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Tag: Indian unicorn startup

  • Uniphore Success Story | The Leading Conversational AI and Automation Technology Startup

    Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Uniphore.

    The power of AI cannot be underestimated in today’s times. We are living in a world where almost everything is automated through a wide range of AI and other automation tools and technologies.

    The introduction of conversational automation is invented to automate customer services and other mundane tasks to deliver a quality service experience. The most special feature of conversational automation is that it automates both conversations and processes.

    Uniphore is one of the leading conversational automation technology companies in India today. The company was founded in 2008 by Umesh Sachdev and Ravi Saraogi.

    Uncover details on Uniphore’s industry, founders, business and revenue model, funding and investors, and more in this article.

    Uniphore – Company Highlights

    Startup Name Uniphore
    Headquarters Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India and Palo Alto, California, USA
    Sector AI, Saas, Conversational Automation
    Founder Umesh Sachdev, Ravi Saraogi
    Founded 2008
    Revenue $88.1 million
    Valuation $2.5 billion (as of November 2024)
    Website uniphore.com

    Uniphore – About and How Does It Work?
    Uniphore – Industry
    Uniphore – Founders and Team
    Uniphore – Startup Story
    Uniphore – Name, Tagline, and Logo
    Uniphore – Mission and Vision
    Uniphore – Business Model
    Uniphore – Revenue Model
    Uniphore – Funding and Investors
    Uniphore – Mergers and Acquisitions
    Uniphore – Partnerships
    Uniphore – Growth
    Uniphore – Advertisements and Campaigns
    Uniphore – Awards and Achievements
    Uniphore – Competitors
    Uniphore – Future Plans

    Uniphore – About and How Does It Work?

    Uniphore is a conversational AI platform meant to deliver conversational analytics, conversational assistants, and conversational security to support enterprises in having transformational customer service experiences. Its solutions assist up to 75,000 customer support representatives during about 160 million monthly interactions. With the trinity of voice AI, computer vision, and tonal emotion, the company is transforming communications.

    Uniphore is also engaged in offering AI solutions in the areas of Emotional Intelligence to help enterprises resolve disagreements with the help of Emotional AI technology. In addition, it provides Knowledge AI, which is a platform combined with advanced conversational AI technologies to offer all the updated information needed by customers, without them struggling to go through irrelevant information.

    Uniphore also provides a Real-Time Coaching Agent. It is a new method to empower companies’ customer service agents to be successful, allowing them to be more productive and efficient, faster, reduce their stress and anxiety, and improving not just their own but also their customers’ experiences.

    Uniphore has dual headquarters in Palo Alto, California, USA and Chennai, India with several other offices in countries like Singapore, Japan, Spain, and Israel.

    Uniphore – Industry

    There is no denying that the technology industry, especially AI and automation is increasing at a rapid rate. The worldwide conversational AI market is expected to develop at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.4% from $12.24 billion in 2024 to $61.69 billion by 2032.

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    Uniphore – Founders and Team

    Umesh Sachdev and Ravi Saraogi are the founders of Uniphore.

    Umesh Sachdev

    Umesh Sachdev - Co-founder and CEO of Uniphore
    Umesh Sachdev – Co-founder and CEO of Uniphore

    A modern-day entrepreneur, Umesh Sachdev is the co-founder and CEO of Uniphore. As a young dynamic leader with a pedigree from IITM, Umesh’s unwavering commitment to new technologies has earned him global recognition as the only Indian to be named one of Time Magazine’s 10 “Next Generation Leaders” in 2016, in addition to being a winner of the India Edition of MIT Tech Review ‘Innovators Under 35’ and a Ted Talk speaker. He attended Jaypee Institute of Information Technology and RK Puram Delhi Public School. Umesh was recognised as a creative entrepreneur by the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Technopreneur Promotion Programme (TePP) in 2009.

    Ravi Saraogi

    Ravi Saraogi - Co-founder and President of Asia Pacific for Uniphore
    Ravi Saraogi – Co-founder and President of Asia Pacific for Uniphore

    Ravi Saraogi is the co-founder of Uniphore and is also the President of Asia Pacific for Uniphore Software Systems. His main responsibility revolves around cultivating recruits for deep technology and other automation solutions in the company. Ravi is presently a member of the Mobile Payment Forum of India (MPFI), where he finds and develops mobile payment business prospects. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology from the Jaypee University of Information Technology.

    Uniphore – Startup Story

    Uniphore was founded in 2008 and incubated at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. In the initial days, the company mainly focused on the development of AI solutions, especially on contact centres or call centres, the main medium used by big enterprises such as airlines and banks to manage customer service. During the process, the founders realised that the power of vernacular speech is not given much attention in human communication. In India, many people are more comfortable talking in their local language. This factor gave them the idea to introduce speech recognition in Indian languages.

    After a few years, things changed in 2017 for Uniphore, when Umesh Sachdev pitched his firm and ideas at an MIT event in New Delhi. John Chambers, one of the most notable guests present, heard his pitch. Through Chambers’s guidance, Sachdev decided to move the base operations of Uniphore, the call centres-based AI startup to the USA.

    The very renowned, John Thomas Chambers, the former CEO and chairman of Cisco Systems, acquired a 10% stake in Uniphore in 2017 at a $30 million valuation.

