India is an important player in startups and naturally enough, there is a furious battle among the most prominent startups in India. These are the best startups to invest in and who want to grow explosively and establish themselves as global tech leaders.

Indian startups span a wide range of industries, such as retail, transport, hospitality, food delivery, insurance, logistics and so on.

Read: 10 Effective Ways to Turn Your Business Idea into a Startup

Here are the top 10 funded startups of India that are already famous and reaching out to a major portion of the population, offering their services and products. Many of them are also on their way to becoming international brands.

Let’s take a look at the top funded startups in India supported by Angel funding and crowdfunding for startups.

Top 10 Highest Funded Startups in India

1. Cult.fit – Health and Fitness Startup

Cult.fit is an app offering holistic health with group classes, planned meals and primary care available in the app. It is a Bangalore based startup and has raised a total of $120 million as of June 2019.

• The funding is spearheaded by Chiratai Ventures and Accel Partners along with Kalaari Capital and Oaktree Capital. Other new investors funding it are Epiq Capital; Unilever Ventures; Innoven capital; Kotak Mahindra Bank and others.
• Cult.fit is one of the top funded startups in India and comes with a fun with fitness app where you can get training through world class athletes and trainers. There is an option for working out at the center or at home.
• Different types of fitness activities, such as dance fitness, HRX, boxing, S&C, are available.
• As for the diet plans, you can select from several world cuisines and subscribe to meal, snacks and beverages plans when using one of the best funded startups in India.
• In addition, you can access mind and body fitness through Yoga, meditation, therapy sessions and so on.
• The 2 year old company plans to use the funds for offering health planning that is AI driven and also create its own fitness devices, expand markets to South West Asia and so on.

You can also book a doctor consultation, access and monitor your health and schedule health check ups at their centers.

2. Flipkart – Top Funded Startups of India

Flipkart is a leading online marketplace startup in India, owned by Walmart and its main rival is Amazon. Walmart acquired Flipkart in May 2018 at a value of $16 billion. Its founders were Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, who exited after this acquisition.

• It operates in a marketplace, where it plays the role of a via medium between the manufacturers and sellers. It is also one of the best startups in India.
• Flipkart is the poster boy for the startup market in India, having started way back in 2007 when two IIT Delhi graduates set out on their dreams after quitting Amazon.

Remember: Flipkart is still thriving today, in spite of the presence of a global giant, Amazon.

• It started as an online book store with many angel investors, and it was the investors who supported the company in its fight against rivals.
• The startup financing includes investors like Tiger Global Management; Naspers; Accel Partners; Dragoneer Investment Group; Sofina; ICONIQ Capital; DST Global; GIC; Morgan Stanley Investment among others.
• Today, Flipkart has reached over $10 billion in fundraising.

3. GreyOrange – Supported with Angel Funding

GreyOrange is an automation startup offering warehouse solutions, founded by Samay Kohli, the Chief Executive and Akash Gupta, the technology head. The two had already built AcYut, which is a series of humanoid robots earlier.

• Akash Gupta is a BITS Pilani, who graduated in Mechanical Engineering, started this hardware and automation top funded startup in India at the age of 27.
• GreyOrange is a robotics startup in India that has recently entered the United States market, with its headquarters in Atlanta, deploying 740 robots.
• The automation company develops products for handling materials, its flagship product being the Butler System.
• It consists of a series of mobile robots capable of managing and fulfilling orders in a warehouse. This helps improve the efficiency of companies and minimises operational costs.

Note: GreyOrange is one of the successful Indian startups and now focuses on AI robotics for taking supply chain automation to the next level.

Read: Top 10 Insurance Startups in India (InsurTech Companies)

4. Snapdeal – Best Funded Startup in India

The ebusiness company Snapdeal, which is among the top funded startups in India, was started by Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal in 2010. It is one of the largest online marketplaces of India offering more than 30,000,000 diverse products through 3,00,000 sellers.

