform called Miip</a>, designed to drive e-commerce on apps such as Amazon and Paytm in India. <a href="http://in.reuters.com/article/inmobi-india-china-idINKCN0RG1BG20150916">InMobi estimates Miip will bring in about $1 billion in revenue over the next couple of years</a>. And while Tewari wouldn't reveal dollar figures, he said the company's total&#xa0;revenue grew 80% year-on-year in 2015.While there was pushback at first, Tewari said employees now applaud the decision to allow them more freedom by doing away with performance reviews.&#xa0;"The job of HR and finance teams [now] is to figure out how to remove processes, not to add them, and they take pride in coming back and saying we have removed processes," Tewari said. "I think a lot of these things have to be mandated and led from a founder level because these are beliefs, and if someone else was try and do this they might find it a little hard - they might get questioned on it - as a founder I don't have that fear."<h2>The "pride" in not working for another Silicon Valley company&#xa0;</h2>Tewari said "pride" is one of the key tenets that connects staff at InMobi.He added: "That level of pride, to build a global company out of India certainly connects a lot of people within InMobi, because they see they have an opportunity and environment to grow this company [into one of the largest global tech product companies.]"<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image"><a title_source="InMobi" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56b498176e97c61f048b5170-960/screen%20shot%202016-02-05%20at%2012.39.10%20pm.png"></a>InMobi</div></div></div>Tewari&#xa0;said that level of pride is expressed across its 17 international offices, not just among employees based in India."A lot of people within the company take pride in building a global platform. I know for a fact that when we started the London office, people took a lot of pride in joining us because they really wanted to make sure that if you're building a global platform, you're not a company that's just representing Valley interests," Tewari said.&#xa0;He continued: "I saw that pride when we started in China [<a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small%20biz/startups/How-InMobi-breached-the-great-firewall-of-China/articleshow/48572421.cms">where InMobi is now the second-largest ad network in terms of scale, behind Tencent,</a>] there was a massive amount of pride that we are the most technologically advanced advertising platform in China, but also pride in the fact that they believe we are the first international technology company that was really successful in China. Nobody else has really been successful there."<h2>Ad tech funding drying up is "brilliant" for InMobi</h2>With no plans to go public or to be acquired, InMobi wants to keep focusing on product innovation in 2015. The company has raised more than $220 million in funding to date, <a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-09-29/news/66987621_1_inmobi-in-mobi-ceo-millennial-media">mostly recently raising a $100 million debt financing round in September</a>.Tewari says he agrees with the <a href="http://digiday.com/platforms/terry-kawaja-winter-coming-ad-tech-industry/">"Winter is coming" predictions for the ad tech sector</a> this year - the commonly-held view that there will be&#xa0;very&#xa0;few glittering liquidity events for the ad tech companies that have not yet gone public or been acquired by bigger players."The fact that funding has dried up in ad tech is brilliant for people like us because we believe we are innovating and differentiating - the things we are doing we know nobody else is doing probably outside of Facebook and Google," Tewari said. "In a market where funding is hard to come by, if you're scaled already, then you are in a brilliant position because nobody is going to catch up with you."The global mobile advertising market is predicted to reach $114 billion in 2018, up from $50 billion in 2015, <a href="http://www.zenithoptimedia.com/global-mobile-advertising-expenditure-overtake-desktop-2018/">according to ZenithOptimedia</a>. Tewari believes that shows there's still some wiggle room for companies like Google and Facebook "to become really large on mobile" - and of course, he thinks InMobi is set up to become one of those big players. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mountain-dew-super-bowl-ad-puppymonkeybaby-2016-2">PuppyMonkeyBaby: This Super Bowl ad is incredibly polarizing</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="wydWpuMDE6EgO2rK3oC9inpOMKJeeQVp" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

This ad tech CEO started paying all staff 100% bonuses - and it's helping the company attract top talent away from Facebook and Google

If you are an aspiring entrepreneur or a wantrepreneur equipped with a dream to create a billion-dollar business in India, one of the IITs is your best bet. 
 Unicorns are <keyword id="6362513" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Startups">startups</keyword> with more than a billion-dollar valuation and the IITs have produced 12 unicorns. 
 
Sage, a UK-based accounting, and payroll company stated this in a research and reinstated the belief that the premier institution is still numero uno for attaining success. 
 