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    Uniphore Logo
    Uniphore Logo

    Uniphore’s logo is simple yet super elegant. Its logo shows a colour transition from orange to pink which makes for an attractive colour gradient.

    Uniphore – Mission and Vision

    The vision of Uniphore says, ” Be the defining conversational AI and automation platform to realize the value of every enterprise conversation.”

    Our mission: Give each customer a voice. Why? Because #customerservice is broken.

    Uniphore – Business Model

    Uniphore operates on B2B software as a service-based subscription fee model. Previously, it had a license fee-based income model. The business of Uniphore mainly operates by offering four core services: U-Analyze, U-Self-Serve, U-Trust, and U-Assist. According to the company, its purpose is to augment, not replace the efforts of call centre employees. The company operates on two core technologies – speech recognition & voice biometrics.

    Looking briefly at the main services provided by Uniphore:

    U-Analyze

    U-Analyze, previously known as auMina is Uniphore’s speech analytics software that assists enterprises in identifying customer problems by studying consumer dynamics and call centre interactions using natural language processing. It monitors agents’ in-call movements and optimises training programmes using artificial intelligence and data analysis.

    U-Trust

    U-Trust by Uniphore is a speech biometrics software that allows users to validate their identity when working remotely by using their voice. Clients can authenticate and monitor agents with the help of voice biometrics.

    U-Self Serve

    Uniphore also has voice response software known as U-Self Serve previously known as Akeira. It is a voice recognition software and virtual assistant that helps firms automate customer support.

    U-Assist

    U-Assist by Uniphore employs deep learning AI models to give real-time help, such as transcriptions and notifications during conversations. It also aids in the automation of dispositions and other post-call tasks.

    Uniphore offers these conversation automation solutions to sectors like Banking, BPO, Telecom, and Healthcare.

    There are reports that international banking groups in more than 60 countries have been said to have reduced the stress of compliance auditing by 50% by using Uniphore’s interaction analytics software.

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    Uniphore – Revenue Model

    The company typically generates revenue by offering automation software to various clients in Banking, BPO, Telecom, and Healthcare. Uniphore has made a revenue of Rs $88.1 million with over 150K customers in 2022.

    Uniphore – Funding and Investors

    Uniphore has received $620.9 million in investment through eight rounds. Their most recent fundraising came in the form of a Series E round on February 16, 2022, which made the company a unicorn startup in India, raising its valuation to $2.5 billion. Uniphore is backed by a group of 22 investors. The most recent investors are GoldenArc Capital and March Capital.

    Date Stage Amount Lead Investor
    February 28, 2022 Series E $400 million New Enterprise Associates
    March 26, 2021 Series D $140 million Sorenson Capital
    December 18, 2020 Debt Financing $14.1 million –
    August 13, 2019 Series C $51 million Chiratae Ventures
    August 21, 2017 Series B $9.4 million IIFL Finance, JC2 Ventures
    June 1, 2015 Series A $5.5 million Chiratae Ventures
    April 1, 2014 Seed $710K Indian Angel Network, YourNest Venture Capital
    April 1, 2008 Pre-Seed $100K IITM’s Rural Technology & Business Incubator

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    Uniphore – Mergers and Acquisitions

    Uniphore has acquired 4 companies.

    COMPANY ACQUIRED DATE OF ACQUISITION AMOUNT
    Infoworks Dec 5, 2024 –
    ActionIQ Dec 5, 2024 –
    Colabo April 13, 2022 –
    Jacada July 29, 2021 –

    Uniphore – Partnerships

    Konecta

    Uniphore, a global AI leader, has partnered with Konecta, a CX and digital services giant, to accelerate AI-powered solutions globally.

    Uniphore – Growth

    Financials

    Uniphore Financials FY22 FY23
    Operating Revenue INR 674.6 crore INR 488.4 crore
    Total Expenses INR 694.1 crore INR 492.7 crore
    Profit/Loss Profit of INR 33.4 crore Profit of INR 142.7 crore
    Uniphore Financials
    Uniphore Financials

    Uniphore – Advertisements and Campaigns

    Uniphore is quite active on its YouTube by posting various educational videos based on its products such as U-analyse, U-Self Serve, etc.

    Their videos talk about how their product works and how it can benefit organisations.

    Uniphore – Awards and Achievements

    • Uniphore has won the award in the Innovation in Data Science Category for their U-Analyse product at the 9th edition of the Aegis Graham Bell Award 2019.
    • Uniphore has been awarded the 2021 Frost & Sullivan Global Technology Innovation Leadership Award in Conversational Automation.
    • It was awarded the best product company in the Analytics Solutions category for 2018 at the 6th edition of Express IT Awards.

    Uniphore – Competitors

    Uniphore has the following competitors:

    • AISERA
    • ZoomInfo
    • Relish AI
    • Emotibot
    • Conversica
    • Interactions
    • HelloMyBot
    • Cresta
    • Satisfi
    • Acobot
    • Replicant
    • Mindsay
    • Dialogflow
    • Gupshup
    • Nuance Communications

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    Uniphore – Future Plans

    After reaching a valuation of $2.5 billion, Uniphore has plans to expand its horizon with customer needs through its Emotion AI platform and seeks to have more refined existing products. The company wants to rebuild its products to improve its customer’s expectations. It has a full-fledged plan to improve the inventions in its Emotion AI platform.

    FAQs

    How does Uniphore work?

