India’s startup ecosystem is undergoing a paradigm shift as a wave of high-potential startups, or “soonicorns,” races towards unicorn status. These soonicorns, riding on the back of breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI), are redefining the scaling blueprint—from deeptech research and development (R&D) to billion-dollar revenue models. The Economic Times (ET) Soonicorns Summit 2025, India’s largest congregation of soonicorns, puts the spotlight at the heart of this acceleration, where the journey from lab to market meets real-world scale.

According to data intelligence platform Tracxn, India is now home to 121 unicorns as of July 2025. The latest to join the club is Jumbotail, a business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce platform in the food and grocery sector, which achieved unicorn status on June 30, 2025. While these billion-dollar ventures continue to capture headlines, it’s the soonicorns—startups that have raised over $40 million in funding or achieved a valuation of over $100 million—that are powering India’s deeptech ambitions.

India ranks third globally in the startup ecosystem, behind only the United States (1,047 unicorns) and China (248 unicorns), according to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Domestically, Bengaluru leads the unicorn tally with 52 companies, followed by Gurugram and Mumbai with 19 unicorns each. But the real story of 2025 is how soonicorns are leveraging AI to achieve scale faster than ever.

With over 1.59 lakh startups officially recognised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) as of January 2025, India’s innovation economy is thriving. The artificial intelligence (AI) revolution has added a powerful accelerant. From predictive analytics to generative models, soonicorns across sectors are embedding AI into their core operations. The ET Soonicorns Summit 2025, scheduled for August 22 in Bengaluru, promises to unpack the billion-dollar playbooks that are enabling this leap.

AI-first ventures are finding fertile ground thanks to initiatives like the IndiaAI Mission, which offers graphics processing unit (GPU) access, cloud infrastructure, and ecosystem-wide support. These infrastructural tailwinds are translating to scale advantages across verticals including finance, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, and agriculture.

India’s next-generation unicorns are being built on a foundation of sovereign tech, vernacular AI, and scalable infrastructure. Whether it’s fine-tuning large language models for Indic languages, powering retail analytics, or combating financial fraud, soonicorns are innovating at every layer of the AI stack.

The AI-driven leap from soonicorn to unicorn is characterised by faster product-market fit, deeper vertical integration, and global investor confidence. The result: startups born in AI labs are transforming into tomorrow’s billion-dollar companies faster than ever before.

The ET Soonicorns Summit 2025 will spotlight over 50 speakers across a day-long agenda themed ‘From Research Labs to Revenue Models: The Billion-Dollar Blueprint for Scaling Indian AI Startups.’ Key panels include:

A marquee fireside chat featuring InMobi Co-founder Mohit Saxena will explore ‘The Next Frontier of Coding: Building a New Indigenous Tech Stack in the AI Age.’

India’s AI-first soonicorns are attracting investor interest not just because of valuations but due to their strategic positioning in emerging sectors. With projected global spending on vertical AI expected to reach $47 billion by 2030, India’s deeptech soonicorns are ideally poised to capitalise. The confluence of compute, talent, and localised AI problems—from vernacular search to agri-intelligence—makes Indian soonicorns highly investable.

While AI enables scale, it also raises questions around workforce impact, data sovereignty, and ethical use. Panels on the future of jobs and ethical AI development will tackle these head-on. Discussions will centre on how India’s soonicorns can create inclusive, responsible, and globally competitive AI products without compromising on ethical integrity.

The unicorn dream is no longer a distant milestone but a tangible outcome for India’s AI-first soonicorns. As technology, talent, and timing converge, the sprint to scale has begun. The ET Soonicorns Summit 2025 will not just chronicle this transformation—it will help architect it.

360 One is the presenting partner of the ET Soonicorns Summit 2025.

A startup with a valuation of $1 billion or above earns the unicorn title, typically due to market disruption and rapid innovation.

A soonicorn is a high-potential startup that has raised over $40 million in funding or is valued at over $100 million, signalling strong growth potential toward becoming a unicorn.

As of July 2025, India has 121 unicorns, making it the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem.

Bengaluru leads with 52 unicorns, while Gurugram and Mumbai are tied for second with 19 each. Bengaluru is also home to many of the leading AI soonicorns.

AI serves as a core differentiator, helping soonicorns scale faster through automation, data intelligence, and product personalisation, supported by national initiatives such as the IndiaAI Mission.

With sessions featuring India’s top AI founders, unicorn leaders, VCs, and policymakers, the Summit is where you will land strategic insights, investor access, and the AI blueprint to scale from soonicorn to unicorn.

(This article is generated and published by the ET Spotlight team. You can get in touch with them at [email protected].)