In terms of countries that are home to the most number of unicorns, US tops the list with 144 unicorns, followed by China with 47. India grabbed the third spot with 10. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/what-should-indian-start-ups-hope-for-in-budget-2017/articleshow/56893271.cms">ALSO READ: What should Indian startups hope for in Budget 2017</a> 
 
In the study that lists universities that have produced the most unicorn founders, the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) bagged the fourth spot. 
 US-based <keyword id="101399" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Stanford-University">Stanford University</keyword> claimed the top rank with 51 unicorn founders, followed by <keyword id="97117" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Harvard-University">Harvard University</keyword> with 37. 
 The <keyword id="73593" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="University-of-California">University of California</keyword> came third with 18 unicorn founders and <keyword id="6354859" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="IIT">IIT</keyword> followed with 12 founders. 
 India is home to 10 unicorn companies from e-commerce giants <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword>, <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword> and ShopClues to cab aggregator Ola, restaurant aggregator Zomato, classified ads platform Quickr, digital payments company <keyword id="6357120" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="PayTM">Paytm</keyword>, mobile ad tech player InMobi, messaging app Hike and analytics company Mu Sigma. 
 Within the various IITs, it is Delhi that produced the maximum unicorn founders. <keyword id="6354867" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sachin">Sachin</keyword> and <keyword id="6364080" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Binny-Bansal">Binny Bansal</keyword> of Flipkart, <keyword id="118292" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sanjay-Sethi">Sanjay Sethi</keyword> of ShopClues, Zomato founders <keyword id="476451" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Deepinder-Goyal">Deepinder Goyal</keyword> and Pankaj Chaddah, Snapdeal's <keyword id="396598" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rohit-Bansal">Rohit Bansal</keyword> and Quikr's <keyword id="1063538" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pranay-Chulet">Pranay Chulet</keyword> and <keyword id="2124885" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jiby-Thomas">Jiby Thomas</keyword> (now founder of <keyword id="4123624" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="webbutterjam-digital">Webbutterjam Digital</keyword>) are all products of <keyword id="57604" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="iit-delhi">IIT Delhi</keyword>. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/exclusive-what-moms-want-from-the-budget-2017/articleshow/56872243.cms">ALSO READ: Exclusive: What moms want from the Budget 2017</a> 
 Ola's founders <keyword id="1543567" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bhavish-Aggarwal">Bhavish Aggarwal</keyword> and <keyword id="2412264" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ankit-Bhati">Ankit Bhati</keyword> went to IIT Bombay. 
 Inmobi's founders Naveen Tiwari, Abhay Singhal and <keyword id="75744" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amit-Gupta">Amit Gupta</keyword> studied at IIT Kanpur while their co-founder <keyword id="2682435" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mohit-Saxena">Mohit Saxena</keyword> went to IIT Roorkee. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/take-a-tour-of-oyo-rooms-attractive-new-property-townhouse/articleshow/56781794.cms">ALSO READ: Take a tour of OYO's attractive new property: OYO Townhouse</a> 
 
According to the study, for over 60% of the founders all over the world, the current unicorn company was the only company they had ever built. However, indicating that experience literally pays, the research said those who founded more than one company have, on average, a 34.5% higher valuation than those who founded just one company ($4.29bn vs $5.88bn).

The IITs are the fourth largest producer of unicorn startups in
the world

The top Indian startups with valuation of over $1 billion each are on a hiring spree and more than half of all job postings by these unicorns are for fresh graduates, according to recent data from global job site Indeed. The report says four unicorns - <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword>, <keyword id="6357120" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="PayTM">Paytm</keyword>, ShopClues and <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> - make up around 90 per cent of all job postings. "Indeed's latest study reveals that more than half (57 per cent) of all job postings by unicorns are for fresh graduates. This is encouraging for millions of young freshers looking to jumpstart their careers with young companies, and being a part of the exciting startup ecosystem," says Sashi Kumar, India Managing Director at Indeed. With the Indian e-commerce market expected to grow at 30 per cent a year, and attain a valuation worth $200 billion by 2026, companies like Snapdeal, ShopClues and Flipkart are experiencing a boom in business. Moreover, digital service providers like Paytm and Zomato too are thriving, given the government's demonetisation drive and push for cashless transactions and the widespread penetration of mobile literacy. Kumar says - "Our earlier study on job flexibility also indicates a trend towards contractual hiring in these firms, which reaffirms the growing affinity among today's new-age job seekers, who look at striking a balance in work- life integration." Snapdeal topped the chart in terms of percentage of total job postings at 53 per cent, followed by Paytm at 23 per cent, ShopClues (11 per cent), Flipkart (4 per cent), Zomato (4 per cent), Ola Cabs (3 per cent) and InMobi (2 per cent) among others. While the top four firms in terms of hiring together make up over 90 per cent of all jobs posted, the region that saw maximum number of postings from these companies is Delhi NCR, with an overwhelming majority of 83 per cent. The Indeed study included an analysis of job postings from Flipkart, Hike Messenger, InMobi, Mu Sigma, Ola Cabs, Paytm, ShopClues, Snapdeal, RenewPower and Zomato, which were identified as the top Indian startups valued at over $1 billion. All job queries posted within the time-frame of October 31, 2016 to October 31, 2017 were considered for this study.

