India doesn't need unicorns but...: Snapdeal's Kunal Bahl on what the startup ecosystem needs

Kunal Bahl, co-founder of AceVector Limited, which owns Snapdeal, emphasized the need for India to focus on creating thousands of 'Indicorns' instead of just a few hundred unicorns.

Speaking at the NDTV World Summit on Tuesday, Bahl questioned India's focus on companies valued at $1 billion, known as Unicorns.

"Isn't it better we build businesses with the intention of making them lasting and enduring and aimed for goals which enable us to get there," Bahl said during a session called 'Rise Of The Indicorns'.


He described the USD 1 billion valuation for unicorns, which is around Rs 83,000 crore, as "mythical" and said, "it doesn't make sense."

Bahl suggested that India needs a large number of Indicorns. "What India probably needs right now is not 100, 200, 300 unicorns or 500 unicorns, we need 10,000 Indicorns because that will form the bedrock of the startup ecosystem. That will create a steady flow of companies that eventually listed companies and large businesses," he added.

Indicorns are defined as companies generating over Rs 100 crore in revenue and becoming profitable.

Meanwhile, India currently has over a hundred unicorns.

The term 'startup' became commonly used in recent years, especially after the launch of the Startup India initiative by the Modi government in January 2016. This initiative aims to create a strong ecosystem for innovation and startups in the country to boost economic growth and job creation.

As of June 2024, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has recognized 140,803 entities as startups. These startups have created over 15.53 lakh direct jobs since the initiative began.

(With inputs from ANI)