There are about 100 unicorns and 170 soonicorns in India. Of these 270 shining stars, 40+ startups in FinTech, eCommerce, and logistics have crossed 100Mn+ revenue as of FY22. These startups have taken anywhere from 5 to 12 years to reach this scale. With the ecosystem maturing in the last decade, the time taken to reach the 100Mn mark has decreased significantly. What took 18 years in 2000 to reach $ 100 Mn revenue has come down to 5 years in 2017.
Venture capital has played a central role in helping startups scale to the 100Mn revenue milestone. Besides the capital, investors add tremendous value to the companies they fund. In addition, the knowledge of governance, financial prudence, and networks brought by VCs are invaluable for startups. VCs have invested about $143Bn over the last 15 years (CY08 to CY22) in the startup ecosystem, which is currently valued at $804Bn. At current valuations, it translates to approx. 4.5x return for VCs on their investments.
India has about 12,000 startups ranging in revenue classification from Emerging (< $10 Mn), Growth Stage ($10 – 100 Mn), to Large ($100 Mn to >$1 Bn). Of these, 95% belong to the emerging category, 3-4% are in the growth stage, and less than 0.5% of companies are large.
Most startups face scaling challenges in their growth journey. Many belong to niche industries which restrict their total addressable market, while others need help with product-market fit and unsustainable growth.
Startups in the red ocean market – the industries with well-defined market space and industry boundaries operate in a highly competitive environment. They need a unique competitive advantage to stay afloat.
Finally, the challenges that sink startups come from poor profitability and bottlenecks with organization, governance, and operations.
“Redseer’s toolkit tackles various challenges faced by startups in the journey to $100Mn revenue. Customized solutions from TAM expansion, product market fit, to improve profitability and operational efficiency, our industry experts help startups scale to desired heights and solve their challenges,” says Rohan Agarwal, Partner, Redseer Strategy Consultants.
Redseer Strategy Consultants is a leading tech and data-driven consultancy firm and a trusted advisor to new-age businesses and investors. The prominent internet and homegrown strategy consulting firm in India, the Middle East, and the South East Asian region has a global footprint with 1000+ consultants across 21 locations. The consultancy has marked its presence in the USA, Europe, Latin, and Greater China in collaboration with growth partner OC & C Strategy.
The company holds almost 90% market share in new-age IPOs. Zomato – India’s first significant consumer tech IPO; GoTo – one of the world’s largest consumer tech IPO; Nykaa, Paytm, Cartrade, and Delhivery are some of the noted IPO engagements of Redseer. The enterprise holds over one-third market share in the new-age deal advisory and the lion’s share in the strategy consulting space.