    Uniphore is a conversational AI platform meant to deliver conversational analytics, conversational assistants, and conversational security to support enterprises in having transformational customer service experiences.

    What is conversational AI?

    Conversational AI is a kind of artificial intelligence. It simply allows people to interact with computer applications in the same way as they would interact with humans.

    Is Uniphore a unicorn?

    Uniphore is a unicorn startup in India. The startup raised $400 million in a Series E round of funding, raising its valuation to $2.5 billion in February 2022.

    Is Uniphore an Indian company?

    Uniphore is an Indian company, founded by Umesh Sachdev and Ravi Saraogi with dual headquarters in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India and Palo Alto, California, USA.

  • The Karnataka Government Has Funded a Total of INR 60 Crore in 263 Startups

    According to a report presented by the Department of Electronics, IT, BT, and S&T, Government of Karnataka, 45 out of India’s 112 unicorns are based in Bengaluru, making it a leader in the startup movement. According to the Bengaluru Innovation Report 2024, the city is known as an innovation hub that encourages revolutionary developments in areas such as AI, biotech, and fintech.

    The Bengaluru startup ecosystem is strongly supported by top IT businesses, research institutes, and capital allocators. It’s a place where collaboration and competition are encouraged. As a result, both the economy and technology are booming.

    Over 14,000 startups registered with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and over 4,000 active investors in tech startups call Karnataka home. According to Priyank Kharge, who is the minister for the Department of Electronics, IT, BT, Rural Development, and Panchayati Raj in the Karnataka government, the existence of 45 tech unicorns further solidifies the state’s image as a top hub for technology and innovation.

    According to him, the state government has launched several programs to help entrepreneurs at different points in their development. Over 980 businesses have been awarded grants of up to INR 50 lakh through the Elevate program, which is an initiative that helps entrepreneurs go from idea to proof of concept. Women business owners and deep tech solutions are two areas that will receive enhanced attention in the coming future.

    Initiatives That Are Driving the Growth

    To address the wide range of startup funding requirements in the state, two funds have been established: the Beyond Bengaluru Cluster Seed Fund and the Kitven Funds. To support student-run initiatives, the NAIN program has set up around fifty innovation centers in IT institutions outside of Bengaluru. Beyond Bengaluru and the Karnataka Digital Economy Mission are two more important programs that are helping to make the state a center for information technology.

    Major software companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, and Google have their research and development centers in Bengaluru, according to Prashanth Prakash, who is a partner at the venture capital firm Accel and the head of the Startup Vision Group for the Government of Karnataka. According to him, businesses like Zerodha, CRED, PhonePe, Flipkart, and Razorpay—all unicorns—have emerged from the city.

    Sahil Chopra, AVP, Growth & Marketing, Inflection Point Ventures satated, “A report from 24th July shows that Karnataka’s Department of Information Technology and Biotechnology gave over ₹60 crore to 263 start-ups in 2022 and 2023. The Department of Electronics IT BT, and S&T released the “Bengaluru Innovation Report 2024.” It stated that women ran 24% of these start-ups, and 35% were outside Bengaluru. As stated above, out of the 263 funded start-ups, women entrepreneurs led 47, and 119 came from tier II and III towns in the state. This shows how Karnataka wants to include everyone. These start-ups work on new tech in many up-and-coming fields.”

    “This decision of the government to support these startups is praiseworthy and shows a forward-looking approach to growing the economy and advancing technology. The big financial boost proves the government wants to support new ideas and business creation in the state. What stands out is how their focus is on including everyone,” he added further.

    Recognizing the Hard Work and Effort

    The Government of Karnataka’s Department of Electronics, IT, BT, and S&T also hosted a special ceremony to celebrate the winners of Elevate, their flagship Grant-in-Aid program. During the fiscal years 2023 and 2024, the initiative’s four schemes—Elevate Kalyana Karnataka, Amrita Startups, and Elevate Unnati—supported entrepreneurship and innovation in the Kalyana Karnataka region, OBC entrepreneurs, and startups promoted by SC and ST entrepreneurs, respectively. In addition, the Elevate program helps entrepreneurs in the state who are looking for seed money to create a prototype, plan their entrance into the market, and eventually scale up.

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  • The Unicorn Club: Meet the Elite Founders Behind Multiple Billion-Dollar Ventures

    A unicorn is a privately held startup with a valuation of $1 billion or above. This financial milestone raises these companies in the eyes of investors, entrepreneurs, and the general public, as only a few companies achieve such high valuations before going public or being acquired. Unicorns have a remarkable ability to grow rapidly and exponentially. Their growth is not gradual; instead, it follows an aggressive and fast path that allows them to increase their market share quickly. 

    Innovation is at the heart of unicorn enterprises. They are renowned for bringing innovative and game-changing concepts to their specialized fields, frequently utilizing state-of-the-art technology and breaking new ground in business structures.

    There are more than 1,000 unicorn companies in the world. As of January 2024, India has 111 unicorn startups, making it the world’s fastest-growing startup ecosystem. 

    Starting your own business is a difficult road full of obstacles and uncertainties. However, even in this turbulent environment, some exceptional people repeatedly overcome obstacles. In the ever-changing world of business innovation, these trailblazers stand out as the creators of not one but several unicorn enterprises. Their experiences serve as the perfect example of determination, intelligence, and an unmatched ability to spot possibilities amid chaos.

