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HURUN GLOBAL LATEST AND MOST AWAITED UNICORN INDEX 2021

IN SEARCH OF START-UPS FROM THE 2000S WITH A VALUATION OF US$1BN, NOT YET LISTED ON A PUBLIC EXCHANGE.

HURUN GLOBAL UNICORN INDEX 2021

The Hurun Research Institute today released the Global Unicorn Index 2021, a ranking of the world’s start-ups founded in the 2000s, worth at least a billion dollars and not yet listed on a public exchange.  The cut-off date used was 30 November 2021. Hurun Research has been tracking unicorns in China since 2017 and the world since 2019.

 

This report includes the Most Successful Unicorn Investors in the World 2021, a ranking of the 100 most successful unicorn investors, and the Most Successful Unicorn Investors in China 2021, a ranking of the 30 most successful unicorn investors, based on the number of unicorns they have invested in.

 

Hurun Research found 1,058 unicorns in the world, based in 42 countries and 221 cities. On average, they were set up eight years ago, ie in 2013. 81% sell software and services, with only 19% selling physical products. 53% are consumer-facing, whilst 47% sell to businesses. They are disrupting business management solutions, financial services and retail. The total value of all known unicorns in the world is US$3.7tn, equivalent to the GDP of Germany.

 

There were 673 ‘new faces’ and 201 drop-offs.  Of the drop-offs, 28% or 162 were ‘promoted’ out of the unicorn list, after going public or being acquired, whilst 7% or 39 were ‘demoted’, after their valuations dropped below US$1bn. Of last year’s list, 175 unicorns saw their valuations rise, whilst 13 saw their valuations drop.

 

Unicorn founders are 44 years old on average, meaning that they founded their unicorn aged 36. Unicorns have 2 founders on average. One third are serial entrepreneurs, having sold out of a previous start-up.

40% met at a previous job, whilst 1 in 8 met at university. Computer Science and Business Studies were the most common degrees. One in five unicorns have at least one co-founder from outside of the country of origin of the unicorn.

The USA, especially Silicon Valley, attracted the most unicorn founders from abroad, followed by Europe. India led the way for emigrant unicorn founders, followed by China, Israel and Russia.

HURUN

 

 

Anas Rahman Junaid MD and Chief Researcher, Hurun India said:

 

“India is in the midst of a start-up boom, more than doubling its unicorns to take the country’s official tally of unicorns to 54, and overtake the UK to third place in the world. Whilst there are a further 65 unicorns founded by Indians abroad, mainly in Silicon Valley, the percentage of homegrown unicorns has increased from one third to 45%, suggesting that the start-up ecosystem in India is maturing.”

 

Hurun Report Chairman and Chief Researcher Rupert Hoogewerf said:

 

“2021 is officially the most successful year for start-ups ever. There are today more than 1000 known unicorns, practically double the number from last year, mainly on the back of a surge in unicorns in the US.”

 

“The Global Unicorn Index 2021 is designed to highlight the world’s most successful start-ups. These unicorns are leading a new generation of disruptive technology, especially in business management solutions and financial services, and attracting the world’s top young talent.”

 

“Which sectors have the greatest potential? Half of the world’s unicorns are operating companies doing FinTech, SaaS, E-commerce, AI, HealthTech and Cyber security, specific sectors that the world’s smartest capital is investing into.”

 

“It is easy to see why unicorns are the most exciting companies in the world.  If a unicorn, especially from the top of the Hurun Global Unicorn Index, goes public, it attracts worldwide attention.

When ByteDance goes public, for example, it is going to be world news. And when it goes wrong, as in the case of Alibaba’s failed IPO last year, or China’s taxi-app Didi, which delisted after just a few months due to data storage laws, or UK-based Greensill, which went bankrupt, ensnaring former British Prime Minister David Cameron in the process, it causes much soul searching and many more headlines.”

“Whilst no metaverse-related unicorns have appeared yet, expect this game-changing technology to spawn many in the future.”

 

“The speed of value creation is accelerating. It took the Hurun Unicorns only eight years to hit a billion-dollar valuation, meaning today’s unicorns started out in 2013 when their founders were 36 years old.

What were you doing eight years ago? Founder teams and investors are becoming more experienced at knowing how to build billion-dollar businesses with focus on value-creation over sales.”

 

“The Hurun Global Unicorn Index is compiled using data from the world’s leading investors, making this perhaps the most serious attempt to capture all of the world’s unicorns into one list.”

 

“The countries with the most unicorns give a picture of which countries have the world’s best start-up ecosystems. Building a start-up ecosystem takes years, but once up and running, it can provide rewards for decades to come.

Silicon Valley, centred around a world-class university like Stanford, launched the tech wave around the turn of the millennium but – twenty years later – is still going strong, attracting the likes of Elon Musk to set up shop there.”

 

“The US and China continue to dominate, with three quarters of the world’s known unicorns, despite representing only a quarter of the world’s population. The rest of the world is playing catch-up, growing their share of the world’s unicorns from 17% two years ago to 26% this year.”

 

“Countries with more unicorns are seen as having more dynamic economies. 42 countries are now able to boast of having at least one unicorn, up from 25 countries two years ago, but there are still large economies like Italy, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Poland leading the list of 160 countries without a single known unicorn.

13 countries officially produced unicorns for the first time, led by Mexico and Holland, and including Bahamas, Belgium, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Norway, Senegal, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, Vietnam.”

 

“As a continent, Europe’s start-up hubs underperform. Despite representing 20% of the world’s economy, Europe has only 11% of the world’s unicorns.

One key reason is the lack of stock exchanges for start-ups, especially when compared with the US and China. New York is the most popular destination for a public listing for start-ups, followed by China.

The recent launch of the Beijing Stock Exchange, following on from the STAR market in Shanghai, shows China’s commitment to providing a platform for start-ups and an opportunity for retail investors to gain access to their growth.”

 

“A comparison of unicorns in the USA and China throws up some interesting dynamics. In the US, SaaS and Fintech made up a third of their unicorns, whilst in China, E-commerce, HealthTech and AI made up a third.”

“A significant 28% of last year’s unicorns were ‘promoted’ out of this year’s list, mainly by going IPO and a small number being acquired. A further 7% dropped off because their valuation fell below US$1bn.”

 

“A successful start-up ecosystem requires rolemodels, both individuals, such as those from the Hurun Rich Lists, and companies, such as those from the Hurun 500 most valuable companies series.

If a city or country can attract the world’s most successful entrepreneurs and companies to set up shop there, that will have a roll-on effect. Entrepreneurship is infectious and cities with lots of rolemodels are likely to attract the brightest and best young entrepreneurs. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.”

 

“World-class universities are of critical importance to a successful start-up ecosystem. Stanford underpinned Silicon Valley’s early success, and today we are seeing deeper engagements of top universities with successful start-ups that – in turn – are fostering new generations of talent.”

 

“The role of investors is evolving to mentorship and scale-up opportunities, rather than just providers of cash. The world’s leading unicorn investors are building ecosystems with their portfolios, hugely attractive to the world’s fastest-growing start-ups. Being able to say you have one of the top unicorn investor brands as an investor adds significant credibility to a start-up.”

 

“Unicorns are supposed to be hard to find, but investors like Sequoia, Tiger Fund and Softbank make it look easy.”

