LinkedIn Top Startups 2019: The 25 hottest Indian companies to work for now

The 2019 LinkedIn Top Startups list reveals the 25 hottest companies where Indians want to work now.

With the 2nd annual Top Startups ranking, we uncover the young companies commanding professionals’ attention today: the ones that are growing massively, scrambling industries, shifting talent flows around the world and, often, altering how we work and live.

Our editors and data scientists parsed billions of actions generated by LinkedIn’s 645 million members — and looked at four pillars in particular: employee growth; jobseeker interest; member engagement with the company and its employees; and how well these startups pulled talent from our flagship LinkedIn Top Companies list. To be eligible, companies must be 7 years old or younger, have at least 50 employees, be privately held and headquartered in India. (You can learn more about our methodology at the bottom of this article.)

Looking to land a job at one of these fast-growing companies? You can stay up to date on new postings by turning on job alerts for a curated list of these startups: Click here, add your desired job title or function, location and any other details, then toggle the job alert to “on.” You’ll get a notification when any new job goes live so you can be the first to jump at the opportunity. 

(Check out VC investor Siddharth Pai’s take on the maturity of the Indian startup ecosystem, and Prashant Singh's and Dipti Jain's perspective on what makes healthtech startups click. Watch the video below to see if you are cut out for the startup world.)

Check out this year’s 25 Top Startups in India — and join the conversation using #LinkedInTopStartups.

You can also check out the Top Startups in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, the U.K., the U.S. and the Netherlands.

Headcount in India: 12,000 | Headquarters: Gurugram | Most common skills: Market Research, Sales Management, Customer Relationship Management | Largest job functions: Operations, Business Development, Sales | What you should know: OYO, which tops this list for a second year running, has had a hectic year: It became a decacorn from unicorn, ventured into the co-working space, snagged a strategic investment from Airbnb, and expanded into Europe and the US to become the world’s third-largest hospitality chain. To fuel this hyper-growth phase, the company is looking to hire over 10,000 people globally in the next one year.

Read more: OYO founder seeks more control | See jobs at OYO | See people you may know at OYO

Headcount in India: 500 | Headquarters: Bengaluru | Most common skills: Analytics, Market Research, Operations Management | Largest job functions: Operations, Engineering, Healthcare Services | In the news: Cure.Fit’s performance has been clinical: it hit $100 million in annual revenue within three years of inception, made its international foray and outlined aggressive expansion plans. The Mukesh Bansal-led health and fitness startup said it’d open fitness centres in Jammu & Kashmir four days after Article 370 was scrapped, becoming the first private firm to announce such plans. 

See jobs at Cure.Fit | See people you may know at Cure.Fit

Headcount in India: 55  | Headquarters: Bengaluru | Most common skills: Analytics, SQL, Java | Largest job functions: Engineering, Operations, Business Development | What you should know: 500 Startups-backed TapChief connects individuals and businesses with domain experts or ‘solopreneurs.’ The gigs marketplace says it values spontaneity over bureaucracy: jobseekers are encouraged to point out chinks and suggest ways to improve the company’s product.

See jobs at TapChief | See people you may know at TapChief

Headcount in India: 480 | Headquarters: Bengaluru | Most common skills: SQL, Java, C++ | Largest job functions: Engineering, Business Development, Sales | What you should know: Payments solutions provider Razorpay recently raised $75 million – money it intends to use to scale up its neo-banking and lending products. Employees are welcome to take over Razorpay’s Instagram handle for a day and publicly express their opinion about the company.

See jobs at Razorpay | See people you may know at Razorpay

Headcount in India: 900# | Headquarters: Bengaluru | Most common skills: C (programming language), SQL, Analytics | Largest job functions: Operations, Engineering, Business Development | What may surprise you: Bounce is the world’s fastest growing bike-sharing startup, a feat it achieved within 10 months of launching dockless scooters. The company, which facilitates about 75,000 daily rides in Bengaluru, is on a hiring spree: Expect 5,500 new jobs to be created in the coming months.

#900 in corporate, and 3,500 employees overall.

Watch Bounce CEO’s take on how firms in the space can deal with regulators | See jobs at Bounce | See people you may know at Bounce

Headcount in India: 75 | Headquarters: Bengaluru | Most common skills: SQL, C (programming language), C++ | Largest job functions: Engineering, Programme and Project Management, Business Development | What you should know: Playment is an AI-driven crowdsourced marketplace that allows companies to divvy up simple data processing tasks among a diverse workforce. The Y Combinator-backed startup, which counts Samsung, Alibaba, Drive.ai, Flipkart and Ola among its clients, doesn’t obsess over college degrees or employment history: “Experiences per year is counted over years of experience.”

See more about Playment | See people you may know at Playment

Headcount in India: 4,500 | Headquarters: Gurugram | Most common skills: Supply Chain Management, Operations Management, Logistics Management | Largest job functions: Operations, Business Development, Sales | In the news: Logistics unicorn Rivigo was recently granted patent rights by the United States Patent and Trademark Office for its relay truck model, which allows truckers to drive 4-5 hours at a stretch and return home the same day. The Warburg Pincus- and SAIF Partners-backed venture is expected to turn profitable in the current financial year.

