ET X Tracxn to unveil Andhra Pradesh-Telangana's next-gen startups and strategic sectors at Soonicorns Sundowner Hyderabad

Time of India

25-07-2025

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P0 sectors – Denoting mature industries with a high number of unique active investors, indicating strong validation and stability.
P1 sectors – Sectors that are still nascent but attracting high-conviction funding despite a smaller investor base, pointing to deep belief in future growth.
Startup formation rates
Capital flow trends and investor activity
Exit pathways and acquisition dynamics
Sectoral maturity vs momentum across AP and Telangana
Venture-backed disruptors:
NxtWave (EdTech): $232M valuation on $35.8M raised—an early signal of national reach and sector relevance. DhruvaSpace (NewSpace): Valued over $104M—reflecting long-term investor faith in capital-heavy DeepTech.
Revenue-first engines:
Hesa (Rural FinTech): $126M in reported revenue—proof of scale with deep Bharat roots. Next Education: $73M in capital raised across multiple rounds, signalling product-market fit and monetisation success.
Which sectors are peaking vs. bubbling
Where the next unicorns may emerge
And how India's innovation geography is rapidly shifting
On July 31, 2025, The Economic Times, in collaboration with leading data intelligence platform Tracxn, will unveil the much-anticipated 'ET Top Soonicorns and Minicorns X Top Sectors AP-Telangana 2025' report at the inaugural ET Soonicorns Sundowner in Hyderabad. Startups valued between $100 million and $500 million—popularly dubbed minicorns—may no longer be flying under the radar. In a strategic shift from focusing solely on unicorn-bound startups, the report brings to light the surge of minicorns, dominating the startup-innovation economy in Andhra Pradesh-Telangana across sectors such as electric vehicles (EVs), NewSpace, EdTech, and direct-to-consumer (D2C). This report promises to be a turning point in how South India's innovation corridors are mapped, measured, and monetised.To be formally launched by Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, Special Chief Secretary, Government of Telangana, the report signals the start of a new city-focused spin-off from India's largest congregation of soonicorns—the ET Soonicorns Summit. Now in its fourth year, the Summit is extending its geographic lens to spotlight India's undercelebrated but high-performance innovation corridors, with Hyderabad taking centre stage.This localised unveiling not only sets the tone for regional spotlighting but kicks off a new chapter in decoding India's startup heatmap with sharper granularity and sectoral insight.The report's findings are based on startup activity from January 1, 2020 to May 20, 2025, tracked via Tracxn's proprietary data. The report uses Tracxn's classification model to segment sectors into:Unlike previous editions that largely tracked soonicorns—startups nearing the $1B valuation mark—the latest report expands its scope to highlight both soonicorns and minicorns, offering insights into sectoral hotspots, capital flows, and business models poised to scale. The methodology anchors itself in a multi-dimensional ecosystem-first framework powered by Tracxn's proprietary data engine. It analyses:Against this dual-lens framework, the report identifies not just where money is flowing, but why. What emerges is a story of emerging sectoral champions, city-wise momentum, and next-gen minicorns that are becoming the backbone of India's future innovation pipeline.The centrepiece of this analysis is a curated list of 28 minicorns, primarily concentrated in Hyderabad. These aren't just valuation winners—they're category creators and deep-domain disruptors across EdTech, EVs, NewSpace, HRTech, and Digital Commerce.Unlike unicorns that often emerge from later-stage funding and global market playbooks, these minicorns are tackling foundational Indian challenges—from digitising rural commerce to democratising access to education and space innovation.Financially, these minicorns follow two clear paths:This duality reflects the maturity of Hyderabad's startup base, where both high-burn tech bets and revenue-generating models are thriving side by side.The report's P0 and P1 sectors reflect Hyderabad's strategic shift from being an outsourcing IT centre to a multi-sector innovation capital. Sectors such as Electric Vehicles, K-12 EdTech, and NewSpace are not only represented in the minicorns list but are also leading in active investor interest (P0) and deep funding concentration (P1).This convergence of capital, capability, and conviction marks Telangana's emergence as a minicorn breeding ground.The ET Soonicorns X Tracxn AP-Telangana report is not just a city ranking—it's a mirror to India's next growth wave. By moving beyond Bengaluru and Mumbai, the report underscores how cities such as Hyderabad are becoming critical to India's $1T digital economy dream.It also provides investors, policymakers, and founders with sharp insights into:The Hyderabad Sundowner is the first in a new regional spin-off of the flagship ET Soonicorns Summit, which returns to Bengaluru in August 2025.By launching the city-focused data series at these intimate networking evenings, The Economic Times aims to build a year-round pulse on India's startup landscape, unlocking high-value insights from the ground up.On July 31, the city's top founders, investors, policymakers, and operators will gather at the Sundowner for the exclusive unveiling, where the data meets the deal flow.360 One is the presenting partner of the ET Soonicorns Summit 2025.