    Bhavish Aggarwal
    Amitava Saha
    Supam Maheshwari
    Naveen Tewari
    Asish Mohapatra
    Ruchi Kalra
    Sandeep Aggarwal
    Vijay Shekhar Sharma

    Bhavish Aggarwal

    Name Bhavish Aggarwal
    Born 28 August 1985
    Education B.Tech (IIT Bombay)
    Position Co-founder and CEO of OLA Cabs, Founder of OLA Electric
    Bhavish Aggarwal
    Bhavish Aggarwal

    Bhavish Aggarwal was born in Ludhiana, Punjab, on August 28, 1985. He is an Indian businessman who founded Ola Electric and co-founded Ola Cabs. Aggarwal, an IIT Mumbai alumnus, started his professional career with Microsoft, where he worked for two years, filed two patent applications, and published three articles in international journals.

    In December 2010, he and a fellow student, Ankit Bhati, created the ridesharing business Ola Cabs, an ANI Technologies division. Ola achieved its first significant milestone in July 2014, reaching 10,000 rides per day. As the CEO of Ola Cabs, he introduced several divisions, including mobile payments and wallet services through OlaMoney and Ola Fleet. 

    In December 2017, Ola Cabs purchased Foodpanda‘s Indian business, thereby breaking into the food delivery market. In April 2022, he resigned as CEO of Ola Cabs to concentrate on Ola Electric. Under ANI Technologies, Bhavish Aggarwal founded Ola Electric on May 26, 2017. He initiated a trial project in Nagpur, Maharashtra, by erecting charging stations throughout the city and acquiring electric vehicles from manufacturers, including electric buses, electric rickshaws, and electric cars.

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    Amitava Saha

    Name Amitava Saha
    Born –
    Education PGDM (IIM Lucknow) B.Tech (IIT Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi)
    Position MD & CEO at Xpressbees, Co-founder & COO at FirstCry
    Amitava Saha
    Amitava Saha

    Amitava Saha is the co-founder and chief operating officer of FirstCry and the CEO of Xpressbees. Saha’s groundbreaking projects have continually disrupted sectors and transformed market landscapes. His ability to navigate unfamiliar territory with strategic insight and unshakable persistence has enabled him to establish not one but several unicorn enterprises. After completing his BTech at IIT Varanasi, he graduated with a PGDM from IIM Lucknow. Before launching Xpressbees alongside Supam Maheshwari, Amitava had positions as a Business Development Manager at Aricent, Senior Officer at Tata Steel, and Senior Business Development Executive at NIIT Technologies. 

    Following his decision to start FirstCry, where he held the positions of COO and co-founder, Amitava Saha went on to found Xpressbees. He has more than 17 years of expertise in sales and operations. 

    With an excellent nationwide supply chain management network, Xpressbees is India’s top logistics service provider. FirstCry is an online and offline business that offers a large selection of goods for mothers, infants, and children. The firm originated out of a desire to address the issue of millions of Indian parents lacking access to the top brands and baby care items for their children.

    Supam Maheshwari

    Name Supam Maheshwari
    Born 1974
    Education PGDM (IIM Ahmedabad), Delhi College of Engineering
    Position Co-founder & CEO at FirstCry, Co-founder of Xpressbees
    Supam Maheshwari
    Supam Maheshwari

    Supam Maheshwari is the CEO of FirstCry, a baby care company headquartered in Pune, Maharashtra, India. Maheshwari completed his formal education at Apeejay School. He graduated from Delhi College of Engineering with a Mechanical Engineering degree. He later attended IIM-Ahmedabad to pursue a PGDM. After completing his MBA, he conceptualized and developed Brainvisa Technologies, which he co-founded and oversaw as CEO until 2009. He is a first-generation businessman with an astute business sense.

    Supam Maheshwari was inspired to start FirstCry by his own experiences as a father looking for high-quality baby care goods for his child. He is an excellent leader and is well-known for his leadership abilities. Supam is also a co-founder of the logistics service company Xpressbees.

    Name Naveen Tewari
    Born 14 December 1977
    Education MBA (Harvard Business School)
    Position Founder & CEO at InMobi Group
    Naveen Tewari
    Naveen Tewari

    Naveen Tewari, founder and CEO of InMobi, was born and raised in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, in a family of academics. After working for McKinsey for three years as a consultant, Naveen graduated with an MBA from Harvard Business School. While at HBS, he started and led the India Schoolhouse Fund, a nonprofit in the United States that sponsors and establishes schools in rural India. 

    He dabbled in several ventures for a few years, although he could have been more successful. This included the startup and venture capital worlds. Tewari identified a market need as the mobile internet was on its way to revolution. He realized a platform was required to distribute customized advertisements on mobile devices. He launched InMobi in 2008. The ad tech business became the first unicorn in India in just three years. Tewari’s impact goes beyond the business sector. He strongly supports entrepreneurship and innovation, actively mentoring new firms and funding programs that strengthen the Indian IT sector. 

    Asish Mohapatra

    Name Asish Mohapatra
    Born 1980
    Education PGP-MBA (ISB Hyderabad), IIT (Kharagpur)
    Position CEO of OFB Tech Pvt. Ltd
    Asish Mohapatra
    Asish Mohapatra

    Asish Mohapatra is an Indian entrepreneur who has co-founded two unicorn firms in India. After obtaining his mechanical engineering degree from IIT-Kharagpur and his MBA from the Indian School of Business (ISB), he worked for Matrix Partners, a venture capital fund, for over four years. 