See more about RIVIGO | See people you may know at RIVIGO

Headcount in India: 300 | Headquarters: Bengaluru | Most common skills: SQL, Analytics, C++ | Largest job functions: Engineering, Business Development, Finance | What you should know: Digital insurer Acko has been forging alliances throughout the consumer internet economy: It offers products in tie-ups with companies such as Amazon, OYO, Ola, Zomato and redBus. The lion’s share of Acko’s staffers have never worked in insurance before — nearly three in five have a consumer-tech background and that fosters “out-of-the-box thinking”.

 See jobs at Acko | See people you may know at Acko

Headcount in India: 400 | Headquarters: Bengaluru | Most common skills: C++, SQL, C (programming language) | Largest job functions: Engineering, Healthcare Services, Business Development | What you should know: mfine — founded by Myntra’s co-founder Ashutosh Lawania and former business head Prasad Kompalli — offers an AI-driven doctor-consultation platform that partners leading hospitals. Over the next one year, it aims to onboard over 2,500 physicians from 250 hospitals and hit 150,000 consultations a month. 

See jobs at mfine | See people you may know at mfine

Headcount in India: 85  | Headquarters: Pune | Most common skills: C (programming language), C++, Java | Largest job functions: Education, Human Resources, Engineering | What you should know: InterviewBit prepares jobseekers for tech interviews and the four-year-old venture is set to double its hiring rate over the next 12 months. The company requires every employee to spend a slice of their day in user interactions.

See jobs at InterviewBit | See people you may know at InterviewBit

Global Headcount: 2,500* | Headquarters: Bengaluru | Most common skills: Supply Chain Management, Operations Management, Sales Management | Largest job functions: Business Development, Operations, Sales | What you should know: An online B2B marketplace for food, apparel and electronics, Udaan has started underwriting loans for small businesses after it received an NBFC licence earlier this year. The company doesn’t have designations because it believes “there is a power… that comes from focussing only on the merit of the discussion and not the title of the person who is talking.”

See jobs at Udaan | See people you may know at Udaan

Headcount in India: 150 | Headquarters: Delhi | Most common skills: Digital Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Creative Writing | Largest job functions: Media and Communication, Marketing, Sales | What you should know: Little Black Book (LBB) started as a discovery platform for cultural goings-on but has gone on to assimilate e-commerce. The startup prides itself on inclusion and diversity: 60% of its leadership team and 65% of its total workforce is female.   

 See more about LBB | See people you may know LBB

Headcount in India: 600 | Headquarters: Bengaluru | Most common skills: SQL, C++, C (programming language) | Largest job functions: Operations, Engineering, Sales | What you should know: Google-backed Dunzo has expanded to eight cities and added a new B2B logistics service for retailers and small business owners. Ever new employee has to don the hat of a delivery agent to understand the challenges and complexities associated with running a concierge service. 

Read more: Is Zomato eyeing Dunzo? | See jobs at Dunzo | See people you may know at Dunzo

Headcount in India: 465 | Headquarters: Mumbai | Most common skills: SQL, Java, Analytics | Largest job functions: Education, Engineering, Business Development | What you should know: Online educator upGrad, which counts Ronnie Screwvala as co-founder, is moving full steam ahead on hiring — nearly 60% of its employees came on board in the last one year. The bootstrapped firm is headhunting for 150 more professionals, especially in sales, marketing and career support.

See jobs at upGrad | See people you may know at upGrad

Headcount in India: 420  | Headquarters: Bengaluru | Most common skills: Java, SQL, JavaScript | Largest job functions: Engineering, Education, Information Technology | What you should know: Nineleaps provides application services to startups for accelerating product development. The company is on a hiring overdrive and plans to double its employee count in the next 12 months.

See jobs at Nineleaps | See people you may know at Nineleaps

Headcount in India: 120 | Headquarters: Bengaluru | Most common skills: SQL, Analytics, JavaScript | Largest job functions: Engineering, Operations, Marketing | What you should know: Simpl brands itself “anti-wallet” for enabling one-click online purchases with a buy now, pay later offering — similar to having a khaata at a kirana store. It clocks more than 2 million transactions a month, having pocketed clients such as Zomato and Swiggy. 

See jobs at Simpl | See people you may know at Simpl

Headcount in India: 710  | Headquarters: Bengaluru | Most common skills: SQL, C++, C (programming language) | Largest job functions: Sales, Business Development, Engineering | In the news: Meesho is short for ‘Meri Shop’ and the venture connects sellers — mostly homemakers — with customers on Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. In June, the four-year-old firm sold a minority stake to Facebook, marking the tech giant’s second startup investment in India.

See jobs at Meesho | See people you may know at Meesho

Headcount in India: 1,150 | Headquarters: Bengaluru | Most common skills: SQL, Business Analysis, Java | Largest job functions: Business Development, Engineering, Finance | What you should know: Founded in 2017, this online general insurer already provides services across 70 locations through offices in 28 cities. Digit could soon become one of the most funded startups in insurance: Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa’s Fairfax Holdings is likely to pump in an additional ₹200 crore ($28 million).

