According to research by financial analysis firm Cb insight, 847 start-ups have achieved unicorn status in the period from January 2010 to September 2021, which occurs when a company’s value reaches $1 billion.
The British site comparison company, Money.co.uk, analyzed the data to arrive at a more detailed definition of the start-ups that have reached this important milestone.
Identikit of the unicorns
The first thing that emerges is that the fintech sector dominates this ranking with 167 companies. In second place is the software and internet services sector with 144 companies.
The United States with 424 companies is the country with the largest number of companies. In second place is China with 165 companies, with India in third place with 41. Great Britain is in first place in Europe with 33.
The month that seems to be the favourite for companies reaching the unicorn level is July with no less than 96 companies exceeding the $1 billion value level in that month. In second place is September with 90 unicorns formed. While the worst month is February with “only” 43 companies.
Top unicorn start-ups
The first place in the ranking of the main unicorn start-ups is occupied by Bytedance, the Internet company that owns the social network Tik Tok, which is very popular among young people, with a capitalization of 140 billion dollars. Elon Musk’s space company SpaceX is second at $100 billion.
In third and fourth place are two fintech companies, Stripe, a Californian company for digital payments, with $95 billion and the Swedish Klarna with 45 billion.
Unicorns in the crypto world
The cryptocurrency world represents a great place in recent months for start-ups aspiring to unicorn status. In the first eight months of 2021 alone, around 50 companies in the crypto and blockchain sector have reached this milestone.
The latest case in point is that of India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Coin Switch Kuber, which reached a valuation of $1.9 billion in early October.
In March, the American company BlockFi, which offers various services to investors including an exchange, reached a valuation of over $3 billion.
In the same month, Austria’s Bitpanda also surpassed $1 billion in value. In April, digital asset custodian Fireblocks reached $1.2 billion in value.
Considering the great turmoil in the crypto world, it is not difficult to predict that other start-ups in the sector will soon join the prestigious club of unicorns.
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