 

“A unique feature of China’s start-up ecosystem is the ability of big tech companies to spin off unicorns, with 49 of the world’s 50 ‘spun-off’ unicorns coming from China, such as Ant Group, spun off from Alibaba in 2014. Curiously, the ‘World’s Big 4’ on the Hurun Global 500 most valuable companies, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and Alphabet, are not as active as their China counterparts when it comes to investing into unicorns.”

 

“Hurun Report is committed to promoting entrepreneurship through its lists and research. Hurun’s ‘startup series’ has four main components.

It begins with the Hurun U30s Entrepreneurs to Watch, a list of the top entrepreneurs under the age of 30. Next up are two ‘future unicorn’ lists: Hurun Cheetahs, most likely to ‘go unicorn’ within 5 years and currently with a valuation of between US$200 million and US$500 million, and Hurun Gazelles, most likely to ‘go unicorn’ within 3 years and currently with a valuation of between US$500 million and US$1 billion. The Hurun Global Unicorn Index is the pinnacle of the world’s start-ups.”

 

“You have built your start-up into a unicorn with a billion-dollar valuation. Now, what’s next? The Hurun Global 500, currently requiring a valuation of US$30 billion.

7 unicorns last year have managed that jump, led by Airbnb, cloud data security provider Snowflake, China e-cars Xpeng Motors and Chehejia, crypto exchange Coinbase, games and app development platform Unity Technologies and big data analyser Palantir.”

 

“For every successful unicorn you see, there are thousands of failed companies, as well as a new generation of future unicorns coming through.  I hope this list of the world’s unicorns can help young entrepreneurs find role models for their businesses.”

 

 

Top 10 Unicorns in the World

 

This year’s Top 10 make up 25% of the total value of the world’s unicorns. 4 are from the USA, 3 from China and 1 from each of Australia, UK and Sweden.

 

There were 5 new faces: Stockholm-based payments platform Klarna, Sydney-based online design platform Canva, San Francisco-based AI powered data startup Databricks, San Francisco-based Instacart, and London-based fintech start-up Revolut. They replaced Didi Chuxing, Lufax, Airbnb, Kuaishou and Palantir, which went public in the last year, raising US$15.5bn between them.

 

 

Table 1: Global Unicorn Index 2021 TOP 10

Rank

Rank Change

Company

Valuation (US$bn)

Valuation change (US$bn)

Country

Sector

Year Founded

1

1

ByteDance

350

270

China

Social Media

2012

2

-1

Ant Group

150

0

China

FinTech

2014

3

2

SpaceX

100

64

USA

Aerospace

2002

4

1

Stripe

95

59

USA

FinTech

2010

5

53

Klarna

46

41

Sweden

FinTech

2005

6

102

Canva

40

37

Australia

SaaS

2012

7

24

Instacart

39

31

USA

On-Demand Delivery

2012

8

40

Databricks

38

32

USA

Big Data

2013

9

0

Cainiao

34

7

China

Logistics

2013

10

38

Revolut

33

27

UK

FinTech

2015

Source: Hurun Research Institute

 

Started only nine years ago, Beijing-based ByteDance is officially the world’s biggest unicorn, surging US$270bn in value to US$350bn.

With its flagship TikTok closing in on 3 billion daily users, it has now grown to become a serious challenger to Facebook. Founder Zhang Yiming, 38, stepped down as CEO in the last year.

 

Since its failed IPO this time last year, Hangzhou-based Ant Group has lost its title of the world’s most valuable unicorn to ByteDance, and has been restructuring its payments and lending businesses after multiple rounds with regulators.

 

SpaceX. Elon Musk founded what has become the largest unicorn in the US in 2002. Since then LA-based SpaceX has raised US$6.6bn in 51 funding rounds, with the latest one valuing the unicorn at US$100bn, moving it up 2 places to third.

SpaceX’s key projects include Starlink, aimed at providing Internet connectivity to the whole world, and the Starship rocket, which aims to land humans on the lunar surface and Mars.

 

Stripe. Started by Irish brothers John and Patrick Collison in 2010, San Francisco-based payment solutions platform Stripe was up one place to 4th. In March, Stripe announced a US$600mn investment round, valuing it at US$95bn.

 

With a valuation of US$46bn Klarna, Sweden-based payments platform, ranked 5th in the Global Unicorn Index 2021. Klarna, founded by Niklas Adalberth, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Victor Jacobsson, was up 53 places to break into the Top 10. Stockholm-based Klarna is Europe’s largest unicorn.

 

Sydney-based online graphic design platform Canva is 6th. In its latest round of funding in September, Canva raised US$200mn, which valued the company at US$40bn.

 

On-demand grocery delivery platform Instacart, founded in 2012, is the world’s seventh largest unicorn with a valuation of US$39bn. Instacart shot up 24 places to a Top 10 spot. Instacart has raised a total of US$2.7bn in funding over 17 rounds.

 

San Francisco-based Databricks, a Data and AI company, is 8th. In August, Databricks raised US$1.6bn in a Series H round, valuing it at US$38bn.

 

China logistics platform Cainiao kept its Top 10 place, after seeing its valuation rise to US$34bn.

 

With a valuation of US$33bn, London-based digital bank Revolut has grown into the UK’s largest unicorn, making the Top 10 in the world.

In July, Revolut raised US$800mn in a new funding round led by Softbank Vision Fund and Tiger Global Management. Revolut has raised a total of US$1.7bn over 14 rounds.

 

 

Where are the World’s Unicorns based?

 

The world’s unicorns come from 42 countries around the world, up from 29, spread around 221 cities, up from 145.

 

The USA led with 487 unicorns, up 254, followed by China on 301, up 74, together accounting for 74% of the world’s unicorns. SpaceX is the USA’s biggest unicorn.

 

The USA added 347 ‘new faces’ this year, whilst China added 146.  The USA had 94 drop-offs, of which 89 were promoted out of the unicorn list (75 IPOs & 14 acquisitions) and 5 dropped out because they no longer made the cut. In China, 72 dropped off, of which 41 were promoted (38 IPOs & 3 acquisitions), and 31 no longer made the cut.

 

India was third with 54, led by online educator BYJU’S worth US$21bn, mobile ad-tech firm InMobi (US$12bn), travel-stay finder OYO Rooms (US$9.5bn).

 

The UK was fourth with 39 unicorns, led by digital banking and payments platform Revolut (US$33bn).

 

Germany overtook South Korea for fifth place, whilst France overtook book Brazil and Israel for sixth place. Europe’s largest unicorn was Sweden-based payments platform Klarna worth US$46bn.

 

By city, San Francisco is the world’s unicorn capital with 151, up 83, followed by Beijing with 91. New York added 52 unicorns to third place. Shanghai and Shenzhen were in fourth and fifth.

Bengaluru, Paris and Berlin broke into the Top 10, at the expense of Palo Alto, Nanjing and Redwood. 6 of the Top 10 cities are in China and the USA. As a region, Silicon Valley leads the world with 208 or 20% of the world’s unicorns.

 

To make the World’s Top 30 start-up ecosystems, required at least 7 unicorns today. Chicago, Mumbai, San Jose and Cambridge, USA, broke into the Top 30 list for the first time.