    Before he was able to launch his business, the IIT Kharagpur graduate was turned down a shocking 73 times. After receiving backing from the Japanese multinational conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp., Asish’s business became a unicorn in July 2021. It was valued at approximately $1.5 billion when it concluded a $160 million investment round. 

    In 2016, Asish, his wife, and a few other dedicated members of their team founded Oxyzo, an offshoot of Asish’s previous firm that provides SMEs with purchase finance and became a unicorn a year later, in 2022. The company stated that Oxyzo presently has 2000+ crores in AUM, is servicing more than 3,000 SMEs throughout India, and disburses more than 4,000 crores annually. 

    Asish Mohapatra’s journey demonstrates the value of patience, intelligent thought, and an in-depth comprehension of market needs. His initiatives not only help contribute to the Indian Economy but also motivate new entrepreneurs to pursue their objectives despite all obstacles. 

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    Ruchi Kalra

    Name Ruchi Kalra
    Born 1983
    Education Indian School of Business (Hyderabad), IIT (Delhi)
    Position Co-founder and CFO of OFB Tech Pvt. Ltd, Co-founder of Oxyzo Financial Services Limited
    Ruchi Kalra

    Indian businesswoman Ruchi Kalra is the co-founder of the unicorn companies OfBusiness and Oxyzo Financial Services. Ruchi completed her MBA at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, after earning her BTech in Chemical Engineering from IIT Delhi, and she began working as a senior business analyst at Evalueserve. 

    She quit her job at McKinsey in 2016 to launch her firm, OfBusiness, in the untested B2B market with her husband and six other partners. In 2017, her spouse and three other team members picked up an offshoot of their first firm. Oxyzo provides purchase finance to small and medium businesses, giving out cash-flow-based loans to aid SMEs who struggle to access working capital by employing technology that crunches data for them. 

    Sandeep Aggarwal

    Name Sandeep Aggarwal
    Born –
    Education MBA (Washington University in St. Louis)
    Position Founder of Droom Technologies, Shopclues
    Sandeep Aggarwal
    Sandeep Aggarwal

    Sandeep Aggarwal is an Indian entrepreneur, angel investor, and the current CEO of Droom Technology Pvt Ltd. He was a Wall Street research analyst for fourteen years before starting his entrepreneurial journey. He was the top-ranked research analyst and worked for Collins Stewart, Oppenheimer, and Citigroup. 

    Sandeep established two startups: Shopclues, an online managed marketplace, in 2010, and Droom, an online vehicle marketplace, in 2014. He raised 16 million dollars in just a year. He raised 90 million dollars in multiple rounds in the following three years. Sandeep possesses a US patent, an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis, and all the qualities that make an entrepreneur successful: a combination of knowledge, creativity, and willpower. He also launched the Sandeep Aggarwal Foundation, which addresses India’s development concerns. The charity supports and uplifts different sectors of society through partnerships with groups like the Umeed charity and Zoe Mission. 

    Vijay Shekhar Sharma

    Name Vijay Shekhar Sharma
    Born 7 June 1978
    Education B.Tech from Delhi College of Engineering
    Position Founder & CEO of One97 and Paytm
    Vijay Shekhar Sharma
    Vijay Shekhar Sharma

    Vijay Shekhar Sharma was born on June 7, 1978, in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, and completed his B.Tech from Delhi College of Engineering. He is a technology entrepreneur and multimillionaire business magnate. He founded One97 Communications in 2000, providing mobile users with news, jokes, ringtones, cricket scores, and exam results, among other material. One97 Communications Limited is the parent business of Paytm, Sharma’s digital payment and financial services company founded in 2010. Paytm successfully raised $2.5 billion at a $19 billion valuation when it went public in November 2021, making it the largest IPO in India. 

    In 2018, Sharma created a stir in the financial world when he convinced Berkshire Hathaway, owned by Warren Buffett, to invest $300 million in Paytm. Along with the Paytm Payments Bank, he founded the e-commerce company Paytm Mall. His commitment to innovation illustrates how technology can spur economic growth and demonstrates the transformative power of entrepreneurship.

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    Conclusion 

    In conclusion, this article looks into a handful of visionary founders who have not only transformed industries but also redefined our perception of entrepreneurship. Their ability to create, execute, and scale many billion-dollar companies demonstrates their impressive vision and passion to make the dream a reality.

    FAQs

    What is a unicorn startup?

    A unicorn is a privately held startup with a valuation of $1 billion or above. This financial milestone raises these companies in the eyes of investors, entrepreneurs, and the general public, as only a few companies achieve such high valuations before going public or being acquired.

    Who is Naveen Tewari?

    Naveen Tewari is the founder and CEO of InMobi and has an MBA from Harvard Business School.

    How many unicorn companies are there in the world?

    There are more than 1,000 unicorn companies in the world. As of January 2024, India has 111 unicorn startups, making it the world’s fastest-growing startup ecosystem. 

