- 586 unicorns in the world, based in 29 countries and 145 cities
- USA leads china by 233 to 227, making up 78% of world’s unicorns
- E-commerce, Fintech, AI and SaaS are top 4 core competence sectors of world’s unicorns, making up 45.9% of the sectoral universe of these unicorns
- Sequoia is the world’s most successful investor in unicorns, being a key investor in 1/5 of the world’s unicorns. Others include Tencent, Softbank, Tiger, IDG, Goldman Sachs, and Alibaba
- On average, set up 9 years ago, with 80% selling services and 60% consumer-facing
- 59% are consumer-facing while 41% are B2B
- The total value of all known unicorns in the world is $1.8tn, equivalent to the GDP of Italy
- Of the 61 unicorns founded by Indians, a massive 2/3 are based outside of India, predominately Silicon Valley in the USA, whilst only 21 are based in India
- 9/10 cities are in China and USA, with London the only other city in the top 10
- By city, Beijing is the world’s unicorn capital with 93, ahead of San Francisco with 68 and followed by Shanghai, New York, Shenzhen and Hangzhou.
- As a region, Silicon Valley leads the world with 122 or 21% of the world’s unicorns
Rank | Country | Unicorns | Rank | City | Unicorns | |
1↑ | USA | 233 (+30) | 1- | Beijing | 93 (+11) | |
2↓ | China | 227 (+21) | 2- | San Francisco | 68 (+13) | |
3↑ | UK | 24 (+11) | 3- | Shanghai | 47 (+0) | |
4↓ | India | 21 (+0) | 4- | New York | 33 (+8) | |
5↑ | South Korea | 11 (+5) | 5↑ | Shenzhen | 20 (+2) | |
6↓ | Germany | 10 (+3) | 5- | Hangzhou | 20 (+1) | |
7↑ | Brazil | 8 (+4) | 7↑ | London | 16 (+7) | |
7↓ | Israel | 8 (+1) | 8- | Palo Alto | 12 (+2) | |
9↓ | France | 7 (+3) | 9↓ | Nanjing | 11 (-1) | |
10↑ | Switzerland | 5 (+2) | 10↓ | Redwood City | 10 (+1) | |
10↓ | Indonesia | 5 (+1) | 11↑ | Seoul | 9 (+4) | |
12- | Japan | 3 (+1) | 12– | Guangzhou | 8 (+0) | |
12* | Canada | 3 (+3) | 12↓ | Bengaluru | 8 (-1) | |
14↓ | Singapore | 2 (+0) | 12– | Boston | 8 (+0) | |
14↓ | Sweden | 2 (+0) | 15↑ | Sao Paulo | 7 (+3) | |
14↑ | Australia | 2 (+1) | 16↓ | Gurgaon | 6 (-1) | |
14↑ | Spain | 2 (+1) | 16↓ | Mountain View | 6 (+0) | |
14↑ | Malta | 2 (+1) | 16↑ | Paris | 6 (+2) | |
19↓ | Finland | 1 (+0) | 19↓ | Sunnyvale | 5 (+0) | |
19* | Lithuania | 1 (+1) | 19* | Tel Aviv | 5 (+2) | |
19↓ | Argentina | 1 (+0) | 19↓ | Hong Kong | 5 (+1) | |
19* | Nigeria | 1 (+1) | 19↓ | Berlin | 5 (+1) | |
19↓ | Luxembourg | 1 (+0) | 23↓ | Santa Monica | 4 (+0) | |
19↓ | Philippines | 1 (+0) | 23* | San Mateo | 4 (+1) | |
19↓ | Estonia | 1 (+0) | 23↓ | Chengdu | 4 (+0) | |
19↓ | Ireland | 1 (+0) | 23↓ | Atlanta | 4 (+0) | |
19↓ | Colombia | 1 (+0) | 23* | Los Angeles | 4 (+2) | |
19* | Malaysia | 1 (+1) | 23↓ | Jakarta | 4 (-1) | |
19* | Austria | 1 (+1) |
Source: Harun