Unicorn startups Paytm, Snapdeal, Flipkart are on a hiring spree in India

Indian <keyword id="407821" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="software-firms">software firms</keyword> are doing a commendable job as the total valuation of the nation’s top 30 <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=enterprise+software+product+companies+">enterprise software product companies</a> has touched $10.25 billion. 
 
The total valuation is pushing up the value of an index compiled by software products think tank iSpirt by 20%. 
 
The number of employees in these companies has also grown by nearly 18% to over 21,200 employees, according to the report, based on an index called iSPIxB2B, comprising top 30 software product companies in India and their valuations. 
 
Not only that, there has been a notable increase in the enterprise value per employee, showcasing shift from services heavy to product-heavy offerings. 
 "We see a steady growth in this space and we expect it to continue to grow nicely. The data tells us that the ecosystem is accelerating," said <keyword id="2590447" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Dev-Khare">Dev Khare</keyword>, managing director at Lightspeed India Partners Advisors, who helped put together the report for iSpirt. 
 
Companies from Delhi dominate the index followed by Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, <a href="file:///C:/Users/gunja.d/Documents/Septemeber%202015/Mumbai">Mumbai</a> and other cities. Nearly 40% of the companies in the index sell products across different enterprises but the rest are focussed on financial services, retail, media and travel. 
 
What are the reasons for this growth? Khare is of the view that the growth in the number of enterprise software companies is due to three key reasons: 
1. The growing domestic market, 
2. Easier access to global customers via the internet, and 
3. A growing breed of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=entrepreneurs+">entrepreneurs</a> who have deeper understanding of software products and industries. 
4. 
Khare said there is a new class of entrepreneurs coming in with a very close finger on the pulse of the needs today and creating solutions for that. 
 An overwhelming majority of the companies (80%) including the likes of cloud telephony company Knowlarity, customer support software maker Fresh desk and ad tech company <keyword id="164941" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="inMobi">InMobi</keyword> are focused on the global market while the rest are looking to tap into the Indian market. 
 
About 67% of the companies are domiciled in India but since 2009, majority of Indian B2B companies have started incorporating in the US and Singapore, the report noted. "The government is trying to introduce policies which make it more conducive for companies to remain domiciled in India," said Khare. In June, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Sebi">India's market regulator Sebi</a> said it will launch an alternative trading platform for internet startups with relaxed norms for listing. 
 
Most of the companies in the index have bootstrapped themselves without institutional financing in the early stage. 
 The report also said that about 43% were bootstrapped and most institutionally-funded companies got growth financing, rather than early-stage <keyword id="6357097" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="venture-capital">venture capital</keyword> financing. 
 
 (Image: Indiatimes)

