Indian Companies Achieve Unicorn Status, Gazelle Growth Report Released

Seven Indian companies which had received valuation in the $500 million – $1 billion range last year recorded valuation over $1 billion in 2026 to achieve the status of unicorn , according to the 2026 ASK Private Wealth Hurun India Gazelle Index. US-based digital health company Twin Health recorded the highest valuation of over $2 billion, with its valuation growing over 3x in the last one year. The company’s India headquarters is based in Chennai and uses AI to build a “digital twin” of a patient’s metabolism and guide them on reversing chronic conditions like type II diabetes, where India has one of the most affected individuals in the world. Other companies which achieved unicorn status include Bengaluru-based digital lender KreditBee, Bengaluru-based hospital chain Cloudnine Hospitals, Mumbai -based investment and broking platform Dhan, Ahmedabad-based pharmaceutical company La Renon Healthcare, Mumbai-based wealth and asset management firm Neo Wealth Management and AI-based video editing software provider InVideo AI. Financial services and healthcare were the dominant sectors among the newly added unicorns, accounting for six of the seven companies (three each). The index also shared that 2026 recorded an addition of 15 ‘‘gazelles’, unlisted companies which were founded post the year 2000, whose current valuations are in the $500 million to $1 billion range and which are likely to become unicorns within the next three years. The report further shared that India ranks third globally in terms of companies classified as gazelles, behind US and China. Nine of these companies saw their valuations rise from $200 million – $500 million range to become gazelles while six companies became gazelles directly. The six direct entrants include two US-based companies from the artificial intelligence space, Ema AI and UnifyApps and two enterprise services companies, Bengaluru-based Tablespace Technologies and Noida-based Businessnext. Bengaluru-based fintech company Scapia and Bengaluru-based electric vehicle (EV) company Simple Energy also saw their valuations rise above $500 millions directly. Overall, 51 companies are currently classified as gazelles, rising from 47 in 2025. These companies were collectively valued at Rs 3.3 lakh crore ($34.1 billion), with an average valuation of Rs 6,400 crore. Fintech sector led the gazelle cohort with 13 gazelles while SaaS and e-commerce sectors recorded five gazelles. Three frontier sectors, artificial intelligence, cleantech and aerospace & defence, accounted for eight gazelles. While six of these gazelles were in the AI and cleantech sector, two gazelles came from the aerospace & defence sector. These companies also contributed significantly to the workforce by employing over 60,000 people. Geographically, 36 of the 51 gazelles came from three cities: Bengaluru, NCR and Mumbai. Bengaluru led the gazelle cohort with 17 gazelles while NCR and Mumbai contributed 11 and 8 gazelles, respectively. Ten gazelles maintain a headquarters outside India: seven in the United States, two in Singapore and one in the United Kingdom.