Sumit Gupta has had a big year — turning 30, getting married and seeing his startup become one of India’s newest tech unicorns.
Hampered by the coronavirus pandemic and too busy expanding and getting funding for his cryptocurrency platform CoinDCX, his team finally grabbed a few days on the beach in Goa to celebrate recently.
“That was very delightful to everyone,” Gupta told AFP. “It’s been a very, very exciting journey. I’ve learned a lot… The future of India is very bright.”
This year 44 Indian unicorns — privately held startups valued at more than $1 billion — were minted as investors piled money into a country long overlooked despite its vast potential.
Overseas funds put more than $35 billion into Indian startups in 2021 — a tripling from 2020, according to data compiled by Tracxn — buying into everything from fintech and health to gaming.
Foreign investors have long preferred China, another Asian country with more than a billion people.
But Beijing’s clampdown on runaway growth in China’s powerful internet sector, and reining in of big businesses, have spooked investors…