Cheers to India’s top 30 software firms! Their total valuation crosses $10 bn

<ul><li>Edtech company Byju's is now <keyword id="3658" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword>'s most valuable unicorn startup with a valuation of $16.5 billion, surpassing fintech company <keyword id="6357120" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="paytm">Paytm</keyword>'s $16 billion valuation.</li><li>Byju's is the 11th most valuable startup in the world.</li><li>The total number of unicorns worldwide is 708 with a valuation of $ 2319 billion. Chinese company Bytedance, the parent company of TikTok, is the most valuable startup in the world with a valuation of $140 billion.</li></ul>Edtech company Byju's is now India's most valuable unicorn startup with a valuation of $16.5 billion, surpassing fintech company Paytm's $16 billion valuation. As per CB Insights data, as of June 2021, Byju's is the 11th most valuable startup in the world. The total number of unicorns worldwide is 708 with a valuation of $ 2319 billion. Chinese company Bytedance, the parent company of TikTok, is the most valuable startup in the world with a valuation of $140 billion. Byju's investors include Tencent Holdings, Lightspeed India Partners and Sequoia Capital India. It has recently raised $350 million from UBS, private equity giant Blackstone, Abu Dhabi state fund ADQ, Phoenix Rising and video conference firm Zoom's founder Eric Yuan. One97 Communications, the parent company of Byju's, has a valuation of $16 billion with investors like Intel Capital, Sapphire Ventures and Alibaba Group. A unicorn company, or unicorn startup, is a private company with a valuation over $1 billion. As of June 2021, there are more than 700 unicorns around the world. Popular former unicorns include Airbnb, Facebook and <keyword id="6355629" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="google">Google</keyword>. The variants include a decacorn, valued at over $10 billion, and a hectocorn, valued at over $100 billion, CB Insights said. Oyo Rooms is valued at $9 billion with investors like SoftBank Group, Sequoia Capital India and Lightspeed India Partners. The National Stock Exchange is valued at $6.5 billion with investors including TA Associates, SoftBank Group and GS Growth. Ola Cabs is valued at $6.3 billion and has investors like Accel Partners, SoftBank Group and Sequoia Capital. Zomato is valued at $5.4 billion with investors including Sequoia Capital and VY Capital. Another food delivery chain, Swiggy, is vaued at $5 billion and its investors include Accel India, SAIF Partners and Norwest Venture Partners. Internet software company Dream11 is valued at $5 billion with investors including Kaalari Capital, Tencent Holdings and Steadview Capital. Logistics company Udaan is valued at $ 3.1 billion and has investors including DST Global, Lightspeed Venture Partners and <keyword id="10387" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Microsoft">Microsoft</keyword> ScaleUp. Fintech company Razorpay is valued at $3 billion with investors like Y Combinator, Tiger Global Management and Matrix Partners India. Fintech company Pine Labs is also valued at $3 billion with investors namely MasterCard, Temasek and PayPal Ventures. Logistics company Delivery is another firm that is valued at $3 billion with investors including Times Internet, Nexus Venture Partners and SoftBank Group. Policybazaar is valued at $2.4 billion, Renew Power at $2.28 billion, fintech company CRED at $2.2 billion, consumer company FirstCry at $2.1 billion, software company Meesho at $2.1 billion, while <keyword id="3358959" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="ShareChat">Sharechat</keyword> is also valued at $2.1 billion. Edtech copany Unacademy is valued at $2 billion, ecommerce company Urban Company is valued at $2.1 billion, BillDesk at $1.9 billion and DigitInsurance at the same number. Lenskart is valued at $1.5 billion, Five Star Business Finance at $1.4 billion, Rivigo at $1.07 billion, Snapdeal at $1 billion as also Inmobi, Ola Electric, Cars 24, Daily Hunt, Infra Market and Groww. (Sanjeev Sharma can be reached at Sanjeev.s@ians.in) --IANS san/arm

Byju's most valuable startup in India and 11th in the world with a valuation of $16.5 billion

IITs rank fourth among popular universities globally which have produced unicorn founders, according to a report by Sage, a UK-based accounting and payroll company. 
 
In its study “Unicorn League”, the company has recently examinef what these $1 billion companies have in common, the schools which breed the most founders etc. 
 With 51 unicorn founders, <keyword id="33081" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Stanford">Stanford</keyword> tops the chart followed by Harvard (37 founders). 
 At fourth position are IITs with 12 unicorn founders that include <keyword id="225032" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sachin-Bansal">Sachin Bansal</keyword> and <keyword id="6364080" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Binny-Bansal">Binny Bansal</keyword> (<keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword>), Abhay Singhal (InMobi), Ankit Bhati and <keyword id="1543567" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bhavish-Aggarwal">Bhavish Aggarwal</keyword> (Ola), <keyword id="476451" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Deepinder-Goyal">Deepinder Goyal</keyword> (Zomato), <keyword id="1003724" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jyoti-Bansal">Jyoti Bansal</keyword> (AppDynamics), K.V. Rao (<keyword id="2021781" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Zuora">Zuora</keyword>), Pankaj Chaddah (Zomato), <keyword id="396598" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rohit-Bansal">Rohit Bansal</keyword> (<keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword>) and <keyword id="118292" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sanjay-Sethi">Sanjay Sethi</keyword> (ShopClues.com). 
 
