In 2023, the global landscape of startup companies known as unicorns, valued at over one billion US dollars, has grown to 1,361, a slight increase from 1,312 in 2022. The United States leads the pack with 653 unicorns, including major players like SpaceX, Instacart, Stripe, Epic Games, and Databricks. Collectively, US unicorns boast a combined value of $360 billion.
China follows as the second-largest home to unicorns with 169, the largest being ByteDance Ltd., valued at $180 billion. India ranks third with 70 unicorns, highlighted by BYJU's, Swiggy, and OYO Rooms. The United Kingdom houses 48 unicorns, led by Checkout.com, valued at 40 billion US dollars, along with other notable names like Benevolent AI, Brewdog, Oaknorth, and Improbable.
Germany claims 29 unicorns, including well-known companies like Delivery Hero, Celonis, and BioNTech. France's top unicorn, Back Market, an online marketplace for refurbished electronics, leads among its total of 25 unicorns. Rapyd, an Israel-founded unicorn now based in the US and valued at $15 billion, tops the list for Israel, which also includes Deel, Gusto, Wiz, and Navan.
Canada's unicorn scene is led by 1Password, a Toronto-based tech company valued at 6.8 billion dollars, alongside Dapper Labs, Clearco, Ada, and Clio. Brazil boasts unicorns like QuintoAndar and C6 Bank, each estimated at 5 billion dollars, contributing to its total of 15 unicorns. Lastly, South Korea rounds out the top ten with 14 unicorns, with Sungri Motor Plant in Tokchon as a prominent example.
FAQs
As of May 2024, there are over 1,200 unicorns around the world. Popular former unicorns include Airbnb, Facebook, and Google. Variants include a decacorn, valued at over $10 billion, and a hectocorn, valued at over $100 billion.
What countries have the most unicorns? ›
Leading countries
The United States is responsible for more than half of all unicorns. China comes second, followed by the United Kingdom, Israel, and India.
What is the Global unicorn Index 2024? ›
(9 April 2024, Guangzhou, China & Mumbai, India) The Hurun Research Institute today released the Global Unicorn Index 2024, a ranking of the world's start-ups founded in the 2000s, worth at least a billion dollars and not yet listed on a public exchange.
How many unicorns do the USA have? ›
Countries
| Country | Number of unicorns | Number of unicorns per million people |
|---|
| US | 702 | 2.12 |
| China | 302 | 0.21 |
| India | 113 | 0.08 |
| UK | 49 | 0.72 |
35 more rowsThe Saola is so elusive that no biologist has seen one in the wild. Now they are racing to find it, so they can save it.
Which country is the best startup in the world? ›
The United States is the undisputed leader in the global startup ecosystem. Home to Silicon Valley, the epicenter of tech innovation, the U.S. boasts a large number of startups across various industries.
Which country is famous for unicorn? ›
But it's true: the unicorn really is the official national animal of Scotland. And our love for this famous mythological creature dates back many centuries. Unicorns have featured in many cultures going as far back as the classical age, including the ancient Babylonians and the Indus civilization.
Which city has the most unicorns per capita? ›
Stockholm is now home to some of Europe's fastest-growing start-ups and has the world's most unicorns per capita after Silicon Valley.
What state has the most unicorns? ›
This boom year led to a higher number of overall Unicorns than ever before with $71B dollars invested in 340 unicorn deals. These Unicorns represent 10 headquarter states. California and New York represent 39% and 29% of all diverse Unicorns, respectively.
How rare are unicorn startups? ›
Understanding Unicorns
5 Reviewing software startups founded in the 2000s, she estimated that only 0.07% ever reached a $1 billion valuation. According to Lee, startups that reach this mark are so rare that finding one is as difficult as finding a mythical unicorn.
According to the Hurun Global Unicorn Index 2024 report, the pace of creation of unicorn startups in India has slowed since 2017. However, India is still the third largest hub of unicorns in the world after the United States of America and China.
What is global unicorn list? ›
The Crunchbase Unicorn Board is a curated list of the most valuable private companies in the world. Powered by Crunchbase's comprehensive data, this unicorn company list is updated as companies are valued at $1 billion or more in a new funding round.
Is SpaceX a unicorn? ›
Once upon a time, SpaceX was the world's only unicorn space company -- a privately owned space company that would have a valuation well above $1 billion if it could only be convinced to IPO.
How many unicorns are in China in 2024? ›
A report from the 2024 Zhongguancun Forum in April revealed that China hosts 369 unicorn companies, making up over a quarter of the global unicorn population.
What are the top 10 unicorns in the US? ›
As of March 2022, there were 607 unicorn startups in the U.S. The 10 biggest ones were Miro, Goodleap, Fanatics Trading Cards, Kraken, Digital Currency Group, Fireblocks, FTX.US, Gemini, Datavant, and Black Unicorn Factory. However, a unicorn valuation does not always predict the success or stability of a company.
How many unicorns are there in Earth? ›
In general, the report has found 1,453 unicorns in the world, based in 53 countries and 291 cities. Around 430 unicorns saw their valuations rise, of which 171 were new faces. About 170 saw their valuations drop, of which 42 were 'demoted' as their valuation no longer made the cut of $1bn.
What is the highest valued private company in 2024? ›
Highest valued unicorn companies worldwide 2024
As of April 2024, ByteDance, the Chinese tech company which owns TikTok, was valued at about 220 billion U.S. dollars, which made it the highest valued unicorn globally. A unicorn is a privately held company with a market valuation of one billion U.S. dollars or more.
What year did unicorns go extinct? ›
The unicorn might not be very old at all, and might have still been kicking until 39,000 years ago. This places its extinction “firmly within the late Quaternary extinction event”, between 50,000 and four thousand years ago, in which nearly half of Eurasian mammalian megafauna died out.
What year was the last unicorn? ›
The Last Unicorn is a 1982 American animated fantasy film directed and produced by Arthur Rankin, Jr.
