Look beyond unicorns…towards decacorns. A report by CB Insights states that of the over 384 unicorns which exist globally, collectively valued at over $1.19 trillion, over 21 are decacorns, or unicorns, that have scaled over $10 billion in valuation in recent times. From India, Paytm is currently the only venture valued at over $10 billion.

Experts feel going ahead, unicorns like Ola with a $6.2 billion valuation, OYO Hotels & Homes (over $5 billion), BYJU's ($5.5 billion), and Swiggy ($3.6 billion) could be the likely decacorn candidates.

“These unicorns like Swiggy, BYJU's, Ola, OYO are already spanning multiple countries and offering multiple services and have the potential for the decacorn status,” says serial entrepreneur Bala Parthasarathy, CEO and co-founder of MoneyTap.

A DAUNTING TASK Challenges for ventures change massively when they eye the milestone of $10 billion valuation from the unicorn status

Investees should remember that once they receive investments, they have to grow quarter-on-quarter and not year-on-year

Number of years for a unicorn to become a decacorn could range from two to five years or more

According to Amit More, founder of fintech startup Finzy, attaining a unicorn or a decacorn status is not really a milestone that start-ups often aim for. “Unicorn and, subsequently, the decacorn status is a function of a business model that is extensive as well as scalable. It is a significant by-product within the roadmap of a successful enterprise building. To keep growing, the start-ups need to be persistent in ideating, innovating and should constantly evolve. Agility and customer-centricity also play a crucial role in ensuring constant growth, especially in the initial stages of a business.”

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More adds that to become a decacorn, scale is the basic hygiene and for scaling-up, support from large-scale investors is inevitable. Agrees Parthasarathy, “it's about the fundraising by high-profile investors like SoftBank, Tencent, DST, etc., which ultimately helps to determine the status of a decacorn.”

Attracting investors and a regular flow of funds is a meticulous task. According to Umesh Shetty, advisor at Abhishek Rathi Investment Banking and erstwhile executive director at Allcargo Logistics, investors look for promoters who can be trusted and who they think can create significant value for them. “Therefore ventures need to have a good finance team in place along with a good IT system that can timely alert promoters with any kind of deviations, be it regarding revenues, costs, taxation, compliance, etc. Moreover, investees should remember that once they receive investments, they have to grow quarter-on-quarter and not year-on-year as investors don't have much patience these days.”

Although reaching the first billion and becoming a unicorn is a daunting task, the challenges change massively as a unicorn grows and eyes the decacorn tag. Ventures have to navigate through deep markets, deal with the complex supply chain metrics, and evolve innovative products and services at regular intervals to stay way ahead of the competition. Moreover, they have to cross multiple regulatory hurdles. Says Abhishek Rathi, CEO at Abhishek Rathi Investment Banking, “Monitoring government regulations become important as policy changes can have a drastic impact.”

Adds More, “the challenges change with a scale where primarily the struggle to gain visibility changes to the effective management of reputation risks. Privacy laws and information security become imperative and the venture is more prone to regulatory challenges.”

Experts say the number of years for a unicorn to become a decacorn could range from anywhere between two to five years or more. “Pinterest became a decacorn 2.5 years after becoming a unicorn. WeWork took one year to become a decacorn, while Uber took just 10 months to become a decacorn post becoming a unicorn,” states More.

But irrespective of when a venture actually reaches the $10 billion tag, entrepreneurs need to always keep a tab on competition, says Shetty. “They should be open to change and should innovate concepts that offer value-added services to customers. Promoters have to be the most motivated and self-driven people associated with the venture and should build a good reputation with its vendors and stakeholders,” adds Shetty.