20 women-led startups in pipeline to become unicorn, finds a study

Around 18 per cent of India's unicorn startups are founded or co-founded by women and 20 other firms are in pipeline to become unicorn, a joint study said on Tuesday.

The study conducted by TiE Delhi NCR, research firm Zinnov, Google, NetApp and venture capital firm Indian Angel Network found that despite comparable metrics, success, and high entrepreneurial intent, socio-cultural barriers hinder women founders' growth.

"Approximately 18 per cent of India's total unicorns are founded by women, with 20 Potential Unicorns in the pipeline," the study said.

The startups that are in the pipeline to become unicorns include WinZO, Doubtnut, Infinity Learn, Locus, Pratilipi, Portea, SirionLabs, etc.

Women founded or co-founded start-ups that have already become unicorns include acko, BYJU's Pristyn Care, MyGlamm, MobiKwik, Open etc.

The total valuation of unicorn built by women founders stands at over USD 30 billion and total equity investments raised by them is over USD 12 billion.

The study, however, found a huge gender disparity in the Indian start-up ecosystem.

"Disparity in ticket size caused women founders to face an investment loss of about USD 3.7 billion over the past 3 years," the study said.

According to the study, from an investor's perspective, women founders come across as more cautious compared to their male counterparts, which lowers deal size offers to them.

"Women founders face more scrutiny on their commitment compared to their male counterparts which makes negotiations more challenging from their point of view," the study said.