Meituan Dianping, Spotify, and GitHub are among several billion-dollar companies that either went public or were acquired in 2018.
From e-commerce to software to payments, several companies with $1B+ valuations before exit were acquired or went public in 2018.
Among the 26 companies that either went public or were acquired, the 3 largest exits were of China-based companies Meituan Dianping, Xiaomi, and Pinduoduo. Spotify and Flipkart round out the top 5 unicorn companies to exit, with both reaching $20B+ valuations.
Using CB Insights data, we identified the startups with a $1B+ valuation that exited in 2018. Below are more details on the companies, ranked by exit valuation.
(Check out our real-time Unicorn Tracker for a full list of $1B+ companies. We’ve also covered 2018’s 14 European unicorns, 37 Chinese unicorns, and 55 US unicorns.)
1. Meituan Dianping
Exit Valuation: $55B (IPO)
Total Funding: $7.3B
Company Description: China-based Meituan Dianping is an e-commerce platform which offers a range of services, from on-demand delivery to car-hailing to travel booking, and more.
Select Investors: Baillie Gifford & Co., China Development Bank Capital, Coatue Management, Hillhouse Capital Management, IDG Capital, Temasek Holdings, Tencent Holdings, Tiger Global Management
2. Xiaomi
Exit Valuation: $54B (IPO)
Total Funding: $3.48B
Company Description: Xiaomi is a Chinese electronics company based out of Beijing. The company develops smartphones, mobile apps, and laptops, among other products.
Select Investors: Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, DST Global, GGV Capital, Goldman Sachs, IDG Capital, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley, Qualcomm Ventures, Temasek Holdings
3. Pinduoduo
Exit Valuation: $29.6B (IPO)
Total Funding: $110M
Company Description: Pinduoduo provides an online platform for buying a wide range of products. It allows users to band together with friends and family to make group purchases at lower prices.
Select Investors: Cathay Innovation, Gaorong Capital, IDG Capital, Lightspeed China Partners, New Horizon Capital, Sequoia Capital China, Tencent Holdings
4. Spotify
Exit Valuation: $29.5B (IPO)
Total Funding: $2.27B
Company Description: Spotify is a music streaming service that provides on-demand access to songs across a range of digital devices.
Select Investors: Deutsche Bank, DIG Investment, Fidelity Investments, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Morgan Stanley, Tencent Holdings, The Coca-Cola Company, Tiger Global Management, TPG Capital
5. Flipkart
Exit Valuation: $20.8B (Acquired by Walmart)
Total Funding: $6.12B
Company Description: Flipkart is an Indian e-commerce company which sells a wide range of products, from clothing to electronics to home appliances, and more.
Select Investors: Accel, ICONIQ Capital, Microsoft, Qatar Investment Authority, SoftBank Group, T. Rowe Price, Tencent Holdings, Tiger Global Management
6. Dropbox
Exit Valuation: $12.6B (IPO)
Total Funding: $1.7B
Company Description: San Francisco-based Dropbox provides cloud storage for both personal and enterprise use cases.
Select Investors: Accel, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Benchmark, Deutsche Bank, Greylock Partners, Index Ventures, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Salesforce Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Y Combinator
7. Adyen
Exit Valuation: $8.36B (IPO)
Total Funding: $266M
Company Description: Adyen is a global payments platform helping businesses to accept e-commerce, mobile, and point-of-sale payments.
Select Investors: Felicis Ventures, General Atlantic, ICONIQ Capital, Index Ventures, Temasek Holdings
8. Github
Exit Valuation: $7.5B (Acquired by Microsoft)
Total Funding: $350M
Company Description: GitHub is a software development platform based out of San Francisco. The company allows users to host and review code, manage projects, and build software.
Select Investors: Andreessen Horowitz, Institutional Venture Partners, Microsoft, Sequoia Capital, SV Angel, Thrive Capital
9. Moderna Therapeutics
Exit Valuation: $7.46B (IPO)
Total Funding: $1.97B
Company Description: Moderna Therapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on drug discovery and drug development based on messenger RNA. The company saw a down exit, having fallen from it’s previous valuation of $7.5B.
Select Investors: AstraZeneca, BB Biotech Ventures, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, DARPA, Fidelity Investments, Merck & Co., Sequoia Capital China
10. DocuSign
Exit Valuation: $4.41B (IPO)
Total Funding: $513M
Company Description: San Francisco-based DocuSign provides electronic signature technology and digital transaction management services.
Select Investors: Accel, Bain Capital Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Dell Technologies Capital, Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners, Google Ventures, Samsung Ventures
11. GreenSky
Exit Valuation: $4.28B (IPO)
Total Funding: $610M
Company Description: GreenSky is a digital lending platform that partners with home contractors, specialty retailers, and healthcare professionals to offer consumers point-of-sale financing. The company reached a previous valuation of $4.5B, making its IPO a down exit.
Select Investors: Dragoneer Investment Group, DST Global, Fifth Third Bank, ICONIQ Capital, Pacific Investment Management Co., QED Investors, TPG Capital, Wellington Management
12. Farfetch
Exit Valuation: $4.2B (IPO)
Total Funding: $702M
Company Description: UK-based Farfetch is a luxury e-commerce platform.
