Delhi Unicorns’ workforce saw a net increase of 52,420 employees between Sep 2022 to July 2023, as revealed by a study conducted by PrivateCircle Research.   

This hiring trend stood out despite a global funding slowdown that prompted many companies worldwide to reduce costs and lay off employees. The analysis focused on the period when the number of Indian unicorns remained constant. It's important to note that the study only considered employees for whom provident fund (PF) contributions were made. 

Key contributors to this hiring spree in Delhi included well-known companies like Paytm, PhysicsWallah, PolicyBazaar, Delhivery, and BharatPe. PrivateCircle Research grouped start-ups from the NCR region under Delhi, and Thane-based unicorns were combined with the Mumbai region for the purpose of the analysis. 

The study excluded companies such as Polygon, Hasura, and 5irechain from this analysis as they did not have employee count entries in EPFO (Employment Provident Fund Organisation) data. This could be because these companies are headquartered outside India. We have also excluded Rivigo as it was acquired by Mahindra in September 2022 at a valuation lower than $1 billion.    

Unicorns had average attrition of 4.72 per cent  

On average, 111 unicorns had an attrition rate of 4.72 per cent for the time period between Sep 2022 to July 2023. Interestingly, three Indian unicorns (Zerodha, Zoho and Hike) managed to maintain attrition rates under 1 per cent. Other unicorns that had below 2 per cent attrition rates include Amagi, Postman, Freshworks, Acko, Cred, Games24x7, Druva, Icertis, and Dream11 among others, the study observed.  

Maximum attrition in Dec 2022   

December 2022 saw 44,295 employees leave unicorn companies, which was the highest in the time period under review. This could be a result of layoffs or employees quitting their jobs. 

Further, hiring at unicorn start-ups seems to have picked up from April 2023, steadily jumping to 43,361 hired employees in July 2023. Some of the unicorns that saw significant workforce increment in July were Pb Fintech, BigBasket, and Rebel Foods among others.

Overall, 111 Indian unicorns employed 4,42,714 people in July 2023, which is a net increase of 12,765 from 4,29,949 employees recorded in September 2022, the report added.  

PrivateCircle Research is a private market intelligence platform tracking 2 million companies, 4,120 VC/PE funds, 27,332 HNIs, and 371,665 deals through 1805 feeds categorised across 500+ dimensions as per the firm.