Unicorn valuations are surging, as these private companies are minted as unicorns at higher and higher valuations. We look at the state of the unicorn valuation market.
The VC markets are flush with cash, amid record-low interest rates and recovered confidence in a booming post-pandemic economy.
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In Q2’21, funding to startups shattered past records, hitting $156B — an astonishing 157% increase year-over-year.
Furthermore, 136 new unicorns were birthed globally — nearly 6x the 23 unicorns born a year ago in Q2’20, and already higher than the 128 unicorns born in all of 2020.
It’s not just the count that’s growing: companies are also becoming unicorns at increasingly high valuations. 2021 saw unicorn births at record valuation levels, increasing from an average of $1.18B in 2016 to $1.56B so far this year.
To further illustrate the rapid clip at which valuations are growing, we look at the 5 unicorns that have raised this year with the largest valuation jumps since their last funding.
Among these are:
- Chipper Cash: The California-based fintech offers instant mobile money transfers in Africa. Its valuation skyrocketed from $55M in June 2020 to $2B in May 2021 — a 36x increase.
- IRL: The events discovery startup rode on the wave of virtual events amid the pandemic, with its valuation soaring from $100M in September 2020 to $1.17B in June 2021.
- Clubhouse: The social audio app was also buoyed by the surge in virtual events, notching a $4B valuation in April, a 40x increase from $100M in May 2020.
- Extend: The product warranty platform saw its valuation burgeon from $184M to $1.6B between September 2020 and May 2021.
- Dutchie: Cannabis delivery startup Dutchie also saw its valuation grow by 8.5x from $199M in August 2020 to $1.7B in March 2021.