The study also found that 94% of founders were male, while only 30 of the 498 founders were female. 67% of unicorns were created by co-founders and 33% by single founders. For 60% of the founders, their current unicorn is the first and only company they’ve built. 
 
Also, those who founded more than one company have, on average, a 34.5% higher valuation than those who founded just one company ($4.29 billion versus $5.88 billion). 
 
The US has the most unicorn headquarters (144), followed by China (47) and India (10).The UK (9) leads the pack in Europe, followed by Germany (6). California (95) boasts the most headquarters, followed by New York (19) and Beijing (18). Consumer Internet (49) is the most common unicorn sector, ahead of software (48), e-commerce (37), financial services (22) and healthcare (18).

IITs stand fourth among popular universities globally which have produced Unicorn Founders: Report

With the start-up boom, increasing number pf entrepreneurs are coming on board. So much so that they are entering the super-rich list too. The debutants include <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/You-may-soon-be-hopping-on-to-an-Ola-bus/articleshow/48155360.cms">Ola</a> founders Ankit Bhati, 28, and Bhavish Aggarwal, 29, who are also the youngest on the list. With their personal fortunes estimated at Rs 2,385 crore each, the duo are jointly ranked 238th.
 

	While the top spots are occupied by the old players, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Reliance-Capital-Nippon-Life-Insurance-To-Start-A-Commercial-Bank-In-India/articleshow/41437313.cms">Reliance Industries</a> chairman <keyword id="3820" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mukesh-Ambani">Mukesh Ambani</keyword> ranked numero uno with a net worth of Rs 1.6 lakh crore, the list also has some surprising new entrants. The Indian who posted the biggest gain in wealth over the past year is reported to be Dhiraj Rajaram, the 40-year-old founder of Bengaluru-based analytics firm <keyword id="6713503" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mu-Sigma">Mu Sigma</keyword> are some to state. Rajaram saw his personal fortune rise six-fold, to Rs 17,800 crore. His ranking has risen 127 spots to No. 38, according to the Hurun India Rich List for 2015. There are 76 new faces among the 296 who made it to the Hurun India Rich List this year, with the cut-off level being personal wealth of Rs 1,600 crore. Apart from <keyword id="6354720" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ola">Ola</keyword>'s Bhati and Aggarwal, other prominent tech entrepreneurs on the list include <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Flipkarts-new-move-will-make-it-the-dream-destination-for-all-sellers/articleshow/48574598.cms">Flipkart's</a> Sachin Bansal, 34, and Binny Bansal, 34, whose estimated wealth of Rs 9,010 crore each puts them at the 85th spot, a rise of 58 positions. Snapdeal's Kunal Bahl, 32, is a new entrant, jumping straight to the 243rd spot with a wealth of Rs 2,314 crore.
 <keyword id="198636" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Vijay-Shekhar-Sharma">Vijay Shekhar Sharma</keyword>, 38, of mobile wallet and ecommerce firm <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Now-refill-your-Paytm-wallet-at-the-nearest-kirana-store/articleshow/48770295.cms">Paytm</a>, and Naveen Tewari, 39, of the mobile ad network InMobi are also a part of the list.
 

	Most of these technology and internet companies have raised significant amounts of private equity capital at substantial valuations over the past year. Flipkart's latest fund raise valued the firm at $15 billion, and Snapdeal's valued it close to $5 billion. Most of the new-age startup founders are also exceptional in that they are self-made; 85% of those in the list are part of family businesses.
 

	"Despite the weakening of the stock market and the rupee, the Hurun India Rich List expanded by 76 entrepreneurs, showing the resilience and dynamism of the Indian private sector," said Anas Rahman Junaid, India head, Hurun Report. The Hurun Report was started by researcher Rupert Hoogewerf. The first report, in 1999, was on the rich in China, and Hoogewerf has since been regularly bringing out a China rich list. The India initiative began two years ago.
 At the top, Mukesh Ambani was followed by Dilip Sanghvi of Sun Pharma, S P Hinduja &amp; family of the Hinduja Group, Shiv Nadar of HCL, and Pallonji Mistry of the <keyword id="261354" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Shapoorji-Pallonji-Group">Shapoorji Pallonji Group</keyword>. For the first time, Wipro chairman <keyword id="6419840" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Azim-Premji">Azim Premji</keyword> fell off the top 5 rankings. He's now at the seventh spot, with his net worth plummeting 59% to Rs 51,900 crore. 
	 