 

Table 2: Top countries and cities where the world’s unicorns are based

Rank

Country

No. of Unicorns

 

Rank

City

No. of Unicorns

1

USA

487 (+254)

 

1

San Francisco

151 (+83)

2

China

301 (+74)

 

2

Beijing

91 (-2)

3

India

54 (+33)

 

3

New York

85 (+52)

4

UK

39 (+15)

 

4

Shanghai

71 (+24)

5

Germany

26 (+16)

 

5

Shenzhen

32 (+12)

6

France

19 (+12)

 

6

London

31 (+15)

7

Israel

17 (+9)

 

7

Bengaluru

28 (+20)

8

Canada

15 (+12)

 

8

Hangzhou

22 (+2)

9

Brazil

12 (+4)

 

9

Paris

18 (+12)

10

South Korea

10 (-1)

 

10

Berlin

17 (+12)

11

Indonesia

7 (+2)

 

11*

Chicago

15 (+12)

11

Singapore

7 (+5)

 

12

Palo Alto

12 (+0)

13

Japan

6 (+3)

 

12

Boston

12 (+4)

14

Australia

5 (+3)

 

12

Mountain View

12 (+6)

14*

Mexico

5 (+5)

 

12

Gurugram

12 (+6)

16

Sweden

4 (+2)

 

16

Redwood City

11 (+1)

16

Switzerland

4 (-1)

 

16

Tel Aviv

11 (+6)

18

Spain

3 (+1)

 

16

Sao Mateo

11 (+7)

18*

Netherlands

3 (+3)

 

19

Guangzhou

10 (+2)

20

Ireland

2 (+1)

 

19

Nanjing

10 (-1)

20

Colombia

2 (+1)

 

19

San Paulo

10 (+3)

20*

Turkey

2 (+2)

 

22*

Mumbai

9 (+8)

20

Malta

2 (+0)

 

22

Los Angeles

9 (+5)

20

Austria

2 (+1)

 

24

Sunnyvale

8 (+3)

20

Finland

2 (+1)

 

24*

San Jose

8 (+5)

20*

Thailand

2 (+2)

 

26

Seoul

7 (-2)

20

Nigeria

2 (+1)

 

26*

Seattle

7 (+5)

20*

UAE

2 (+2)

 

26*

Cambridge, USA

7 (+4)

20*

Norway

2 (+2)

 

26

Atlanta

7 (+3)

20

Philippines

2 (+1)

 

26

Hong Kong

7 (+2)

20*

Denmark

2 (+2)

 

26*

Singapore

7 (+5)

* New to list

Source: Hurun Research Institute

 

 

A comparison of the USA and China

Both countries are remarkably similar in terms of concentration of unicorns by city, with the Big Two cities of each country making up over half of the country’s unicorns. In China, third and fourth placed-cities of Shenzhen and Hangzhou make up a further 20% compared to Chicago and Boston with 5%.

 

By industry, the ‘Big Five’ of each country represents half of their unicorns, although the US unicorns are doing SaaS and Fintech, whilst China’s are in E-commerce and HealthTech.

 

Table 3: China Unicorns by City                                       USA Unicorns by City                                  

 

City

No. of Unicorns

% of China Unicorns

 

 

City

No. of Unicorns

% of USA Unicorns

1-

Beijing

91 (-2)

30%

 

1-

San Francisco

151 (+83)

31%

2-

Shanghai

71 (+24)

24%

 

2-

New York

85 (+52)

17%

3-

Shenzhen

32 (+12)

11%

 

3

Chicago

15 (+12)

3%

4

Hangzhou

22 (+2)

7%

 

4

Palo Alto

12 (+0)

2.5%

5

Guangzhou

10 (+2)

3%

 

4

Boston

12 (+4)

2.5%

5

Nanjing

10 (-1)

3%

 

4

Mountain View

12 (+6)

2.5%

7-

HK

7 (+2)

2%

 

7

Redwood City

11 (+1)

2.3%

8*

Suzhou

5 (+5)

2%

 

7

San Mateo

11 (+7)

2.3%

8-

Chengdu

5 (+1)

2%

 

9

Los Angeles

9 (+5)

1.8%

8

Qingdao

5 (+2)

2%

 

10

Sunnyvale

8 (+3)

1.6%

* New to list

Source: Hurun Research Institute

 

Table 4A: China Unicorns by Industry

Rank

Industry

Unicorn %

% of Total Value

Key unicorns

1

E-commerce

14%

9%

Shein, Cars

2

HealthTech

10%

5.2%

Ping An Healthcare Technology, WeDoctor

2

Artificial Intelligence

10%

5.1%

SenseTime, Didi Autonomous Driving

4

SaaS

6%

4%

Xiaohongshu, 58

4

Semiconductor

6%

3%

Horizon Robotics, Huaqin

Source: Hurun Research Institute

 

Table 4B: USA Unicorns by Industry

Rank

Industry

Unicorn %

% of Total Value

Key unicorns

1

SaaS

20%

16%

Figma, ServiceTitan

2

FinTech

12%

19%

Stripe, Chime

3

Artificial Intelligence

9%

9%

Grammarly, Talkdesk

3

HealthTech

9%

6%

Ro, Color

5

Cyber Security

7%

5%

Tanium, Lacework

Source: Hurun Research Institute

 

India. Indians founded 119 unicorns, of which 65 are outside of India and 54 are in India. Of those founded abroad, significantly all are in the USA, led by the Bay Area, with two in each of the UK and Singapore, and one in each of Germany and Mexico. For the full 65 list, see the Appendix 2.

 

 

Can’t find a unicorn here

 

Italy is the only Top 10 country in the world without a unicorn.

 

Table 5: Largest countries in the world without a unicorn

Rank

Country

Ranking in World by GDP

GDP (US$bn)

1

Italy

8

1,886

2

Russia

11

1,483

3

Saudi Arabia

20

700

4

Poland

21

594

5

Venezuela

25

501

6

Egypt

32

363

7

Bangladesh

39

324

8

South Africa

40

302

9

Pakistan

44

264

10

Romania

46

249

Source: Hurun Research Institute.  GDP rankings and dollar values based on World Bank 2020 estimates

 

 

North America overtook Asia as the continent creating the most unicorns in the world, whilst Asia pipped the USA in terms of total valuations of unicorns, on the back of ByteDance and Ant, which between them are worth US$500bn.

 

Table 6: Continents where the world’s unicorns are based

Rank

Continent

No. of Unicorns

% of Total Value

1↑

North America

509

43%

2↓

Asia

411

45%

3 –

Europe

114

10%

4 –

South America

16

1%

5 –

Oceania

5

1%

6 –

Africa

3

0.1%

Source: Hurun Research Institute

 

 

 

 

 

New Faces

 

Hurun Research identified 673 new unicorns in 38 countries. The USA added 347, followed by China with 146 and India with 41. These new unicorns are worth US$1.4tn, equivalent to the GDP of Russia.

