Kunal Shah-led fintech start-up Cred has topped LinkedIn's Top Start-ups list released on Wednesday. The second and the third spots on the list were secured by the Mumbai-based edtech company, upGrad, and the investment platform, Groww.
The fifth edition of the list, which is rolled out annually, features 25 Indian companies that are rising to the challenges of the moment and continuing to innovate and gain attention in 2022. The start-ups are finalised based on four aspects - employee growth, jobseeker interest, member engagement within the company and its employees.
The list includes other notable names within the start-up ecosystem such as e-grocery start-up Zepto, aerospace engineering company, Skyroot Aerospace, mobility firm Rapido, electric vehicle and logistics brand, Zypp Electric, among others.
The start-up ecosystem in India is the third largest in the world after the US and China. The LinkedIn report revealed that Indian start-ups raised $21 billion between January and August 2022, with upGrad leading the bandwagon with a funding of $210 million in Series F funding.
The report said that it is getting harder for young companies to get investment as the working world navigates widespread inflation and economic uncertainty. The funding front has also been facing a deadlock due to inflation and supply chain-crisis. A recent Ernst Young report showed that PE VC investments in the country in July were the lowest in over a year, both in terms of value and volume, which stood at $3 billion, indicating that investors have been treading on the investment path.
Despite the challenges, India's robust start-up ecosystem will play a key role in helping India become a $5 trillion economy by the year 2025, according to the LinkedIn report.