• Snapdeal initially raised a funding of US $12 million, obtained from Nexus Venture Partners and from Indo US Venture Partners and later from Bessemer Venture Partners, eBay, Kalaari Capital, Intel Capital, Saama Capital and several others. Later, its valuation increased with several startup funding rounds.
• They offer a huge selection of value based products in various categories, such as home; kitchen; apparel and fashion; mobile and electronic devices and accessories; books among others.
• It has raised a funding of around $1.8 billion in 13 rounds, with the latest being in July this year from Venture Series and features prominently among the top startups in India.

Note: Last year, Snapdeal had negotiations for selling to Flipkart. However, the founders put up a brave new strategy, Snapdeal 2.0 and turned around the company and the company is in a very good place now with a completely fresh business turnaround!!!

5. PolicyBazaar – Top Funded Indian Insurance Startup

It is one of the biggest platforms for analysing, comparing and purchasing insurance and was founded by Yashish Dahiya in 2008.  He is the CEO of PolicyBazaar and holds a PG Diploma in Management from IIM Ahmedabad.

• Through their portal, you can get information about products, such as medical; term life; travel; motor insurance; low price ULIPS; and many other investing products, thereby helping people to analyse financial products and compare them against one another.

It’s good to get insurance for emergencies as it helps you deal with loss and also offers a good investment look, but check out your needs using Policy Bazaar, analyse and compare before you buy insurance, based on the price, the quality, key features etc.

• According to NASSCOM, fintech market in India is expected to touch around US$2.4 billion by 2020.
• PolicyBazaar offers a unique comparing system for empowering people with accurate information helping them to make an informed decision.
• It offers all types of insurance, including life, health, motor, travel, group insurance etc. with over 250 insurance plans and 50 insurance brands available on the platform.

Note: It is a market for policies, hence the name PolicyBazaar. Its punchline is Insurance Compare Kiya?

6. OLA Cabs – Most Valued Taxi Startup in India
   

The company needs no introduction, being one of the world’s most valued startup. OLA is a cab aggregating company, offering cab services, started in 2010 by IIT Bombay graduates. It was started by Bhavish and Ankit Bhati. They saw the potential in a special cab booking service and began their startup journey with Olacabs. OLA features in the list of highly funded startup companies in India.

• OLA partners with taxi drivers and car owners, thereby bridging the gap between commuters and cab owners.
• It features in the top funded startups in India and makes use of technology, where people can book cars using the app.
• OLA holds about 60% of the market share and is available in 250 cities in India with 15 lakh driver partners.
• People can book cars at short notice, using the app or from the call center. Bookings are also allowed for a full day rental and for outstation taxis as well.
• Today, they operate more than 4,000,000 cabs all over the country, offering Mini, Prime and Luxury car options that can be paid through various modes.
• By September 2019, OLA has a current valuation of over $6 billion. It is the 3rd highest value consumer Internet company of India and is irresistible to investors.
• The investment companies are SoftBank Group; Tiger Global; Tencent; Matrix Partners; and DST Global.

Note: Today, it also offers auto services known as OlaAuto and bike services and has started a bicycle sharing service, known as Ola Pedal, for last mile connectivity needs.

7. BigBasket – India’s Largest Online Supermarket Startup
   

BigBasket is an online food cum grocery startup store delivering goods at the customer’s doorstep. It is smart, quick and efficient, making the customer’s life more leisurely. BigBasket was launched in Bangalore, India, in 2011 and founded by Abhinay Choudhari; Hari Menon; Vipul Parekh; and VS Sudhakar.

• You can browse through the wide range of products in the app and get desired products delivered at your doorstep with one of the top funded startups in India.
• BigBasket has raised over $1 billion in more than 15 rounds. It is funded by 17 investors, with Trifecta Capital Advisors and Alibaba Group being among the latest ones. Other investors include Mirae Asset Naver Asia Growth Fund and Growth Story.
• The online grocery space is worth about $1.2 billion today and it expects to grow at 50% over the next few years.
• They aim to fill in categories such as organic food; high end consumer products. BigBasket also sells staples like fruits and vegetables at low prices, along with idli and dosa batter.
• In addition, the company serves its label to several kiranas, corporates, hotels, restaurants and cafes on the B2B side.