 

Table 7: Top 10 new faces

Rank

Company

Valuation (US$bn)

Country

Sector

Year Founded

1

FTX

25

Bahamas

Blockchain

2018

2

J&T Express

20

Indonesia

E-commerce

2015

3

Lineage Logistics

18

USA

Logistics

2012

4

Genki Forest

15

China

Food & Beverages

2016

4

Gopuff

15

USA

On-Demand Delivery

2013

6

Plaid

13.5

USA

FinTech

2013

7

InMobi

12

India

Adtech

2007

7

GoodLeap

12

USA

FinTech

2003

9

Sunshine Insurance

11

China

Insurance

2005

10

Didi Huoyun

10

China

Logistics

2020

10

Digital Currency Group

10

USA

Blockchain

2015

Source: Hurun Research Institute

 

 

Biggest losers

 

39 unicorns from the last year saw their valuation drop below US$1bn. China led with 31, followed by the USA with 5, India by 2 and UK by 1.

 

Augmented reality platform Magic Leap led the way with the biggest drop in valuations, down US$8bn to US$2bn this year.

 

Table 8: Drop-offs with valuations falling below US$1bn

Rank

Company

Valuation 2020 (US$bn)

Country

Sector

Year Founded

1

Katerra

4

USA

Construction

2015

1

Zume

4

USA

Big Data

2015

3

Greensill

3.5

UK

FinTech

2011

4

Paytm Mall

3

India

E-commerce

2010

4

Singulato

3

China

E-Cars

2014

4

UCAR

3

China

Shared Economy

2015

4

Yiguo

3

China

E-commerce

2005

4

Yixia

3

China

Media & Entertainment

2013

4

Youxia

3

China

E-Cars

2014

Source: Hurun Research Institute

 

 

What industries do they come from?

 

Hurun Research has broken down the industries of these unicorns into three.  First is the industry they are disrupting, second is their core industry and third is the detailed industry they are operating.

 

 

 

 

Industries Disrupted

 

Financial Services, Business Management Solutions, Healthcare and Retail have seen the biggest increase in number of unicorns in the past year.

 

Table 9: Industries most disrupted by unicorns

 

Rank

Industry

% of Unicorns

1 (+3)

Business Management Solutions

18.1% (+104%)

2 (-1)

Financial Services

17.0% (+131%)

3 (-1)

Retail

9.7% (+56%)

4 (+1)

Healthcare

9.3% (+219%)

5 (+1)

Logistics

4.4% (+62%)

6 (+9)

Cyber Security

4.2% (+238%)

7 (+1)

Transportation

3.5% (+37%)

8 (+9)

Consumer Electronics

2.7% (+222%)

9 (-2)

Automobile

1.8% (-32%)

9 (+8)

Food & Beverages

1.8% (+111%)

9 (+11)

Energy

1.8% (+138%)

9 (+1)

Education

1.8% (-5%)

13 (-1)

Hospitality

1.6% (+0%)

14 (-3)

Life Sciences

1.5% (-11%)

14 (-11)

Media & Entertainment

1.5% (-53%)

14 *

Gaming

1.5% (+45%)

17 (+1)

Real Estate

1.4% (+15%)

17*

Communications

1.4% (+200%)

* New to list

Source: Hurun Research Institute

 

 

What is the core business of these unicorns?

 

FinTech and SaaS are the core industries of today’s unicorns, followed by E-commerce and AI.

 

Table 10: Industries of the unicorns

 

Rank

Industry

No. of Unicorns

% of Total Value

1 (+1)

FinTech

139

19.5%

2 (+2)

SaaS

134

10.4%

3 (-2)

E-commerce

122

8.4%

4 (-2)

Artificial Intelligence

84

6.0%

5 (+1)

HealthTech

80

4.7%

6 *

Cyber Security

40

2.5%

7 (+3)

Biotech

31

1.9%

8 *

Blockchain

30

4.0%

9 (-4)

Shared Economy

29

2.4%

10 (-3)

Big Data

27

2.4%

* New to list

Source: Hurun Research Institute

 

FinTech. There are 139 fintech unicorns in the world today. 31% are payment technology-related unicorns. The most valuable FinTech unicorn is Ant Group (US$150bn), followed by payments platform Stripe (US$95bn) and Klarna (US$46bn). FinTech dominates with US$720bn or 19% of the total value of all unicorns.

 

SaaS. With 134 unicorns, SaaS is second. Top SaaS companies are Australia based Canva (US$40bn) is one of the most valuable software startup followed by Shanghai-based Xiaohongshu (US$20bn) and San Francisco-based software startup Airtable (US$12bn). The total value of all SaaS unicorns is US$383bn.

 

E-commerce. There are 122 e-commerce unicorns with a total value of US$310bn. Guangzhou-based apparel retailer Shein and Indonesia’s J&T Express lead the industry with US$20bn valuations, followed by Beijing-based Cars with US$10bn.

With 42 unicorns, China has the largest number of e-commerce unicorns followed by USA (28) and India (15).

 

Artificial Intelligence boasts 84 unicorns up from 63 the previous year. With a US$13bn valuation San Francisco-based AI-powered writing assistant Grammarly leads the industry followed by China-based SenseTime (US$12bn).

AI unicorns are worth US$219bn or 6% of the total value of all unicorns. The USA leads with 44 AI unicorns, followed by China with 30.

 

HealthTech has 80 unicorns, making it the fifth largest sector with 7.6% of the unicorns. San Francisco has seen the most unicorn activity in HealthTech and is home to 13 unicorns.

With its own online healthcare ecosystem, PingAn Healthcare Technology is the most valuable at US$9bn, followed by Hangzhou-based WeDoctor (US$7bn).

 

Cyber Security has 40 unicorns led by Emerville-based Tanium (US$9bn), followed by San Jose-based Lacework (US$8.5bn) and New York-based Fireblocks (US$8bn). These unicorns make up 3.7% of the global list and their combined valuation comes to US$93bn

 

Biotech is in seventh place with 31, or just under 3% of the unicorns. At the top is clinical-stage biotechnology company Biosplice Therapeutics (US$12bn), followed by Chicago-based Tempus (US$8.1bn). The total value of all biotech unicorns comes to US$70bn or just under 1.9% of the total.

 

Blockchain has 30 unicorns led by Bahamas-based FTX (US$25bn) and Malta-based crypto exchange Binance (US$15bn), followed by New York-based Digital Currency, San Francisco-based Kraken and Ripple with US$10bn each. These unicorns make up 3% of the global list and their combined valuation comes to US$147bn.

 

Shared Economy is in ninth place with 29 unicorns and the total value of industry unicorn comes to US$89bn or just 2.4%. The sector is led by Indonesia-based online car-hailing platform GO-JEK (US$10.5bn) comes second followed by Indian hotel aggregator OYO (US$9.5bn).

 

Big Data has 27 unicorns, making it the 10th largest sector with 2.5% of the unicorns. Top big data companies are US-based AI-powered data startup Databricks (US$38bn) followed by China-based Ping An International Smart City (US$8bn) and US-based data science platform Dataiku (US$4.6bn).

 

Table 11: Core business of the world’s unicorns

 

Rank

Sector

No. of Unicorns

Total Value (US$bn)

1

Market Place

67

149

2

Payments

43

377

3

Banking

20

42

4

Online car-hailing

14

44

4

Biopharmaceutical

14

20

6

Online education

13

27

7

Crypto Currency Exchange Platform

12

73

8

Aerospace

11

117

8

Cloud Data Services

11

17

8

Express delivery

11

62

Source: Hurun Research Institute

 

 

Years to Unicorn

 

The average age of the Global Unicorn Index 2021 is eight years, of which 68 are less than three years old. Three went unicorn within their first year of operations.