  • 2022 – A Remarkable Year for Indian Startups

    The article has been contributed by the QuickCompany’s team

    India has secured the 3rd most prominent position in the world as an ecosystem for startups with a strength of 77,000 DPIIT-recognized startups across 656 districts, while China and USA hold the second and first positions, respectively. Since 2014, it is remarkable how India has climbed up to secure the place. It is a moment of pride that India has left China behind in the global unicorn race, with funding CAGR(Complex Annual Growth Rate) between 2014 to 2022 of 49% in India against 12 % in China and 33% in the USA; as well as year on year growth of unicorn in India by 300% between 2020 and 2021 in comparison to China with 267%.

    This count is reported as of 29th August 2022, making India rank 2nd in innovation quality and 1st in the quality of scientific publications, as well as in the rate of universities among developing economies. Between 2014 and the first quarter of 2022, 57,000 startups were launched in India, out of which 100 have entered the Unicorn Club, and 17 are listed.

    Bengaluru is known as the startup capital of India, whereas Maharashtra has the highest number of startups in India.

    Indian States and Union Territories Contributing to the Startup Ecosystem
    Indian States and Union Territories Contributing to the Startup Ecosystem

    The innovations are expanding beyond the specific sectors, unlike a few years back. The recognised startups in 56 industries are divided into 13% from the IT industry, 9% from pharmaceutical and health care, 7% from ed-tech, 5% from professional and commercial services, 5% from agriculture and 5% from food and beverages.

    According to the Economic Survey of 2021-22, DPIIT recognised more than 61,400 startups, of which at least 14,000 were recognised during the fiscal year 2022. This contributes to a growth projection to put forward a GDP examining the performance of several sectors and suggests future movement.

    On average, 555 districts of India had at least one new startup, which makes it evident that India has remarkably encouraged the startup mindset over the past six years, mainly in IT and knowledge-based sectors.

    Top 4 Indian States Bagging the Funding
    Top 4 Indian States Bagging the Funding

    “Startups in India have grown remarkably over the last six years. The number of new recognised startups has increased to over 14,000 in 2021-22 from only 733 in 2016-17,” the survey claimed.

    2022 has been marked as a significant year for startups, as it has witnessed the crossing of milestones of 100 Indian startups to enter the Unicorn club. Until October 2022, IT and Fintech showed the highest number of entries, whereas blockchain and consultancy showed the lowest.

    Industry-Wise New Membership to Unicorn Club in 2022
    Industry-Wise New Membership to Unicorn Club in 2022

    A huge announcement is made by BITS Pilani, allowing students and faculty members to take time off for up to 1 year to start their ventures with a target to encourage and nurture entrepreneurship in India.

    Moneycontrol had reported earlier that at least one founder of over 73 of India’s more than 100 unicorns came from one of the country’s 23 IITs. According to Tracxn Technologies data, BITS Pilani alumni have founded over 900 startups, with over 13 making it to the list of Indian unicorns, including Zeta, MPL, Swiggy, BigBasket, and Groww. Hari Menon of Big Basket, Sriharsha Majety of Swiggy, and Phanindra Sama of redBus are all alumni of BITS.

    As of now, 22 startups have joined the unicorn club in 2022. Here are the top five among them:

    Top Indian Unicorn Startups in 2022
    Top Indian Unicorn Startups in 2022

    The other Indian unicorn startups of 2022 are:

    • Fractal Analytics
    • LEAD School
    • Darwinbox
    • Livspace
    • Xpressbees
    • Hasura
    • CredAvenue
    • Amagi
    • CommerceIQ
    • Oxyzo
    • Open
    • PhysicsWallah
    • Purplle
    • LeadSquared
    • OneCard
    • Tata 1mg
    • Molbio Diagnostics

    Conclusion

    Over the past two years, India has witnessed the inflow of extra cash that resulted in drawing massive investment to Indian startups, including some making the IPOs launched exceedingly profitable. As growth-stage investors such as Tiger Global, Coatue, and Softbank have quit the market, startup values have fluctuated at a high speed. Several startups were valued based on price rather than vision, and now it is a challenge to contend with the harsh realities of the natural world, which values businesses based on free cash flow.

    This scenario is likely to persist for the next 12–18 months until the economy begins to reset to a new normal. Meanwhile, the challenge to startup CEOs is to focus on achieving quantifiable achievements and genuine business payoffs, making the time engrossing for the Indian startup ecosystem.

    FAQs

    Which Indian city has the most number of startups?

    Maharashtra has the highest number of startups in India.

    Which Indian startups entered the unicorn club in 2022?

    As of September 2022, 22 Indian startups have entered the unicorn club, including Fractal, Uniphore, LEAD, CredAvenue, Open, Amagi, Games24, DealShare, Xpressbees, and PhysicsWallah.

    How many startups are started by BITS Pilani alumni?

    According to Tracxn Technologies data, BITS Pilani alumni have founded over 900 startups, with over 13 making it to the list of Indian unicorns, including Zeta, MPL, Swiggy, BigBasket, and Groww.

  • Darwinbox Success Story | How is This HR Tech Startup Revolutionizing the Human Resource Industry?

    Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Darwinbox.

    The human resource department is present in every organisation. Its role is crucial for keeping an organisation balanced as they take care of its employee hiring process, performance appraisal, and payroll and determines what different policies and strategies should be applied in contributing to the success of an organisation.

    To elaborate broadly, human resource management can have multiple responsibilities and functions to carry out. Over the years, human resource management (HRM) has evolved to adapt to the changing needs of employees in a company.

