The global unicorn club is bigger than it's ever been, with 800+ private companies topping $1B valuations. We break down the data on this elite cohort.
There are more unicorns than ever before, with over 800 private companies topping $1B+ valuations.
As the global unicorn club closes the gap to 1,000, we used CB Insights data to visualize the stats on this elite cohort, from valuation distribution, to geographic breakdown, to the world’s most valuable companies.
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Key Takeaways
The unicorn club is growing. The total count of unicorns has already jumped 48% from 2020 year-end to 2021 year-to-date, with 354 current unicorns reaching their $1B+ valuation this year alone.
At this rate, we anticipate the world’s unicorn count will cross 1,000 in 2022.
ByteDance leads as the world’s only hectocorn. TikTok owner ByteDance has grown from its unicorn-making $11B valuation in 2017 to over 10x that, with its most recent valuation clocking in at $140B. It is the only private company with a valuation north of $100B.
The company reached its current valuation following a growth equity round from Tiger Global Management in March 2020. We dive into how ByteDance became the world’s most valuable private company in this report.
Over 4% of companies have reached decacorn status. While the vast majority of unicorns are valued in the $1B – $5B range, there are currently 37 companies with valuations between $10B and $100B.
Among these are fintech leaders like Klarna ($45.6B valuation) and Stripe ($95B — read about Stripe’s growth strategy here), data management & analytics companies like Databricks ($38B), and delivery & logistics players like Instacart ($39B).
See the full list of decacorns in our real-time unicorn tracker.
The United States leads, followed by China. Half of the world’s unicorns are based in the US, with China taking second place at 19%. Of current unicorns minted in 2021, 30 are based in China.
For more research into all things unicorns, check out our reports on which investors have backed the most billion-dollar companies and our comprehensive unicorn market map graphic.
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