 

Table 12: Youngest unicorns

Year Founded

Unicorn

Valuation (US$bn)

Sector

Country

2021

ClickHouse

2

Big Data

USA

Candy Digital

1.5

FinTech

USA

Mensa Brands

1

Investments

India

2020

Didi Huoyun

10

Logistics

China

Wiz

6

Cyber Security

Israel

Xiaodu

5

Consumer Goods

China

Clubhouse

4

Social Media

USA

DJ New Ease

4

Logistics

China

1inch

2

Blockchain

USA

Flink

2

On-Demand Delivery

Germany

Capchase

2

FinTech

USA

Huitian Aerospace

1.5

Aerospace

China

RSMC

1.5

Semiconductor

China

Cerebral

1

HealthTech

USA

Merama

1

E-commerce

Mexico

SellerX

1

Investments

Germany

Cider

1

E-commerce

China

Drata

1

Cyber Security

USA

Gorillas

1

E-commerce

Germany

Heyday

1

E-commerce

USA

Lepu Scientech

1

HealthTech

China

Pacaso

1

Real Estate Tech

USA

Playco

1

Gaming

Japan

Razor Group

1

E-commerce

Germany

Stytch

1

Cyber Security

USA

Wego

1

HealthTech

China

Xiao ice

1

Artificial Intelligence

China

Source: Hurun Research Institute

 

 

Which investors are the best at finding unicorns?

 

Sequoia kept its title as Number One Most Successful Unicorn Investor in the World, whilst Tiger Fund overtook Softbank to make up the ‘Big Three’ of the world’s most successful unicorn investors.

Between them, the ‘Big Three’ invested into 50% of the world’s known unicorns. Insight Partners and Coatue broke into the Top 10 for the first time at the expense of IDG and Alibaba.

 

The vast majority of the investors are headquartered in the USA with 79, followed by China with 11. Singapore and the UK each had 2, with France, Germany, India, Israel, Japan and Russia with one each.

 

For the full list of the Most Successful Unicorn Investors in the World 2021, see the Appendix 1.

 

 

Table 13: Most successful investors into unicorns – Top 10

Rank

Investor

No. of Unicorns

HQ by Country

Key Leadership Team

1

Sequoia

206 (+97)

USA

Greg Golub, Bob Lawson, Neil Shen Nanpeng

2

Tiger Fund

147 (+112)

USA

Chase Coleman, Scott Shleifer

3

Softbank

146 (+95)

Japan

Masayoshi Son, Rajeev Misra

4

Accel

74 (+51)

USA

Philippe Botteri, Andrew Braccia

5*

Insight Partners

71 (+52)

USA

Jeff Horing, Lonne Jaffe

5

Goldman Sachs

71 (+39)

USA

David Solomon, John Waldron

7

Andreessen Horowitz

70 (+46)

USA

Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz

8

Tencent

68 (+16)

China

Pony Ma Huateng, Liu Chiping, Li Zhaohui

9*

Coatue

67 (+62)

USA

Philippe Laffont, Thomas Laffont

10

Hillhouse

64 (+27)

China

Zhang Lei

Source: Hurun Research Institute

 

 

Start-up or incubated?

 

50, up from 20 last year, of the world’s unicorns were incubated by large companies before being spun off and attracting outside investors. All were from China other than Ovo, a US$2.9bn fintech spin-off from Indonesia-based Lippo.

 

Leading the way were Alibaba with 5 spin-offs, JD and Baidu with 3 each.

 

Table 14: Unicorns spun off from large corporations

Spun off from

Company

Country

Valuation (US$bn)

Sector

Alibaba

Ant Group

China

150

FinTech

Cainiao

China

34

Logistics

Taobao Dianying

China

2

E-commerce

Banma

China

1.5

Artificial Intelligence

Alisports

China

1

Entertainment

JD

JDT

China

30

Digital Technology

JD Chanfa

China

5

Enterprise Services

JD Mro

China

2.4

E-commerce

Baidu

Xiaodu

China

5

Consumer Goods

Du Xiaoman Financial

China

3

FinTech

Baidu Kunlun

China

2

Semiconductor

Didi

Didi Huoyun

China

10

Logistics

Didi Autonomous Driving

China

5.5

Artificial Intelligence

Ping An

Ping An Healthcare Technology

China

9

HealthTech

Ping An International Smart City

China

8

Big Data

Geely

Zeekr

China

9

E-Cars

Caocao

China

2.5

Shared Economy

FSH

Huitongda

China

5.5

E-commerce

Hosjoy

China

1

SaaS

SF-Express

Hivebox

China

3.5

Logistics

Shunfeng Express

China

1.5

Logistics

58

Zhuanzhuan

China

3

E-commerce

58 Home Services

China

1.4

SaaS

Haier

COSMOPlat

China

2.4

Artificial Intelligence

RRS

China

1.5

Logistics

Skyworth

Coocaa

China

1.5

Consumer Goods

Skywell

China

1.5

E-Cars

Lepu

Lepu Biotech

China

1

Biotech

Lepu Scientech

China

1

HealthTech

Lianjia

Ziroom

China

6.5

Shared Economy

BGI

MGI

China

5

HealthTech

Great Wall Motor

Svolt

China

4

New Energy

NetEase

NetEase Music

China

3

Entertainment

China UnionPay

China UMS

China

3

FinTech

Lippo

Ovo

Indonesia

2.9

FinTech

Wumart

Dmall

China

2.5

Enterprise Services

Hillhouse

Cowell Health

China

2

HealthTech

HaiDiLao

Shuhai

China

2

Logistics

Foxconn

Jusda

China

2

Logistics

Hualan

Hualan Bio

China

1.9

Biotech

Xpeng

Huitian Aerospace

China

1.6

Aerospace

BYD

BYD Micro

China

1.5

Semiconductor

Meinian

MediTrustHealth

China

1.4

HealthTech

Yonghui

Yonghui Fresh Food

China

1.2

New Retail

Huazhu

CJia

China

1

Shared Economy

36Kr

Kr Space

China

1

Shared Economy

Shou Qi

Shouqi

China

1

Shared Economy

Wego

Wego

China

1

HealthTech

COFCO

Womai

China

1

E-commerce

Xiaomi

Smartmi

China

1

Consumer Goods

Source: Hurun Research Institute

 

 

Unicorns recently listed

 

Of the 201 companies from last year that left the Hurun Unicorns, 162 were ‘promoted’, as in 137 went IPO and 25 were acquired, whilst 39 were ‘demoted’, because their valuation dropped below US$1bn.

 

Of the promotions, 7 shot straight into the Hurun Global 500, becoming one of the 500 most valuable companies in the world, led by San Francisco-based online marketplace for lodging Airbnb. Others include Snowflake, e-cars Xpeng Motors and Chehejia, crypto exchange Coinbase Global, Unity Technologies and Palantir Technologies.

 

New York was the preferred destination for a public listing for 105 of last year’s unicorns, followed by Shanghai with 7, HK with 6 and London with 5.

 

Xpeng Motors was the best-performing ex unicorn, seeing its share price almost triple to US$47bn and a place on the Hurun Global 500.