    Today, top companies have special Human Resource Management Software to keep things in a systematic manner and efficiently aid in the data management of employees and various other HR processes. Moreover, it is the HR tech that the companies are embracing to bring a new change in the work culture.

    Darwinbox is one of the leading cloud-based Human Resource Management Software (HRMS). The company has its headquarters in Hyderabad with various other offices located across India, and other countries like Singapore, Kuala Lumpur Jakarta, Manila, Bangkok, UAE, and the USA.

    Read on further to know about Darwinbox’s industry details, founders, business and revenue model, funding and investors, and many more.

    Darwinbox – Company Highlights

    Startup Name Darwinbox
    Headquarters Hyderabad, India
    Sector HRMS, IT services and IT Consulting
    Founder Chaitanya Peddi, Jayant Paleti and Rohit Chennamaneni
    Founded 2015
    Type Private
    Valuation $1.07 billion
    Revenue $6.36 million (2020)
    Website darwinbox.com

    Darwinbox – About and How Does It Work?
    Darwinbox – Industry
    Darwinbox – Founders
    Darwinbox – Startup Story
    Darwinbox – Name, Logo, and Tagline
    Darwinbox – Mission and Vision
    Darwinbox – Business and Revenue Model
    Darwinbox – Funding and Investors
    Darwinbox – Awards and Achievements
    Darwinbox – Competitors
    Darwinbox – Future Plans

    Darwinbox – About and How Does It Work?

    Founded in 2015, Darwinbox is a SaaS platform engaged in providing a better, simpler, and mobile-first HR Tech experience driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning, and empowers workers across the full lifecycle (hire-to-retire).

    At present times, the company serves over 650 enterprises including Adani, Kopi Kenangan, MatchMove, Mahindra, Bank BTPN, TVS, Shakey’s, JSW, Bank Danamon, Nivea, Swiggy, Tokopedia, JG Summit Group, NutriAsia, Indorama, and others, and have over 1.5 million workers in 90+ countries.

    Darwinbox has a new-age platform designed to provide enterprises with automated day-to-day HR processes that simplify human interactions and deliver quality insights to help build better workplaces both for the organisation and employees.

    Darwinbox – Industry

    Darwinbox belongs to the IT services and IT consulting industry. All of us are aware that the IT industry is like the backbone of any company, without which no company can stand tall and strong. It is reported that the marketplace for technology and information technology consulting services in India is projected to be worth $48 billion, accounting for approximately 20% of the overall worldwide consulting industry.

    According to the latest Emeregen Research, the global Human Capital Management market size was $18.04 billion in 2020 and it is expected to deliver a revenue CAGR of 7.9% till the year 2028.

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    Darwinbox – Founders

    Chaitanya Peddi, Jayant Paleti, and Rohit Chennamaneni are the founders of Darwinbox.

    Chaitanya Peddi

    Chaitanya Peddi - Co-founder and Product Head at Darwinbox
    Chaitanya Peddi – Co-founder and Product Head at Darwinbox

    Chaitanya Peddi is one of the three founders of Darwinbox and is presently performing as its Product Head. Before starting the journey with Darwinbox, Chaitanya worked as a consultant at Ernst & Young in their Business Advisory Services division. His first company, where he worked as an Analyst in Product Development was Verizon Communications. Chaitanya has an MBA degree in Human Resources from XLRI, Jamshedpur.

    Jayant Paleti

    Jayant Paleti - Co-founder and Head of Sales at Darwinbox
    Jayant Paleti – Co-founder and Head of Sales at Darwinbox

    Jayant Paleti co-founded Darwinbox in 2015. He presently is the Head of the Sales department at Darwinbox. Jayant got his B.Tech degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. Afterwards, he got an MBA degree in finance from the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow. He has been associated with EY (Ernst & Young) for almost four years. Prior to this, he worked at Deloitte for one year. Jayant started by working as a Business Analyst at Modelytics.

    Rohit Chennamaneni

    Rohit Chennamaneni - Co-founder and Head of Operations at Darwinbox
    Rohit Chennamaneni – Co-founder and Head of Operations at Darwinbox

    Rohit Chennamaneni is the co-founder of Darwinbox and is also currently the head of its operations. Before co-founding Darwinbox, he worked with Google, and McKinsey & Company. He was also an intern at Procter and Gamble. Rohit graduated from the Vellore Institute of Technology and holds an MBA degree from the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow. He worked in areas such as sales, operations, human resources, and leadership development.

    Darwinbox – Startup Story

    While working in a corporate firm, Jayant Paleti realised that his company lacked systematic functioning to provide a one-stop solution for the HR department. Soon after, he got over a discussion with Chaitanya and Rohit only to find a common observation that how companies did not have a good HR system. This was an opportunity that spurred the three friends to meet up every day over many rounds of coffee and tea at a local restaurant in Hyderabad.

    The three founders worked day and night to study the HR tech market in India to learn about the already available products so that they can come up with a new one. Through many challenges and competition, the Telugu trio experimented with many products intending to launch a product that is more than just a provider of HR solutions by including additional services like asset management, insurance, and digital education.

    Darwinbox initially started with one of the most required HR functions by every organisation – attendance and payroll solutions. To add, the founders used their own savings when Darwinbox was established in 2015.

    After months of hard work, the company finally raised seed funding in 2016. They raised around Rs 4 crores from investors like Endiya Partners, 3One4 Capital, and many others.

