New Delhi, Aug 1 (IANS): With average time taken to reach unicorn status in India coming down of late, the country is likely to have 54 tech unicorns by 2024, according to a report.

Of this 54 unicorns, 10 are expected to be in the e-commerce and business-to-business segment each, eight in payments and content/social each, five in mobility, education and logistics each, and three in food delivery, said the report by Fosun RZ Capital, a venture arm of Chinese conglomerate Fosun.

In 2018, India had 18 tech unicorns valued at more than $1 billion. The combined valuation of unicorns in India grew to $71 billion in 2018 from $38 billion in 2017.

The report indicated that e-commerce in India has just five per cent penetration of overall retail market, compared with 20 per cent in China, suggesting huge potential for the e-commerce segment to grow in India.

According to Fosun RZ Capital, India is the start-up capital of the world with over 100 active venture capitalists. India saw 21 Chinese VC investments in 2018, it added.