Indian startups with over $500M valuation grow to 51 despite low number of AI entities: Report

Indian startups with a valuation of over $500 million have increased to 51 in 2026, from 47 in the year-ago period despite lower number of artificial intelligence (AI) companies, a report said on Tuesday.

The combined value of these 51 entities is about Rs 3.3 lakh crore ($34.1 billion), with an average valuation of about Rs 6,400 crore, and they employ over 60,000 people, as per the 2026 ASK Private Wealth Hurun India Gazelle Index report.

The entities have reported combined revenue of Rs 33,233 crore, growing 50% year-on-year, the report said.

Anas Rahman Junaid, founder and chief researcher, Hurun India, said the list includes three names engaged in AI, including Ema AI, Observe.AI and UnifyApps which is very low when compared with 54 in the US and 23 in China.

However, despite this, the number of Indian gazelles, or the companies with over $500 million, has grown to 51 this year, he added.

The lack of AI-themed companies is often cited as one of the biggest reasons for foreign investors withdrawing from the Indian public equity markets.

The report said seven startups crossed $1 billion to become unicorns in 2026, with Twin Health's valuation rising to $2 billion from $700 million. Financial services and healthcare account for six of the seven.

"It reflects an entrepreneurial base that is diversifying across sectors and geographies and building scalable businesses with the potential to compete globally," said Rajesh Saluja, Co-Founder, CEO & MD of ASK Private Wealth.

Further, the report said AI and CleanTech are the largest of the three frontier sectors, with three startups each.

AI group comprises Ema AI, Observe.AI and UnifyApps, and CleanTech comprises Carbon Clean Solutions, Lohum and Rayzon Solar.

A total of 34 startups have moved up to unicorn status on the CGU Index since inception. Two startups were listed on the public markets, Shadowfax in January 2026 and Turtlemint in June 2026, the report said.

FinTech is the largest sector with 13 startups, followed by SaaS and ecommerce with five each. Bengaluru is home to 17 startups in the list, ahead of NCR with 11 and Mumbai with eight.

The report said 10 startups maintain a headquarters outside India--seven in the US, two in Singapore, and one in the UK. India ranks third globally in startups--behind the US and China.

IIT Kharagpur is the most common undergraduate institution among startup founders with 13, followed by IIT Bombay and IIT Kanpur with six each, the report said.

Further, IIT Bombay is the most common postgraduate institution among startup founders with seven, followed by IIM Ahmedabad with five.

The report added that women founders are present across six startups, Prukalpa Sankar (Atlan), Shruti Aggarwal (StashFin), Sunita Sahney (Finova Capital), Amrita Sirohia (INDMoney), Pallavi Shrivastava (Progcap) and Nikita Prasad (GIVA).