1947 Tech 🇮🇳: 153
13th (Moglix), Polygon, Pine Labs, Lenskart, & more!
1. India’s unicorn founders are very similar to each other
The 100 unicorns operate from cities all across the country, and in a range of businesses — — from gaming to biotech.Â
But the founders of these firms appear to be a very homogenous lot. About half had a degree from one of the IITs or IIMs (Indian Institutes of Management), a third had a degree from an elite foreign university.Â
Among Indian institutions, IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay and IIT Kanpur have produced the highest number of unicorn founders. Among foreign universities, Harvard University has the highest tally, with several founders graduating from Harvard’s business school.
2. Made-in-India blockchain crosses $10 billion market cap
In a possible first, a blockchain founded by three Indians breached $10 billion in market capitalisation last week.
Since February, Polygon (previously Matic) has seen its market cap jump 10x owing to increased adoption by players in gaming, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and DeFi (decentralised finance). In March, Nasdaq-listed Coinbase allowed users to trade Polygon’s token.
In 2019, Polygon’s token was distributed through Binance’s Initial Exchange Offering and the startup raised over $5 million.
An infographic
Worth your attention:
KKR invests $95 million in Lenskart Link
Moglix joins unicorn club after $120 million funding round Link
IPO-bound Pine Labs raises $285 million in fresh funding Link
CarTrade files for IPO Link
ETtech Exclusive: Sofina-led funding may value Mamaearth at $700 million Link
India’s sovereign wealth fund may make first digital bet with FirstCry Link
Tiger Global, Flipkart to back Rishi Vasudev’s new Thrasio-style venture Link
Amazon launches free video streaming service in India Link
Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin donates $1.14 billion in ‘meme coins’ to Covid-hit India Link