 

Table 15A: Best-Performing Unicorns since IPO

 Rank

Company

% Rise in value since IPO

 

Current Valuation (US$bn)

Industry

Country

1

Xpeng Motors

159%

47

E-cars

China

2

Asana

158%

17

SaaS

USA

3

QuantumScape

151%

12

New Energy

USA

4

Nuvei

149%

14

FinTech

Canada

5

ChargePoint

119%

8

New Energy

USA

6

Chehejia

115%

37

E-cars

China

6

Unity Technologies

115%

44

Gaming

USA

8

Palantir Technologies

106%

40

Big Data

USA

9

DigitalOcean

102%

10

SaaS

USA

10

Novogene

85%

3

Biotech

China

Source: Hurun Research Institute

 

Table 15B: Worst-Performing Unicorns since IPO

 Rank

Company

% Fall in value since IPO

Current Valuation (US$bn)

Industry

Country

1

17zuoye

-95%

0.1

EdTech

China

2

Zhangmen

-93%

0.2

EdTech

China

3

Root Insurance

-87%

0.9

Artificial Intelligence

USA

4

RELX

-86%

5.5

Consumer Goods

China

4

Perfect Diary

-86%

1.7

E-commerce

China

4

Wish

-86%

2.2

E-commerce

USA

7

Shuidi

-84%

0.6

FinTech

China

8

Bright Health

-80%

2.1

Insurance

USA

9

Boqii

-79%

0.1

E-commerce

China

9

Poshmark

-79%

1.4

E-commerce

USA

Source: Hurun Research Institute

 

 

Software and services versus physical products?

 

81% sell software and services, led by FinTech and followed by SaaS, E-commerce and AI.

 

19% have a physical product as a core business offering, led by Biotech, HealthTech and Consumer Goods.

 

 

Key Statistics

 

28% or 162 unicorns from last year’s list were promoted, compared with 6% or 30 unicorns from the previous year.

 

Table 16: Key Statistics

Year

No. of unicorns

New faces

Drop-offs

of which, IPO

of which, acquired

of which, no longer with US$1bn valuation

2019

494

2020

586

142

50

19

11

20

2021

1,058

673

201

137

25

39

Source: Hurun Research Institute

 

 

Methodology

The Global Unicorn Index 2021 is compiled by the Hurun Research Institute, and includes companies founded in the 2000s with a current valuation of US$1bn, not yet listed on a public exchange. Cut-off for this year’s list was 30 November 2021.

 

Many of the world’s top investment houses provided details of their portfolio, which the Hurun research team cross-checked against specialized investment databases, industry experts, media sources, as well as unicorn co-founders.

 

Valuing unicorns can be tricky. The very nature of these super-fast growing companies makes valuations hard to pin down, but to ensure consistency of the valuations, the Hurun research team used the most recent valuation based on a sizeable round.

Where it becomes harder is when a unicorn is underperforming or on its way down, since it is unlikely to have a new round of investment at a valuation lower than the previous round. In this case, Hurun uses industry comparatives to ascertain a new lower valuation.

 

Countries and cities are ranked according to the unicorn head office.

 

Unicorns leave the Hurun Global Unicorn Index either by being ‘promoted’, ie by listing on a public exchange (IPO) or being acquired, or by being ‘demoted’, when their value drops below US$1bn. 

 

Hurun Research has been tracking unicorns since 2017.

 

Disclaimer. All the data collection and the research has been carried out by Hurun Research. This report is meant for information purposes only. Reasonable care and caution have been taken in preparing this report. The information contained in this report has been obtained from sources that are considered reliable. By accessing and/or using any part of the report, the user accepts this disclaimer and exclusion of liability which operates to the benefit of Hurun.

Hurun does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information contained in the report and neither shall it be responsible for any errors or omissions in or for the results obtained from the use of such information. No third party whose information is referenced in this report under the credit to it, assumes any liability towards the user with respect to its information.

Hurun shall not be liable for any decisions made by the user based on this report (including those of investment or divestiture) and the user takes full responsibility for their decisions made based on this report. Hurun shall not be liable to any user of this report (and expressly disclaim liability) for any loss, damage of any nature, including but not limited to direct, indirect, punitive, special, exemplary, consequential losses, loss of profit, lost business and economic loss regardless of the cause or form of action and regardless of whether or not any such loss could have been foreseen.

 

 

 

 

About Hurun Inc.

 

Promoting Entrepreneurship Through Lists and Research

Oxford, Shanghai, Mumbai, Sydney, Paris

 

Established in the UK in 1999, Hurun is a research, media and investments group, promoting entrepreneurship through its lists and research.  Widely regarded as an opinion-leader in the world of business, Hurun generated 6 billion views on the Hurun brand last year, mainly in China and India.

 

Best-known today for the Hurun Rich List series, telling the stories of the world’s successful entrepreneurs in China, India and the world, Hurun’s two other key series include the Hurun Start-up series and the Hurun 500 series, a ranking of the world’s most valuable companies.

 

The Hurun Start-up series begins with the Hurun U30s, an awards recognizing the most successful entrepreneurs under the age of thirty, and is today in seven countries. Next up are Hurun Cheetahs, Chinese and Indian start-ups with a valuation of between US$300mn to US$500mn, most likely to go unicorn with five years.  Hurun Global Gazelles recognize start-ups with a valuation of US$500mn to US$1bn, most likely to go unicorn within three years. The culmination of the start-up series is the Hurun Global Unicorn Index.

 

Other lists include the Hurun Philanthropy List, ranking the biggest philanthropists, the Hurun Art List, ranking the world’s most successful artists alive today, etc…

 

Hurun provides research reports co-branded with some of the world’s leading financial insitutions, real estate developers and regional governments.

 

Hurun hosted high-profile events in the last couple of years across China and India, as well as London, Paris, New York, LA, Sydney, Luxembourg, Istanbul, Dubai and Singapore.

 

For further information, see www.hurun.net.

 

 

 

For media inquiries, please contact:

Hurun Report India

Vineeth Chandrababu

+91 99950 61106

[email protected]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Global Unicorn Index 2021 TOP 100

For the full list of 1,058 unicorns, see www.hurun.net

Rank

Rank Change

Company

Valuation (US$bn)

Valuation Change (US$bn)

