Online professional network LinkedIn on Wednesday released a list of India’s top 25 startups that have displayed resilience in an uncertain market environment and continue to innovate in 2022.

This year’s top spot is CRED, the unified payment interface. The young startup, valued at $6.4 billion, maintains its podium spot on LinkedIn’s list of top startups, rising from No. 3 in 2021 to No. 1 in 2022.

“In addition to gaining popularity over the past two years for its quirky advertising, CRED has set a new benchmark for employee wellbeing by offering benefits such as aged care, egg freezing and one-on-one mental health support,” LinkedIn said in a statement.

In second place is upGrad, which is one of the largest online higher education companies in India and offers numerous upskilling opportunities for professionals and university students, followed by Groww.

Groww is an online investment platform that provides objective assessments of various investment opportunities through stocks and mutual funds. This year’s list also includes new entrants such as e-grocery company Zepto (No. 4), full-stack car-buying platform Spinny (No. 7) and insurtech startup Ditto Insurance (No. 12), all of which are online platforms dedicated to creating financial, liquidity and essential goods more accessible to Indian consumers today.

Fitness platform Ultrahuman (No. 19) and organic food marketplace Living Food (No. 20) also made a list for the first time. Thirteen of Bangalore’s top 25 startups are in Bangalore, a city known as the “Silicon Valley of India.”
In fact, between August 1, 2021, and July 31, 2022, 58% of all jobs posted on LinkedIn by these startups came from Bangalore.

According to Nirajita Banerjee, managing editor of LinkedIn News India, India’s startup ecosystem is showing strong resilience as the country continues to see the rise of new startups, with 68% of them appearing on the list for the first time.

These startups are navigating an uncertain macro environment by optimizing their operations for sustainable growth and taking a more cautious approach to scaling up, she said.

“It’s great to see young professionals embracing India’s startup ecosystem, with 56% of employees under 30 and 17% under 25 in the top 25 startups,” she added.

The 25 companies on the list are CRED, upGrad, Groww, Zepto, Skyroot Aerospace, MBA Chai Wala, Spinny, The Good Glamm Group, GrowthSchool, BluSmart, ShareChat, Ditto Insurance, Simpl, Rapido, Classplus, Park+, BlissClub, DealShare, Ultrahuman, Living Food, FamPay, AgniKul Cosmos, Stanza Living, Pocket FM and Zypp Electric.

“To compile this year’s list, LinkedIn looked at platform data from July 2021 to June 2022, covering four pillars: employee growth, job seeker interest, engagement with members of the company and its workforce, and these startups. How companies attract talent from its flagship LinkedIn ranks among the top companies,” the statement said.