	(Image credits: Indiatimes)

New age Indian entrepreneurs enter the super-rich list, Ola founders the youngest

Over the last decade and half, India has shown immense potential in terms of economic growth. The excitement has been more than visible and most importantly, it is not a marketing effort at all! India didn’t take the Chinese hard line to sell its potential, thus emerging a single player. 
 Instead, the country has worked on robust economic weather, policies and quite in an unconnected manner; the country’s population has been a boon of sorts too. The increased population bursting at its seams was seen as some kind of a threat to <keyword id="6356076" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="indian-economy">Indian economy</keyword> and food security which couldn’t have sustained in the long run, unless the country turned it around. It did, and how! India today is the most sought after destination for all kinds of needs involving human resources. What’s more, the country even has skilled, educated and work-ready culture in its surroundings. No wonder, startups in the country have been standing on the threshold of entering the billion dollar club in the coming days! 
 
To give a broad sense of understanding, Asian start ups make for nearly 11% of the billion dollar companies internationally among a total of 73 companies. China, which has been witnessing a steady growth given its huge manufacturing potential and capabilities, takes a lion’s share. However, India has its strength in tech-powered growth and the new age economy is certainly its forte. 
 While there are eight Chinese companies that make it to the prestigious list, India is soon catching up with exactly half the number. Four Indian companies have already made it to the list. With President <keyword id="16284" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Obama">Obama</keyword>’s recent visit to India, the predictions of Indian business weather have been more than bright. India is soon emerging as the desirable economy with sustained growth. Indian investment opportunity remains unparalleled at the moment. 
 Technology investors have taken good notice of the impending boom. In 2014, about $918 million worth <keyword id="6357097" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="venture-capital">venture capital</keyword> was invested in about 252 early and growth-stage companies. Every day with new companies joining the list, India is at a point where it is called the ‘softbank’ moment, with <keyword id="34499" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="private-equity">private equity</keyword> in 2014 amounting to $9.8billion across 192 companies. The average investment remains at $52 million. 
 
Leveraging on the new economy, India has created its own consumer and enterprise breakout companies with three ‘unicorns’ such as Snapdeal, Olacabs and Flipkart making it to the list. Let’s just hang in there and understand what the term Unicorn companies actually means. 
 While the technology industry is crowded with billion-dollar startups, the term Unicorn came into existence with <keyword id="2809924" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cowboy-Ventures">Cowboy Ventures</keyword> founder <keyword id="2809925" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Aileen-Lee">Aileen Lee</keyword> coining it. In the beginning, the billion dollar start up seemed to be a stuff made of fairytales and myth. But today, they are found everywhere. No wonder the word Unicorn sounds like a myth that’s entered our lives without much hullabaloo about it. And, what’s more, it is real and here to stay! This is the biggest contribution tech world has been able to make, while contributing to economy and forward looking perspective to the coming days; and also in the way new businesses would be created. 
 
Today, there are more than 80 companies worldwide that have entered this elite club. And, the net is surely cast wider and stronger. 
The rise of Unicorn has been a stuff that speaks of both potential and strength. It has occurred without much warning, skepticism and so much so that it is really beginning to change the way things are looked at in the new economy. 
 
While being the billion dollar startup makes it tangible for companies to begin turning their business plan more robust and stay accountable in the long run, it also means another thing. Apart from assuring a definite growth, being called a unicorn or a billion dollar startup also means, you are not a fly-by-night company which can remain dismissive about what your future looks like. You better be ready with some sound answers when the VCs come knocking your doors to check on the company’s well-being. 
 
US companies have stayed ahead of the competition since long owing to conducive atmosphere. India is surely racing past Europe in terms of the highly valued start-up companies. Flipkart, Snapdeal, Olacabs and InMobi -- all companies that were created on tech platform in less than a decade have found place in the billion dollar club, with more names waiting to join them. 
 
