Meet the Indicorns: 202 Startups That Scaled with Profitability
Focusing on the sectoral trends, Fintech (50 startups), E-commerce (16), and Logistics (13) are leading India's profit-first growth. Regionally, Delhi NCR emerged at the top with 51 Indicorns, followed by Bengaluru (42) and Mumbai (35).
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
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In a landscape often dominated by funding frenzies and billion-dollar valuations, a quiet revolution is underway—where profitability is the new status symbol. Indian startups are now rewriting the rulebook by proving that scale and sustainability can go hand-in-hand.
Taking the lead in celebrating this new entrepreneurial ethos, Titan Capital has launched the 'Indicorns 2025' report—an initiative that recognises India's most financially successful startups. The Indicorns list includes 202 companies that have crossed INR 100 crore in annual revenue and turned profitable—setting a powerful benchmark for what real startup success looks like.
A brainchild of Titan Capital's co-founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, Indicorns 2025 challenges the unicorn-centric narrative that has long equated startup success with inflated valuations. Instead, this index applauds startups that have demonstrated not just market fit, but operational excellence, fiscal discipline, and long-term vision. The report reflects a pivotal shift in mindset—away from "growth at any cost" to "growth with consequence."
Each of these 202 startups—many of them bootstrapped or modestly funded—has been built within the past 15 years. From industry leaders like OfBusiness, Razorpay, OYO, Unicommerce, and Beardo, to high-performing niche players, these companies collectively posted a whopping INR 1,51,137 crore in revenue and INR 7,393 crore in profits in FY24.
Speaking at the launch, Kunal Bahl said, "With Indicorns, we're celebrating a different kind of success—one rooted in fundamentals like profitability, sustainable growth, and real impact. These companies are proving that building enduring businesses in India is not just possible, but already happening at scale."
The report, built in collaboration with Tracxn, draws on one of the largest datasets of private startups globally. It also features sectoral trends, revealing that Fintech (50 startups), E-commerce (16), and Logistics (13) are leading India's profit-first growth. Regionally, Delhi NCR emerged at the top with 51 Indicorns, followed by Bengaluru (42) and Mumbai (35).
Interestingly, the study reveals that 69 of the featured companies scaled without external capital, 12 were acquired, and 13 are now publicly listed—illustrating the diversity of paths toward profitability. The youngest Indicorns reached the milestone in under five years, while over 100 took less than a decade.
With TiE Delhi-NCR as its ecosystem partner, the Indicorns platform is positioned as a valuable resource for founders, investors, policymakers, and corporates alike. It offers deep insights into business models, growth metrics, and hiring trends. These Indicorns have collectively created over 1.46 lakh jobs, underscoring their role in strengthening India's economic fabric.
As India's startup ecosystem matures, Indicorns signal a shift toward building legacy businesses—companies that can weather cycles, create employment, and deliver long-term impact. And with the list set to be updated annually, it's only the beginning of a new gold standard for startup success.
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