Country

City

Core Sector

1

1

ByteDance

350

270

China

Beijing

Social Media

2

-1

Ant Group

150

0

China

Hangzhou

FinTech

3

2

SpaceX

100

64

USA

Los Angeles

Aerospace

4

1

Stripe

95

59

USA

San Francisco

FinTech

5

53

Klarna

46

40.5

Sweden

Stockholm

FinTech

6

102

Canva

40

37

Australia

Sydney

SaaS

7

24

Instacart

39

31

USA

San Francisco

On-Demand Delivery

8

40

Databricks

38

32

USA

San Francisco

Big Data

9

0

Cainiao

34

7

China

Hangzhou

Logistics

10

38

Revolut

33

27

UK

London

FinTech

11

0

WeBank

30

10

China

Shenzhen

FinTech

11

1

JDT

30

11

China

Beijing

Digital Technology

13

New

FTX

25

New

Bahamas

Nassau

Blockchain

13

35

Chime

25

19

USA

San Francisco

FinTech

15

16

BYJU’S

21

13

India

Bengaluru

EdTech

16

New

J&T Express

20

New

Indonesia

Jakarta

E-commerce

16

43

Xiaohongshu

20

15

China

Shanghai

SaaS

16

241

Shein

20

18.5

China

Guangzhou

E-commerce

19

New

Lineage Logistics

18

New

USA

Novi

Logistics

20

-6

DJI

16

1

China

Shenzhen

Robotics

21

New

Genki Forest

15

New

China

Beijing

Food & Beverages

21

New

Gopuff

15

New

USA

Philadelphia

On-Demand Delivery

21

87

Binance

15

12

Malta

Malta

Blockchain

21

149

Checkout.com

15

13

UK

London

FinTech

21

149

Discord

15

13

USA

San Francisco

Social Media

26

New

Plaid

13.5

New

USA

San Francisco

FinTech

27

322

Grammarly

13

12

USA

San Francisco

Artificial Intelligence

28

New

InMobi

12

New

India

Bengaluru

Adtech

28

New

GoodLeap

12

New

USA

San Francisco

FinTech

28

142

Northvolt

12

10

Sweden

Stockholm

New Energy

28

20

SenseTime

12

6

China

Beijing

Artificial Intelligence

28

321

Airtable

12

11

USA

San Francisco

SaaS

28

-8

Biosplice Therapeutics

12

0

USA

San Diego

Biotech

34

New

Sunshine Insurance

11

New

China

Beijing

Insurance

34

122

Celonis

11

8.5

Germany

Munich

SaaS

36

-10

GO-JEK

10.5

1.5

Indonesia

Kebayoran Baru

Shared Economy

37

New

Didi Huoyun

10

New

China

Tianjin

Logistics

37

New

Digital Currency Group

10

New

USA

New York

Blockchain

37

-17

JUUL Labs

10

-2

USA

San Francisco

Consumer Goods

37

312

Lalamove

10

9

China

Hong Kong

Logistics

37

-14

Ripple

10

0

USA

San Francisco

Blockchain

37

133

Figma

10

8

USA

San Francisco

SaaS

37

34

Kraken

10

6

USA

San Francisco

Blockchain

37

312

Talkdesk

10

9

USA

San Francisco

Artificial Intelligence

37

-11

Cars

10

1

China

Beijing

E-commerce

37

34

Gusto

10

6

USA

San Francisco

FinTech

37

312

Envision

10

9

China

Shanghai

New Energy

37

71

Reddit

10

7

USA

San Francisco

Social Media

49

New

Klaviyo

9.5

New

USA

Boston

SaaS

49

New

Weilong

9.5

New

China

Luohe

Food & Beverages

49

121

Dfinity

9.5

7.5

Switzerland

Zug

Blockchain

49

-18

OYO

9.5

1.5

India

Gurugram

Shared Economy

49

121

ServiceTitan

9.5

7.5

USA

Glendale

SaaS

49

300

OutSystems

9.5

8.5

USA

Boston

SaaS

55

New

Zeekr

9

New

China

Ningbo

E-Cars

55

283

Rapyd

9

7.8

UK

London

FinTech

55

-29

Ping An Healthcare Technology

9

0

China

Shanghai

HealthTech

55

16

Niantic

9

5

USA

San Francisco

Gaming

55

-10

Tanium

9

2.5

USA

Emeryvile

Cyber Security

60

New

Kavak

8.5

New

Mexico

Mexico city

E-commerce

60

New

Lacework

8.5

New

USA

San Jose

Cyber Security

60

New

Tipalti

8.5

New

USA

San Mateo

FinTech

60

New

58

8.5

New

China

Beijing

SaaS

60

48

Nuro 

8.5

5.5

USA

San Francisco

Robotics

65

New

Hopin

8

New

UK

London

SaaS

65

New

Fireblocks

8

New

USA

New York

Cyber Security

65

New

Ping An International Smart City

8

New

China

Shenzhen

Big Data

65

-6

Tempus

8

3

USA

Chicago

Biotech

69

New

Dapper Labs

7.5

New

Canada

Vancouver

Blockchain

69

New

Getir

7.5

New

Turkey

Istanbul

On-Demand Delivery

69

New

Gong

7.5

New

USA

San Francisco

SaaS

69

39

Brex

7.5

4.5

USA

San Francisco

FinTech

69

-34

Argo AI

7.5

0.5

USA

Harrisburg

Artificial Intelligence

69

280

Scale AI

7.5

6.5

USA

San Francisco

Artificial Intelligence

69

101

Carta

7.5

5.5

USA

Palo Alto

FinTech

69

39

Netskope

7.5

4.5

USA

Santa Clara

SaaS

69

101

Toss

7.5

5.5

South Korea

Seoul

FinTech

69

-34

Tokopedia

7.5

0.5

Indonesia

Jakarta

E-commerce

69

New

Razorpay

7.5

New

India

Bengaluru

FinTech

80

New

Qianxun

7

New

China

Hangzhou

E-commerce

80

New

Gemini

7

New

USA

New York

Blockchain

80

270

Xsyx

7

6

China

Changsha

New Retail

80

270

Faire

7

6

USA

San Francisco

E-commerce

80

-44

Meicai

7

0

China

Beijing

E-commerce

80

-8

Impossible Foods

7

3

USA

Redwood City

Food & Beverages

80

-31

Ola

7

1

India

Bengaluru

Shared Economy

80

-31

WeDoctor

7

1

China

Hangzhou

HealthTech

80

-44

Automation Anywhere

7

0

USA

San Jose

Artificial Intelligence

89

New

Upgrade

6.5

New

USA

San Francisco

FinTech

89

New

Mollie

6.5

New

Netherlands

Amsterdam

FinTech

89

82

Heytea

6.5

4.5

China

Shenzhen

Food & Beverages

89

261

DataRobot

6.5

5.5

USA

Boston

Artificial Intelligence

89

-40

Ziroom

6.5

0.5

China

Beijing

Shared Economy

94

New

Wiz

6

New

Israel

Tel Aviv

Cyber Security

94

New

Better.com

6

New

USA

New York

FinTech

94

New

Meione

6

New

China

Shanghai

E-commerce

94

-22

Hellobike

6

2

China

Shanghai

Shared Economy

94

-48

Samsara Networks

6

-0.5

USA

San Francisco

Artificial Intelligence

94

-22

Weltmeister

6

2

China

Shanghai

E-Cars

94

-22

Wind

6

2

China

Shanghai

FinTech

Source: Hurun Research Institute

 

 

 

Appendix 1 – Most Successful Unicorn Investors in the World 2021

 

Rank

Rank Change

Investor

No. of Unicorns 2021

No. of Unicorns 2020

Founded in (Country)

