During the first quarter of 2023, no new unicorns emerged, unlike the same period in the previous year when 14 startups reached the $1 billion valuation milestone. In fact, a recent report highlighted a significant drop in new additions to India’s unicorn club during 2023, signalling a slowdown in the country’s startup ecosystem. According to the ASK Private Wealth Hurun Indian Future Unicorn Index 2023, India introduced only three new unicorns, compared to 24 in the previous year. This decline is seen as reflective of the overall “slowdown in India’s startup ecosystem,” especially amidst the ongoing investor reluctance referred to as the “funding winter.”
The above statistics gives a sense of how the challenging macroeconomic environment has affected Indian unicorns, resulting in layoffs and cost-cutting measures, with some experiencing valuation markdowns including Byju’s and Ola. In Q1 2023, Indian startups secured $2.8 billion, reflecting a substantial 75% decrease compared to Q1 2022, according to a Tracxn report. This indicates that the Indian startup landscape is fraught with persisting funding challenges.
However, the silver lining is that the Q1 of CY2023 saw more than 26 startups joining the soonicorn club — which refers to startups which are about to reach the $1 billion valuation-mark — according to data shared by Tracxn Technologies.
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ET Soonicorns Summit 2023: What to expect
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It is against this backdrop of the soon-to-be unicorns or soonicorns or potential unicorns poised for growth — that are waiting to be nurtured and fast-tracked on a future-ready path of resilient growth — that the ET Soonicorns Summit 2023, a dedicated startup-tech initiative by the Economic Times, is set to track the new frontiers of growth for the Indian startup ecosystem. The conversations will map the rise of a more resilient startup-tech innovation economy with the potential to shape India’s techade and help realise the country’s vision of harnessing tech and innovation to become a developed nation by 2047.
The ET Soonicorns Summit 2023 has Persistent – Google Cloud as Co-presenting Partner, and IndusInd Bank and Persistent – Google Maps as Associate Partners; Netradyne as Gold Partner and Kimirica as Gifting Partner.
ET SpecialThe three key themes
With the theme ‘Resilience. Reset. Results,’ the ET Soonicorns Summit 2023 will bring together key stakeholders and decision-makers of the Indian tech-startup ecosystem to foster conversations, connections, and collaborations that can equip entrepreneurs, including those from Bharat, to navigate the ever-evolving tough market conditions and grow to build sustainable, scalable businesses of the future.
Resilience: Amidst a global macro slowdown characterised by elevated inflation, surging commodity costs, and escalating geopolitical tensions, India’s startup ecosystem has been grappling with a period of intense funding constraints known as the funding winter. In this context, the summit seeks to explore trends, challenges, and lessons for Indian startups, while also delving into the potential to cultivate more resilient entrepreneurial leadership and business models. Indeed, if nurtured well, these soonicorns can inject the much-needed fresh lease of life and vitality into India’s startup ecosystem, which has been facing one of its toughest periods yet.
Reset: Following a phase of abundant funding, soaring valuations, and rapid scaling at any cost, the Indian startup ecosystem has entered a phase of recalibration. Prioritising profitability, cash flow, and strong corporate governance, startups are focusing on sustainable growth. The summit examines the implications of this shift for different stages of startups’ growth journeys, fostering practical insights for entrepreneurial leadership and business strategies.
Result: Through this reset, experts foresee the emergence of a robust and mature startup and tech-innovation ecosystem, poised to contribute significantly to India’s aspiration of achieving a $30 trillion economy by 2047, coinciding with the nation’s centennial year of independence. The summit will examine the role of startups in propelling India’s global economic prominence and build foresight into an actionable agenda.
ET SpecialThematic tracks to ignite powerful conversations
Here’s a look at the nine tracks that will set the stage for deep-dives into the Indian startup economy, empowering Digital Bharat startups and building a roadmap to fuel India’s technological transformation or the next decade of technological disruption, termed as “techade,” and decoding the state of Indian soonicorns.
Supercharging India’s techade: The ET Soonicorns Summit 2023 will dive into what it will take to turbo-charge India’s techade and demystify India’s burgeoning digital economy, which powered by startups and tech innovators, is touted to play a significant role in elevating India’s share in the global digital economy. The core theme is aligned with India’s vision of becoming a developed nation by 2047.
Digital Bharat 2.0 startups: With India’s radical digital transformation, the rise of Bharat-based or startups from non-metropolitan cities of India is also on the rise. In fact, about 50% of the total 92,000 DPIIT-registered startups are based in non-metros, emerging from Tier 2 and 3 markets. This track will map the rise of Digital Bharat 2.0 startups and the democratisation of entrepreneurship in India.
Unicorn playbook: The unicorn frenzy of 2021, when India added 44 new unicorns, and in the first nine months of 2022, when India added another 23, has now given way to a more pragmatic and measured approach in evaluating companies, replacing vanity metrics with traditional measures of sound business fundamentals. The ET Soonicorns Summit 2023 will examine these new fundamentals, while unravelling the new-age Indian unicorn playbook pivoting sustainable growth, long-term success and resilient outlook.
Soonicorn spotlight: India has over 50 soonicorns, startups poised to soon become unicorns. This track is set to track their journey through case studies, conversation series and reports. If you are keen to understand the core challenges and big opportunities that India’s soonicorns face and how ecosystem stakeholders can accelerate their growth and enable them to play a vital role in New India’s growth, this track is for you.
The pursuit of profitability: Over the past year, Indian startups have moved away from a growth-at-all-cost mindset to the pursuit of profitability and sound business fundamentals. The ET Soonicorns Summit 2023 is set to decode the Rule of 40 as a guiding principle and the playbook of profitable startups.
The age of the ‘cockroach startup’: Unlike the oft-celebrated startups with stellar valuations, experts believe this will be the age of the ‘cockroach startups’ — or startups that demonstrate resilience and can survive the toughest of operating conditions, much like that of a cockroach in this age of evolution.
Finding greenshoots: This track will dive into the health of certain sunrise sectors such as deeptech (AI), spacetech, cleantech, emerging as greenshoots and that are poised to grow despite the tough market conditions.
Lessons in resilience: Following the collapse of SVB and its impact as well as a prolonged funding winter, the ET Soonicorns Summit 2023 will feature some of India’s top entrepreneurs and investors sharing invaluable insights and lessons to equip startups with the tools and resources they need to weather funding challenges and a tough market.
Investor insights: As investors brace for a prolonged funding winter, stakeholders can glean valuable insights on how they are evaluating startups for investments across various stages of growth. They will share insights into their outlook for the funding cycle, if there is a spring in sight after this winter; the growth opportunities, sectors, trends that excite them; and the next frontiers of growth.
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