Breaking into the category wasn’t easy. But having broken barrier, Indian companies will surely pave way for more such ventures to make it to the list. India is seen as the next breeding ground for start-ups only next to China. Chinese company Xiaomi valued at $46 billion made it to the top of the list. 
 
Venture capitalists who have invested in these forward looking fortune companies have done so on a cautious note. Innovative or strange as it may seem, depending on which way you would be looking at it, the VC have been looking backward to learn their lessons before stepping any further. Soon after the dotcom bubble burst in beginning of the millennium, a wave of prudence was what covered the tech world. Investors kept valuations low and tried not to overcapitalize their companies. This worked well till the social media came along. Once the media became the alternative existence for people who literally live online, more than they do offline, investors sat up and took notice. 
 
Since then, the unicorn has never been a stuff of myth. It just turned into a reality that’s tangible and smart!

Indian Start-ups in the Billion Dollar Club: The boom and the potential

<ul><li>Home-grown platform Meesho is the latest start-up to join the unicorn club after raising $300 million from Softbank Vision Fund 2.</li><li>Founded in 2015, Meesho launched its first TVC in 2020 that aimed to celebrate financial independence of Indian women. It is now planning to go bullish on marketing with new campaigns and collaborations to expand its reseller user base.</li><li>Vidit Aatrey, Founder and CEO, Meesho walks us through the company’s journey from scratch, marketing goals for the year and shares his vision.</li></ul>It was in 2015 that Vidit Aatrey, Founder and CEO of Meesho decided to quit InMobi and start his own business. He and his partner Sanjeev Barnwal, Founder and CTO of Meesho came up with an idea to build a platform to help micro and small businesses shift online and leverage the power of digital technologies. So, as social commerce was struggling to make inroads in India, Meesho led the way and revolutionized the industry. “Social commerce was already a popular concept at that time but the challenges such as limited access to supply, lack of logistics/ payment options, customer friendly policies etc, were also on the rise,” shared Aatrey. Months went into experimenting with the idea, researching the market and getting the logistics right. They juggled between ideas until they perfected the core business proposition. Cut to today, Meesho has just raised $300 million in a new round of funding led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 on April 02. The startup has already joined the unicorn club. As per media reports, the new Series E round gives the five-year-old Bangalore-based company a valuation of $2.1 billion, up from about $600 million-$700 million in the 2019 Series D investment. The social commerce platform claims to have over 13 million entrepreneurs, a majority of whom are women. It has helped them start their own online businesses with zero investment, bringing the benefits of e-commerce to over 45 million customers across the country. Sharing why Aatrey started Meesho, he said, “‘Meesho’ stands for ‘meri shop’ or apni dukaan. Almost 9 out of every 10 individuals in India have a dream of starting his/her small business. Given the increasing number of self-employed, small business owners, gig workers in India it is no surprise that Indians have an enterprising mind. However, starting a business requires a lot of capital. India is not such a rich country. Most people do not have access to capital. These people who never had the opportunity to start a store came onto our platform and became entrepreneurs for the first time. One can come here, start his/her shop on WhatsApp, access anything from our supplier marketplace, and as per consumer orders, purchase is made from the marketplace.” Meesho primarily connects sellers with customers through social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook. It supervises logistics, online payment and provides real-time updates. Till date, the company has delivered orders from 100K+ registered suppliers to over 26,000 pin codes in more than 4,800 cities, helping generate over Rs 500 crore in income for entrepreneurs and serving customers in more than 4,500 Tier 2+ cities -- bringing e-commerce to Bharat. As per a recent report by Deloitte, India’s e-commerce is expected to grow from $24 billion in 2017 to $84 billion in 2021. Considering that India has about 60 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) currently, Meesho is just getting started. Aatrey said, “We have ~9M women entrepreneurs and India is roughly going to have more than 250M women who will be online by 2025. Given this understanding, we are just scratching the surfaces of enabling women to start their own business. With the growth that we have seen over the last year, we want to bring our value proposition to many aspiring women, and we see a lot of value in further communicating our value proposition. That said, we will consistently be communicating how Meesho can empower and enable women entrepreneurs in starting their home businesses.” According to Aatrey, the social reselling market in India is estimated to be $6-7 billion (GMV) in size as of 2020. By 2025, the social commerce is expected to be ~$70B and total ecommerce to be $200 Bn as the number of online shoppers, especially from tier II cities and beyond, continues to rise. After the pandemic, Meesho