Food, EVs, and Fintech: India's startup IPO wave gains momentum on market

IPO Fever: Ather Energy, Bluestone, Smartworks Join Public Market Leaders

India’s startup scene is buzzing, with 11 new companies crossing the $1 billion valuation mark this year. What makes it even more exciting is that three of them — JusPay, Jumbotail, and Veritas Finance — skipped the usual growth stages and jumped straight into unicorn status. 

The ASK Private Wealth Hurun India Unicorn and Future Unicorn Report 2025 welcomed 11 new Unicorns in 2025, including Ai.tech, Navi Technologies, Vivriti Capital, Veritas Finance, Rapido, Netradyne, Jumbotail, DarwinBox, Moneyview, Juspay and Drools.

 

The Hurun Research Institute categorises start-ups into three segments:

Unicorns: Companies founded in or after the year 2000 with a valuation of $1 Bn or more.

 

 

Gazelles: Companies founded in or after the year 2000 with valuations between $500 Mn and $1 Bn, identified as the most likely to achieve Unicorn status within the next three years.

 

Cheetahs: Companies founded in or after the year 2000 with valuations between $200 Mn and $500 Mn, considered potential Unicorns within the next five years.  Point to note: 11 Cheetahs transitioned to Gazelles, including Cloudnine Hospitals, Turtlemint, Mintifi, and InVideo AI, highlighting investor confidence in healthcare, fintech and artificial intelligence.

 

JusPay, Jumbotail, and Veritas Finance leapt directly from Cheetah to Unicorn status, bypassing the Gazelle stage! 

JusPay (Bengaluru, fintech) – Known for powering smooth digital payments.

 

Jumbotail (Bengaluru, e-commerce) – A wholesale marketplace for grocery and food products.

 

Veritas Finance (Chennai, lending) – A fast-growing financial services company.

 

Peak XV Partners dominates India’s startup landscape, leading the Unicorns, Gazelles and Cheetahs pipeline with 68 bets in firms such as Turtlemint, Whatfix, Groww and PRISM (OYO).

  Gazelles and Cheetahs that turned Unicorns 

Source: Hurun Research Institute; ASK Private Wealth Hurun India Unicorn and Future Unicorn Report 2025 Powered by the ASK Private Wealth Hurun Cheetah–Gazelle–Unicorn Index (CGU Index) * Minimum Valuation estimated by Hurun India

 

These success stories show how strong ideas, quick execution, and market demand can fast-track a company’s growth. Usually, startups climb step by step before becoming unicorns, but this year proved that some can leap straight ahead.

 

The list of new unicorns also includes well-known names like Rapido (bike taxi), Navi Technologies (financial services), and DarwinBox (HR tech), along with rising players in fintech, consumer goods, and SaaS.

 

What’s driving this surge? India’s young population, booming digital economy, and increasing investor confidence. From fintech apps that simplify loans and payments to e-commerce platforms that reach millions of consumers, these startups are transforming how Indians live, shop, and work.

 

More importantly, these unicorns are not just creating wealth — they are also creating thousands of jobs and proving that India’s innovation story is only getting stronger.  11 Cheetahs promoted to Gazelles this year 

Several high-growth ventures advance toward unicorn territory, underscoring India’s expanding start-up strength. InVideo AI from San Francisco leads in Artificial Intelligence, while healthcare player Cloudnine Hospitals and wellness-focused HealthKart showcase the scale of consumer-centric demand in healthcare and e-commerce.

 

FinTech continues to dominate the pipeline, with Mumbai-based Turtlemint and Mintifi, Chennai’s M2P Fintech, Gurugram’s StashFin, Jaipur’s Finova Capital, and Bengaluru’s ClearTax driving growth across insurance, credit, and digital finance. Zolve, headquartered in New York, further illustrates India’s global FinTech reach. 

Emerging names such as Neo Wealth and Asset Management reflect the growing diversity of innovation.

 

Emerging names such as Neo Wealth and Asset Management reflect the growing diversity of innovation. Together, these 11 companies highlight how India’s fast-growing Cheetahs are steadily maturing into Gazelles on track for billion-dollar valuations.  Startup Boom Moves to Stock Markets: Swiggy, Ola Electric, FirstCry Among New Listings 

A mix of rising startups and established unicorns went public this year, showcasing strong investor appetite across sectors like fintech, e-commerce, logistics, and electric vehicles.

 

Future unicorns turn listed giants

A fresh wave of startups that were once seen as “future unicorns” made successful stock market debuts. Among them:

 

Northern Arc (Chennai, fintech) – Valued at ₹4,987 crore ($582 million).

 

Ather Energy (Bengaluru, electric vehicles) – Debut valuation of ₹11,248 crore ($1.3 billion).

 

Smartworks (Gurugram, shared economy) – Listed at ₹5,079 crore ($593 million).

 

Bluestone (Bengaluru, e-commerce jewellery) – Entered with a valuation of ₹8,262 crore ($965 million).

 

Their listings underline how high-potential startups are evolving into market leaders and gaining investor trust.

 

Big unicorns hit the IPO stage

Some of India’s most celebrated startups also joined the IPO wave this year:

 

Swiggy (Bengaluru, food delivery) – The blockbuster listing of the year with a valuation of ₹92,224 crore ($12.1 billion).

 

Ola Electric (Bengaluru, EVs) – Valued at ₹39,800 crore ($4.8 billion).

 

Digit Insurance (Bengaluru, insurtech) – Strong debut at ₹28,000 crore ($3.4 billion).

 

FirstCry (Pune, e-commerce for kids) – Listed at ₹35,000 crore ($4.1 billion).

 

BlackBuck (Bengaluru, logistics) – Valued at ₹10,566 crore ($1.3 billion).  In 2025, Artificial Intelligence reaffirmed its strength with 8 Future Unicorns, maintaining its position as one of the most vibrant sectors despite a brief dip in 2024. Aerospace displayed strong momentum, rising from 2 companies in 2023 to 5 in 2025, reflecting investor appetite for frontier technologies. Cleantech also surged, growing from just 2 in both 2023 and 2024 to 6 in 2025, driven by sustainability-focused innovation. Together, these sectors highlight the rise of new-age industries shaping India’s next wave of Future Unicorns.