It is not easy to attain success and become a market leader, with Amazon around. However, the online grocery still manages to retain ground and even stayed ahead of Amazon and Gurugram based Grofers, funded by Tiger Global and SoftBank.

8. Zomato – Top Funded Food Delivery Startup

Zomato started in 2010, after a rebranding from Foodiebay. It is the first foodtech unicorn in India founded by CEO Deepinder Goyal and co-founder Pankaj Chaddah, who left the company in 2018.

• FoodieBay was the biggest restaurant directory in Delhi NCR and after 2 years, it was rebranded as Zomato. Since then, there has been no looking back.
• Zomato gets its funding from top investors like Info Edge India; Sequoia; Vy Capital; Temasek (Singapore based); Alibaba Ant Financial among others.
• It offers a Zomato Gold program with free food and drinks in specified restaurants.

Zomato has expanded to other countries besides India, namely, New Zealand; Turkey; Brazil; Sri Lanka/ Qatar; South Africa; UK; Philippines, to name a few. After succeeding in Delhi NCR, it branched out to Bengaluru; Chennai; Hyderabad; Pune and Ahmedabad.

Note: Zomato competes with UberEats, Swiggy and Foodpanda as its major competitors. However, it still continues to survive and expand continually, being among the top funded startups in India.

9. Swiggy – Most Valuable Online Food Ordering and Delivery Startup
   

Swiggy is one of the largest food delivery platforms in India. It is an on-demand food delivery service platform bringing food from nearby restaurants directly to the customers’ doors.

• It is a five-year-old startup based in Bengaluru, valued at $3.3 billion, making it India’s 6th most valued private Internet company.
• Swiggy’s early funding investors were Accel; SAIF partners; Bessemer Venture Partners; and Norwest Ventures and current investors are Naspers, Tencent, Hillhouse Capital and Wellington Management.
• It presently covers around 25 to 28 million orders a month with a gross value run rate of more than $1 billion.
• It is among the top funded startups in India and is also planning to begin groceries and online pharma deliveries.

10. OYO – Indian Hotel Chain Startup
    

OYO is also known as OYO Homes and Hotels and is a hospitality chain of hotels and homes that belong to its franchise. It was founded in 2013 by Ritesh Agarwal and offers budget hotels.

• It has in its chain millions of rooms, vacation homes and hotels in cities all over India. The network spans pilgrimage towns, leisure and holiday destinations and business hubs along with the metros.

Remember: OYO offers hotels that are standardized and known for a hassle-free stay ensuring a quality experience for travelers.

• It has a total funding of $1.6 billion and is led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund, along with Lightspeed; Sequoia; and Greenoaks Capital.
• The 5 year old company is valued at around $5 billion and features among the top funded startups in India.
• The company is known for its budget hotels and hostels all over India, ensuring basic standards, such as clean sheets; hot showers and free WiFi.

Top Funded Startups in India

India has a rapidly growing economy with over 1.3 billion people. Hence, it is a country with several successful startups engaging in massive funding for grabbing a share of the pie.

All the above startups are aiming at an explosive growth and establishing themselves as global leaders in the future.

If you’re wondering what startup companies to invest in, these are the companies that are blazing a trail in the startup industry. They are companies that have managed to raise the maximum amount of money from investors.

They are involved in varying industries and make use of the latest technologies and innovative systems. These successful stratups are already famous in India and reaching almost all the cities and towns of the country.

It is a good idea to invest in startups as many of them have started launching their operations in other countries as well and are slowly becoming global brands, thereby reaching the Unicorn status, which means they have a valuation of over 1 billion US dollars.