On Wednesday, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said 28 unicorns, i.e., startups valued over $1 billion, have come into existence this year, owing to various reforms introduced this year by the government.
Speaking at a virtual conference organised by the Indian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (IVCA), the minister said the Indian economy has witnessed a spur of unprecedented growth in the form of startups in the last two decades.
“Indian startups have so far created 65 unicorns out of which 28 have been created in 2021. This shows that there is increased activity in this space and a lot of capital from angel investors. A series of reforms have been unleashed. Different capacities of Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) have been given more flexibility,” the finance minister said.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has recognised over 56,630 startups across districts throughout the country, IVCA said in a statement quoting FM Sitharaman.
“Investment guidelines have been issued for provident funds and superannuation funds,” the minister said, adding “the window for reporting of over-the-counter transactions has also been extended by three hours.”
“Investor protection must be given due consideration because that is a very important part of confidence booster for investors,” Sitharaman said.
Cloud kitchen startup Rebel Foods recently became the latest entrant to the unicorn club, following a $175 million Series F funding round led by Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) at a valuation of $1.4 billion, with participation from existing investors Coatue and Evolvence.