WHEN the term ‘unicorn companies’ emerged in 2013, there were only 40 private companies worldwide that had the valuation of US$1 bil.
But as the years go by, more of these financial giants are emerging, rising to a new record in 2020, hitting a number of 500 and a combined market valuation of around US$1.5 tril.
In 2014, 18 companies hit a market valuation of US$1 bil, as revealed by CBInsights data. Over the next two years, another 138 companies joined the unicorn club.
Statistics showed the number of these financial giants surged in 2018, with 114 companies entering the list.
The increasing trend continued in 2019, with 122 new unicorns, which was the highest annual increase so far.
The CBInsights data revealed that 89 companies joined the unicorn club in 2020 with a combined market valuation of US$138.7 bil, despite the economic effects of the COVID-19 crisis.
The United States is currently leading the unicorn market with a total of 242 companies valued at US$1 bil or more. China ranked second with 119 unicorns as of November 2020.
The United Kingdom ranked as the third-largest unicorn market globally, with a number of 24 companies, followed by India and Germany with 24 and 23 unicorns, respectively.
According to data by Hurun Research Institute, Beijing tops the list of the cities with the highest number of unicorns. As of 2020, 93 such startups had their headquarters in the Chinese capital.
San Francisco ranked second with 68 unicorns, while Shanghai, New York, and Hangzhou followed with 47, 33, and 20 unicorn companies.
Statistics also showed that most of the world’s unicorns (72 companies) are active in the fintech industry. The software & services segment followed with 65 unicorn companies.
Another 62 privately owned startups with a valuation of over US$1 bil are working in the e-commerce market.
Artificial intelligence, mobile and telecommunications market, and the health industry followed with 45, 33, and 31 unicorns, respectively.
Are unicorns even special anymore?
With more unicorns emerging as the years go on, surrounded by technological advancements and groundbreaking innovations, is the US$1 bil mark still considered special?
Cowboy Ventures founder Aileen Lee believes so.
“There are thousands of startups born every year and despite the best intentions of founders and team members, only a tiny fraction grow to become worth over US$1 bil over time,” she opined.
In fact, the number of unicorns has been rising is due to an influx of both startups and investors.
Forrester Research vice president Carl Doty said a very large number of startups were founded as the economy recovered, causing the spike in the number of unicorns.
Many of them are just now hitting a US$1 bil market value.
“The number of startups overall exploded, so we’re going to see more and more unicorns, as time goes on. And frankly, more investors too,” Doty said. – Dec 26, 2020
