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Unicorns (with valuation $1 billion and above) continue to be among the large employers in India and overall, 116 Indian unicorns employed 4,10,829 people in August this year compared to 4,17,561 employees recorded in the same month last year, a report showed on Friday. 

Unicorn hiring peaked in March at over 42,000 cumulative employee additions, according to the report by SaaS-based network platform PrivateCircle.

“Unicorns continue to be large employers in India. We find that the compounded revenue growth among most unicorns has been in high double digits over a two-year period and yet these unicorns have maintained stable employee numbers,” said Dr Murali Logananthan, Director of Research at PrivateCircle.

This signals efficient usage of human capital even during periods of high growth. The monthly net change in unicorn workforce has stayed between -0.9 per cent and 2.5 per cent during the selected time period, he informed.

Across all major startup hubs, Delhi NCR saw the maximum additions in the total number of employees between August 2023 to August 2024.

The second highest employee additions were recorded in Chennai based unicorns, followed by Bengaluru.

In contrast, Mumbai unicorns saw a net decrease of 7,024 employees from the cumulative workforce. Pune and Hyderabad have also recorded a decrease in their overall workforce numbers.

Hiring at unicorn startups picked up from March 2024, which was the peak hiring month with 42,000 employees being hired in a single month, according to the report.

“On the other hand, the maximum number of employees (39,000) left unicorn companies in September 2023, which was the highest in the time period under review,” it added.

Meanwhile, India’s tech ecosystem witnessed the emergence of six unicorns in 2024, marking a 200 per cent increase compared to 2 unicorns in 2023.

The country is expected to have over 300 unicorns by 2030, from more than 100 at present.