See jobs at Digit Insurance | See people you may know at Digit Insurance

Headcount in India: 60 | Headquarters: Mumbai | Most common skills: Python, SQL, Java | Largest job functions: Engineering, Research, Business Development | What you should know: Karza Technologies, which graduated from the first batch of Viacom18 Startup Engagement Program, provides business and corporate intelligence solutions to banks and financial institutions. Its singular focus is on getting the job done and, hence, there’s no fixed time for employees to clock in or clock out, nor a minimum number of days they need to work.

 See jobs at Karza Technologies | See people you may know at Karza Technologies

Headcount in India: 170 | Headquarters: New Delhi | Most common skills: SQL, MySQL, Web Development | Largest job functions: Engineering, Information Technology, Business Development | What you should know: Digital lending startup Stashfin recently raised $15 million from a Temasek unit to expand its play of providing personal loans to salaried individuals. Potential borrowers can get a “yes” or “no” in 15 seconds and disbursals are made within four hours, the company claims.

See more about Stashfin | See people you may know at Stashfin

Headcount in India: 200 | Headquarters: Gurugram | Most common skills: Digital Marketing, Market Research, C++ | Largest job functions: Business Development, Marketing, Engineering | What you should know: Sequoia-backed Pristyn Care offers surgeries across proctology, gynaecology, urology and ENT while running an asset-light model that leverages partner hospitals’ medical infrastructure. In less than a year of operations, the startup has grown to 50 clinics across cities such as Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Patna and Bhubaneswar.

See jobs at Pristyn Care | See people you may know at Pristyn Care

Headcount in India: 150 | Headquarters: Mumbai | Most common skills: C++, Java, SQL | Largest job functions: Education, Sales, Operations | What may surprise you: Beta-launched in January 2019, WhiteHat Jr teaches coding to 6-14-year-olds through 500 daily e-classes. The company claims to be the fastest-growing desi startup as it clocked more than ₹5 crore ($700K) revenue in the first three months of operations.

Read more: Teaching kids to code is a booming business | See jobs at WhiteHat Jr | See people you may know at WhiteHat Jr

Headcount in India: 555 | Headquarters: Mumbai | Most common skills: Procurement, Market Research, Supply Chain Management | Largest job functions: Sales, Business Development, Engineering | What may surprise you: IDG Ventures- and Accel Partners-backed Bizongo is a B2B marketplace for packaging supplies. The four-year-old startup hired 75% of its employee base in the last 12 months and it needs 150-250 more people for the next 12.

See jobs at Bizongo | See people you may know at Bizongo

Headcount in India: 230 | Headquarters: Noida | Most common skills: Market Research, Vendor Management, Customer Relationship Management | Largest job functions: Marketing, Business Development, Arts and Design | What you should know: Coworking space manager Smartworks is planning to increase its total footprint of over 2.5 million sq ft  nearly eight times by 2022. The bootstrapped venture’s differentiator? 95% clients are corporate enterprises with mega space requirements

See jobs at Smartworks | See people you may know at Smartworks

Headcount in India: 600 | Headquarters: New Delhi | Most common skills: Market Research, Operations Management, Customer Relationship Management | Largest job functions: Sales, Operations, Marketing | What you should know: Student housing startup Stanza Living offers fully furnished rooms and packs in chef-designed meals and interactive entertainment areas, besides other facilities. It has charted an aggressive expansion plan to add 80,000 beds by 2021 and double its employee count in 12 months.

See more about Stanza Living | See people you may know at Stanza Living

Share the full list and your thoughts on this year's Top Startups using #LinkedInTopStartups

Methodology

LinkedIn measures startups based on four pillars: employment growth, engagement, job interest and attraction of top talent. Employment growth is measured as percentage headcount increase over one year, which must be a minimum of 15%. Engagement looks at non-employee views and follows of the company’s LinkedIn page, as well as how many non-employees are viewing employees at that startup. Job interest counts rate at which people are viewing and applying to jobs at the company, including both paid and unpaid postings. Attraction of top talent measures how many employees the startup has recruited away from LinkedIn Top Companies, as a percentage of the startup’s total workforce. Data is normalized across all eligible startups. The methodology time frame is July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019.

To be eligible, companies must be independent and privately held, have 50 or more employees, be 7 years old or younger and be headquartered in the country on whose list they appear. We exclude all staffing firms, think tanks, nonprofits, accelerators and government-owned entities.

About company insights

*Company insights were sourced from LinkedIn Talent Insights. Data reflects aggregated public member data from active LinkedIn profiles in the relevant country and includes full-time employee profiles associated with the company on LinkedIn. We exclude members who identify as part-time or contractors. Headcounts are provided by the companies directly, unless otherwise noted with an asterisk. Those headcounts are based on LinkedIn data. The insights reflect data as of June 2019.

Reported by: Dipti Jain, Abhigyan Chand