Since the beginning of 2023, the Indian funding landscape has found itself amidst a deepening funding winter. A funding winter that has only gotten colder and colder and has sent funding plummeting to unseen levels.

The first half of the year saw a substantial 68% drop to a mere $5.46 billion in funding from $17.1 billion in 2022, as reported by market intelligence firm Tracxn.

But perhaps the most conspicuous consequence of this downturn has been the birth of unicorns in this ecosystem. Unlike the vibrant emergence of 19 Indian startups achieving unicorn status in the first half of 2022, the first eight months of 2023 saw not a single unicorn—well until now.