Of 100 Indian unicorns, 25 will go IPO in the next 3-5 years: Accel’s Prashanth Prakash 

Prashanth Prakash, founder of venture capital firm Accel, stated that at least 25 Indian start-up unicorns will be listed on the public markets by launching an initial public offer (IPO) within the next three to five year period. 

Prakash, speaking at the inaugural function for the Bengaluru Tech Summit 25th Edition (BTS), stated that Indian start-ups should focus on profitability. This will allow them to create multigenerational companies as well as great IPOs and return $150 billion in venture capital.    

“If we don’t return money back to our investors, we are not going to get new capital into this country.  My prediction is that of the 100 unicorns, we will have a massive supply chain of IPOs, at least 25 of these unicorns will go IPO in the next 3-5 years, and through this we will be able to create multiple billion dollars of exit that is required to return money back to our investors globally and in India which will create a virtuous cycle of more investments coming into the start-up ecosystem,” Prakash said. 

As per Invest India’s web portal, the country is home to 107 unicorns with a total valuation of $340.79 billion as of September 7, 2022. 

He stated that the Bangalore-based 15-year-old venture capital and start-up ecosystem is now the most vibrant technology hotspot in the country. This is despite the challenging macroeconomic environment. “It (the growing tech ecosystem) is helping Karnataka and Bangalore garner a disproportionate share of talent and venture capital investments. With this, Karnataka and Bangalore are becoming the epicentre and engine for creating economic value of over $200 billion in the next 3-5 years,” he said. 

Two other predictions were made by him at the event. He predicted that Indian start-ups would be more prominent in the global economy, and that a large portion of Indian farmers would be able to double the income they earn through technology over the next five year. 

“Indian start-ups which have hitherto remained largely domestic and have tackled solutions within our country led by enterprise tech or SaaS start-ups which have already got a global recognition for delivering great value at a great price. As well, we have seen B2B and MENA ecommerce companies start to emerge in ASEAN and MENA. My prediction is that in the next 3-5 years, we will see a large portion of our start-ups showing more and more global ambition and garner a larger pie of the global economy,” Prakash added. 

To ensure inclusive and equitable growth, he called upon the entrepreneur community in order to find solutions for the 300-500million Indians who have digital access but face very different problems. They also need solutions that are different from urban consumers. “We have 150 million farmers with cell phones today but less than 10 million farmers are being served (technologically). So we need agritech start-ups to focus on providing the right agronomy support, the right inputs, and the right market linkages and with this, my prediction is that in the next 5 years, a major portion of our farmers will be able to double their income to fulfil the mission and vision of our honourable PM Narendra Modi,” he added.

Also read: India has shown the world how to democratise tech, give it a human touch, says PM Modi