has also seen an increased adoption rate in Bharat. “Overall, more than 70% of our orders come from tier II+ towns. We have seen very good adoption in tier II+ towns during the pandemic: we have served 2000+ new tier 2+ towns since June and our order share from these towns has also increased from 67% earlier to 72% between July and December 2020,” said he. Aatrey believes that the future of online shopping is social commerce and more and more retail outlets have started exploring this medium after the pandemic. “I believe evolving technology is a wakeup call for everyone in business. It is imperative for all to realize the huge potential that digital has and ways to leverage it. The lockdown period came as a lesson for many of us. Many retailers in India resorted to selling products over WhatsApp and that shows how the retail market is also changing and moving towards digital. In fact, according to a retail website, today 85% of sellers using social commerce are small, offline retailers giving sharp competition to large organized sellers on e-commerce platforms. As per Bain Analysis, India has the highest number of internet users (572 million) globally, with substantial room for growth. So, the retail market has enough potential to leverage social commerce and bloom,” elaborated Aatrey. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Carving a niche beyond social commerce" text="Carving a niche beyond social commerce">Carving a niche beyond social commerce</cmsannotation> Since a majority of its sellers and buyers are women, Meesho’s communication also centers around women empowerment. Its mission is to help women achieve financial independence. Its first TVC, conceptualised by DDB Mudra, focused on an unstated need of a woman, which is to claim what she rightfully deserves – her own identity. The film celebrated the unstoppable spirit of women who overcome all social and economic barriers with the line that captures the sentiment of 'Not just a homemaker, a Meesho Entrepreneur.' <div type="Youtube" id="Y0nSzxtiShA" title="Many Names, One Identity #MyStoreMyStory" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Y0nSzxtiShA/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Telling us more about the company's marketing proposition, Aatrey said, “We have more than 9 million resellers on our platform spread across 100 cities out of which 80% of them being women from smaller towns and cities. Social and cultural factors for years have kept this section of the society away from employment. Our strategy has always been to empower more and more people to fulfil their dream of becoming an entrepreneur, especially women, who due to social obligations sacrifice their dreams and fall behind in terms of financial independence. We wish to give them all a sense of self and accomplishment through our platform. Social media is our backbone and these entrepreneurs, our pillars of strength.” Meesho is also fighting against e-commerce giants like Amazon and Flipkart, who are ploughing billions of dollars and have been around for a while. Meesho’s rivals have on-boarded Bollywood celebrities and have a huge media presence. “In the era of Amazon and Flipkart, we at Meesho are trying to build trust through social commerce. Our strategy has always been to empower more and more people to fulfil their dream. Our communication will remain around our USP- to help build entrepreneurs with zero capital. We will also find more channels this year to penetrate our value proposition further,” said Aatrey. Vision After the recent funding round, Meesho is aiming to build a single ecosystem that will enable all small businesses to grow faster. “With the new round of funding, we are now focused on expanding our vision — from helping aspiring women entrepreneurs to creating Meesho as a single ecosystem that will enable all small businesses in India to succeed online. In the last one year, we have seen tremendous growth across small businesses and entrepreneurs seeking to move their businesses online. And with our new vision we will enable 100 million small businesses to start, succeed and lead their operations online with Meesho as their partner in their journey,” said Aatrey. The introduction of smartphones and penetration of the internet and WhatsApp in particular has made the market size for social commerce grow larger, which is estimated to reach $70B USD in 2025. Meesho aims to leverage this demand and go bullish on marketing with new campaigns and collaborations with different partners to accelerate its user base of resellers on the platform. “2021 has come with a new set of possibilities, opportunities, and challenges to tackle. We, at Meesho, are committed to our goal of letting anyone start a digital business with zero capital. Major focus area would be to enable increased adoption of Meesho’s platform across multiple categories which would be possible only when we are able to structurally reduce our prices for our customers. We also plan to leverage the digital ecosystem and unravel more benefits that it can offer for the betterment of our entrepreneurs and Meeho’s growth. We aim at surpassing all our achievements and recognitions from previous years and reach newer milestones. We are also looking at transforming the Meesho app for better experience for our entrepreneurs. With new built in features, we hope to enhance the look and feel of the app. ‘Meeshoites’ are looking at the year with great hope, plans and execution methods,” shared Aatrey.

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