    Today, Darwinbox is regarded as the 84th Indian business to join the billion-dollar club, which also includes freshly minted unicorns such as Analytics SaaS and Edtech venture LEAD School.

    Darwinbox – Name, Logo, and Tagline

    Darwinbox Logo
    Darwinbox Logo

    The Darwinbox logo can be defined as a basic but eye-catching logo. It comprises the box symbol, which is intended to be used as Darwinbox’s symbol, followed by the company name in its trademark blue and black colour combination.

    Darwinbox – Mission and Vision

    The vision of Darwinbox is, “Building A Leading Technology Brand From Asia For The World.”

    Darwinbox – Business and Revenue Model

    Darwinbox’s business operates on a SaaS model that offers solutions related to the HR needs of an enterprise across the employee life cycle, which includes the six HR modules – payroll, recruitment, employee engagement, talent management, people analytics, and core operations like attendance, leave, etc.

    The company’s core business operations are to engage and empower employees while automating and streamlining all HR functions. Some of the products & solutions offered by Darwinbox are:

    • Employee Onboarding
    • Employee helpdesk
    • Time & Attendance
    • Payroll
    • HRMS Suite
    • Talent Management Suite
    • Performance Management
    • Travel & Expense
    • Compensation Suite
    • Remote Work Suite

    Darwinbox has been involved in bringing some innovations to assign employees with much more convenience and allow them to find time to do other things. In short, the company’s business also involves providing the best possible user experience to its customers. To name a few, Darwinbox has launched the following creations:

    • Mobile HRMS – To help employees on the go with its Mobile-first HR technology.
    • A.I in HR –  With the help of Artificial Intelligence, Darwinbox helps to deliver even more insightful decision-making skills.
    • Multi-language support – As a global company, Darwinbox’s platform is built in a way that supports multiple languages.
    • Darwinbox Studio – Provides 200+ seamless integrations to have a secure way of data management. Clients such as Swiggy, Emcure, Kotak Life Insurance, cult.fit, Tata Cliq among others uses Darwinbox Studio.
    • HRMS on WhatsApp – To help employees receive notifications for events, leave, attendance, rewards, and recognition through WhatsApp. Darwinbox is the first ever to come up with HRMS to integrate with WhatsApp for Business.

    The revenue of Darwinbox stood at $30 million in 2022. The company has announced that its revenue has doubled in comparison to the previous year. Most of its revenue, about 75% is generated from its business in India and 25% from other countries in Asia and the Middle East. It is the only Indian unicorn whose revenue is mainly from India.

    Darwinbox – Funding and Investors

    Darwinbox has received a total of $107 million in investment over seven rounds. Their most recent funding came in the form of a Series D round on January 24, 2022. The company has received funding from 11 investors. The most recent investors are SCB 10X and Lightspeed India Partners.

    The list of funding and investors of Darwinbox is given below:

    Date Funding Round Amount Raised Lead Investor
    January 24, 2022 Series D $72 million TCV
    January 18, 2021 Series C $15 million Salesforce Ventures
    September 25, 2019 Series B $15 million Sequoia Capital India
    January 1, 2019 Venture Round – iLabs Capital
    June 20, 2017 Series A $4 million Lightspeed India Partners
    July 26, 2016 Seed Round $500K –
    July 1, 2016 Seed Round $547K Endiya Partners

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    Darwinbox – Awards and Achievements

    Darwinbox has won the following awards:

    • Customers’ Choice in the 2022 Gartner® Peer Insights™ ‘Voice of the Customer Report for Cloud HCM Suites.
    • ‘Rising Star’ and as a product with the ‘Great User Experience’ award by Finances Online (2017).

    Darwinbox – Competitors

    Darwinbox competes with the following list of competitors:

    1. SAP
    2. Oracle
    3. Ramco Systems
    4. Adrenalin eSystems
    5. PeopleStrong
    6. ADP
    7. Workday Human Capital Management
    8. Zoho

    Darwinbox – Future Plans

    The company is planning to expand its operations globally, starting in the USA. Along with its global expansion, Darwinbox further plans to accelerate its product development. It also expects to generate 35% of its total revenue from each of its Indian and Southeast Asia business operations in the future.

    “We are looking to enter the US markets this year. It will be a super force multiplier, but could become a substantial contributor to revenue in the next three-four years,” said Jayant Paleti, co-founder and Head of Sales at Darwinbox.

    “We will probably get there ($100 million annual revenue) in the next two or two-and-a-half years, and after that IPO is a possibility,” Jayant further said.

    FAQs

    What does Darwinbox company do?

    Darwinbox is one of India’s leading cloud-based Human Resource Management Software. The company offers HR Tech experience driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning and empowers workers across the full lifecycle (hire-to-retire).

    Who owns Darwinbox?

    The owners of Darwinbox are Chaitanya Peddi, Jayant Paleti and Rohit Chennamaneni.

    Is Darwinbox a unicorn?

    Darwinbox turned into a unicorn startup after raising $72 million in a Series D funding round on 24th January 2022.

    Who invested in Darwinbox?

    Darwinbox has eleven investors out of which the most recent investors are SCB 10X, Lightspeed India Partners, and TCV.

    How much funding has Darwinbox raised to date?

    Darwinbox has raised a total of $107 million as of August 2022.