Select Investors: Advent Venture Partners, Conde Nast, DST Global, Eurazeo, Felix Capital, IDG Capital, Index Ventures, JD.com, Temasek Holdings, Vitruvian Partners
13. Pivotal Software
Exit Valuation: $3.76B (IPO)
Total Funding: $758M
Company Description: Pivotal Software is a cloud software company which provides tools for developers to build software.
Select Investors: Dell EMC, Ford Motor Company, General Electric, Microsoft, VMware
14. Mercari
Exit Valuation: $3.7B (IPO)
Total Funding: $162M
Company Description: Mercari is a Japanese e-commerce company which allows users to buy and sell a variety of products.
Select Investors: East Ventures, Global Brain Corporation, Globis Capital Partners, GMO VenturePartners, Mitsui & Co., World Innovation Lab
15. Avast Software
Exit Valuation: $3.27B (IPO)
Total Funding: $100M
Company Description: Avast Software offers cloud-based security for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS.
Select Investors: CVC Capital Partners, Summit Partners
16. Duo Security
Exit Valuation: $2.35B (Acquired by Cisco)
Total Funding: $122M
Company Description: Duo Security provides a software-as-a-service (SaaS) security platform to help organizations defend against breaches.
Select Investors: Benchmark, Cisco Systems, Google Ventures, Index Ventures, Lead Edge Capital, Meritech Capital Partners, Redpoint Venture
17. iZettle
Exit Valuation: $2.2B (Acquired by PayPal)
Total Funding: $325M
Company Description: iZettle offers point-of-sale devices.
Select Investors: American Express, Dawn Capital, Index Ventures, Intel Capital, MasterCard Worldwide, Santander InnoVentures
18. Qutoutiao
Exit Valuation: $2.1B (IPO)
Total Funding: $200M
Company Description: Qutoutiao runs an app-based news aggregation service that curates content for individual users. The company went public in September 2018, just 6 months after it reached unicorn status.
Select Investors: Tencent Holdings, Shunwei Capital Partners, Xiaomi, Lighthouse Capital, Redpoint Ventures China
19. AppNexus
Exit Valuation: $2B (Acquired by AT&T)
Total Funding: $394M
Company Description: AppNexus is a global internet technology company which operates a marketplace for digital advertising. The company was acquired for less than its previous valuation of $2.2B, making it a down exit.
Select Investors: Coriolis Ventures, Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners, First Round Capital, Microsoft, News Corp, Venrock
20. Funding Circle
Exit Valuation: $1.96B (IPO)
Total Funding: $640M
Company Description: Funding Circle is a direct lending platform for business loans, allowing investors to lend directly to small businesses. The company went public at a lower valuation than its previous $2B, making it a down exit.
Select Investors: Accel, Baillie Gifford & Co., BlackRock, Index Ventures, Rocket Internet, Sands Capital, Temasek Holdings, Union Square Ventures
21. Eventbrite
Exit Valuation: $1.76B (IPO)
Total Funding: $224M
Company Description: Eventbrite provides online event management and ticketing services.
Select Investors: DAG Ventures, Global Founders Capital, Sequoia Capital, Square, SV Angel, T. Rowe Price, Tiger Global Management
22. MedMen
Exit Valuation: $1.65B (IPO)
Total Funding: $72M
Company Description: MedMen is a cannabis company that operates in cultivation, manufacturing, and retail.
Select Investors: Cap-Meridian Ventures, Captor Capital, N Squared Management
23. Babytree
Exit Valuation: $1.47B (IPO)
Total Funding: $732M
Company Description: Babytree is a Beijing-based online parenting platform that allows users to blog about their parenting experiences, share photos and videos, and exchange tips with other parents. The company went public a few months after reaching a $2.19B valuation, making its IPO a down exit.
Select Investors: Matrix Partners China, TAL Education Group, Jumei International Holdings, Fosun International, Alibaba Group
24. Pluralsight
Exit Valuation: $897M (IPO)
Total Funding: $238.7M
Company Description: Pluralsight is an enterprise learning platform. The company had a $1B+ valuation prior to going public, making it a down exit.
Select Investors: Insight Venture Partners, ICONIQ Capital, Felicis Ventures, GSV Advisors, Sorenson Capital, Rethink Education
25. FanDuel
Exit Valuation: $465M (Acquired by Paddy Power Betfair)
Total Funding: $417.5M
Company Description: US-based Fanduel is a daily fantasy sports provider. The company was acquired for less than its previous valuation of $1.19B, making it a down exit.
Select Investors: Pentech Ventures, Piton Capital, Bullpen Capital, Comcast Ventures, NBC Universal, KKR
26. Domo
Exit Valuation: $455.5M (IPO)
Total Funding: $698.2M
Company Description: Domo is a SaaS business intelligence platform. The company went public at a lower valuation than its previously held $2.7B, making it a down exit.
Select Investors: Andreessen Horowitz, Benchmark, Bezos Expeditions, Fidelity Investments, Founders Fund, GGV Capital, Greylock Partners, Meritech Capital Partners, Morgan Stanley