1

0

Sequoia*

206

109

USA

2

4

Tiger Fund

147

35

USA

3

0

SoftBank

146

51

Japan

4

6

Accel

74

23

USA

5

2

Goldman Sachs

71

32

USA

5

8

Insight Partners

71

19

USA

7

2

Andreessen Horowitz

70

24

USA

8

-6

Tencent

68

52

China

9

52

Coatue

67

5

USA

10

-5

Hillhouse Capital Group

64

37

China

11

New

SV Angel

58

New

USA

11

13

Y Combinator

58

15

USA

13

21

Lightspeed Venture Partners

56

12

USA

14

20

Fidelity

50

12

USA

14

-10

IDG Capital

50

41

USA

16

12

General Catalyst

48

14

USA

17

11

Founders Fund

47

14

USA

17

7

ICONIQ Capital

47

15

USA

17

2

Index Ventures

47

17

USA

20

-9

DST Global

44

22

Russia

20

New

GV

44

New

USA

20

-7

Temasek Holdings

44

19

Singapore

23

-6

General Atlantic

43

18

USA

23

-12

GGV Capital

43

22

USA

23

46

Salesforce Ventures

43

4

USA

26

43

Dragoneer Investment Group

42

4

USA

27

1

Baillie Gifford

41

14

UK

28

-4

Bessemer Venture Partners

39

15

USA

29

-1

Kleiner Perkins

36

14

USA

30

2

T. Rowe Price

35

13

USA

31

38

BlackRock

34

4

USA

31

-14

Matrix Partners

34

18

USA

33

1

New Enterprise Associates

33

12

USA

34

12

Battery Ventures

32

9

USA

34

23

Sapphire Ventures

32

6

USA

34

12

Spark Capital

32

9

USA

37

32

CICC Capital

30

4

China

37

-18

Institutional Venture Partners

30

17

USA

39

1

GIC

29

11

Singapore

39

1

Khosla Ventures

29

11

USA

41

New

D1 Capital Partners

28

New

USA

41

New

Thrive Capital

28

New

USA

43

New

500 Startups

27

New

USA

43

18

Ribbit Capital

27

5

USA

43

-24

Warburg Pincus

27

17

USA

46

New

G Squared

26

New

USA

46

11

Redpoint

26

6

USA

46

-6

Wellington Management

26

11

USA

49

New

Felicis Ventures

25

New

USA

49

-36

Qiming Venture Partners

25

19

China

49

New

Silicon Valley Bank

25

New

USA

49

12

TCV

25

5

USA

53

New

Endeavor Catalyst

24

New

USA

53

1

Greenoaks Capital

24

7

USA

55

-1

Meritech Capital Partners

23

7

USA

56

New

Counterpart Advisors

22

New

USA

56

New

FJ Labs

22

New

USA

56

-43

YF Capital

22

19

China

59

New

8VC

21

New

USA

59

New

Altimeter Capital

21

New

USA

59

2

Norwest Venture Partners

21

5

USA

62

New

DCVC

20

New

USA

62

-40

Shunwei

20

16

China

64

New

BoxGroup

19

New

USA

64

New

Citi Ventures

19

New

USA

64

New

InnoVen Capital

19

New

India

64

-40

ZhenFund

19

15

China

68

-60

Alibaba

18

25

China

68

New

American Express Ventures

18

New

USA

68

-19

Bain Capital Ventures

18

8

USA

68

New

Bond

18

New

USA

68

-14

CapitalG

18

7

USA

68

New

Gaingels

18

New

USA

74

New

Alkeon Capital

17

New

USA

74

18

Franklin Templeton Investments

17

3

USA

74

18

Glynn Capital Management

17

3

USA

74

-40

Greylock

17

12

USA

74

18

Social Capital

17

3

USA

79

New

5Y Capital

16

New

China

79

New

B Capital Group

16

New

USA

79

13

CRV

16

3

USA

79

New

Eurazeo

16

New

France

79

New

FirstMark

16

New

USA

79

New

Global Founders Capital

16

New

Germany

79

New

Greenspring Associates

16

New

USA

79

New

GS Growth

16

New

USA

79

-47

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts

16

13

USA

79

New

Sound Ventures

16

New

USA

89

-32

Benchmark

15

6

USA

89

-55

CDH Investments

15

12

China

89

-40

DFJ Growth

15

8

USA

89

New

Durable Capital Partners

15

New

USA

89

New

FundersClub

15

New

USA

94

-2

Atomico

14

3

UK

94

New

Coinbase Ventures

14

8

USA

94

New

Initialized Capital

14

New

USA

94

-2

Menlo Ventures

14

3

USA

94

-2

SAIF Partners

14

3

China

94

New

Sands Capital

14

New

USA

94

New

Vintage Investment Partners

14

New

Israel

Source: Hurun Research Institute

* Sequoia includes Sequoia Capital, Sequoia Capital China, Sequoia Capital India, Sequoia Capital Global Equities, Sequoia Heritage, Sequoia Capital Israel, Sequoia Scout.

 

 

Appendix 2 – Unicorns founded by Indians outside of India

 

Table: Unicorns outside of India with an Indian co-founder

Rank

Company

Valuation (US$bn)

Country

City

Sector

1

Instacart

39

USA

San Francisco

On-Demand Delivery

2

Lacework

8.3

USA

San Jose

Cyber Security

3

Netskope

7.5

USA

Santa Clara

SaaS

3

Carta

7.5

USA

Palo Alto

FinTech

5

Automation Anywhere

7

USA

San Jose

Artificial Intelligence

6

Samsara Networks

6

USA

San Francisco

Artificial Intelligence

7

Workato

5.5

USA

Mountain View

SaaS

7

Postman

5.5

USA

San Francisco

SaaS

9

Zenefits

4.5

USA

San Francisco

SaaS

10

Benchling

4

USA

San Francisco

Biotech

11

FalconX

3.5

USA

San Mateo

Blockchain

11

Cohesity

3.5

USA

San Jose

SaaS

11

Alchemy

3.5

USA

San Francisco

Blockchain

11

Rubrik

3.5

USA

San Francisco

SaaS

11

Scopely

3.5

USA

Culver City

Gaming

16

HighRadius

3

USA

Houston

Artificial Intelligence

16

Workrise

3

USA

Austin

E-commerce

16

OakNorth

3

UK

London

FinTech

16

Icertis

3

USA

Bellevue

SaaS

20

Cambridge Mobile Telematics

2.5

USA

Cambridge

Artificial Intelligence

20

BitSight Technologies

2.5

USA

Boston

Cyber Security

20

Transmit Security

2.5

USA

Boston

Cyber Security

23

Eightfold

2

USA

Mountain View

Artificial Intelligence

23

Moveworks

2

USA

Mountain View

Artificial Intelligence

23

6Sense

2

USA

San Francisco

Artificial Intelligence

23

Deliverr

2

USA

San Francisco

Logistics

23

Clip

2

Mexico

Mexico City

FinTech

23

Improbable

2

UK

London

Gaming

23

Druva

2

USA

Sunnyvale

SaaS

23

ThoughtSpot

2

USA

Sunnyvale

Artificial Intelligence

31

Harness

1.5

USA

San Francisco

SaaS

31

Farmers Business Network

1.5

USA

San Carlos

AgriTech

31

H2O.ai

1.5

USA

Mountain View

Artificial Intelligence

31

Reltio

1.5

USA

Redwood City

SaaS

31

Buzzfeed

1.5

USA

New York

Media

31

Clari

1.5

USA

Sunnyvale

SaaS

31

Zenoti

1.5

USA

Bellevue

SaaS

31

Zeta

1.5

USA

San Francisco

FinTech

31

Dexterity

1.5

USA

Redwood City

Robotics

31

ChargeBee

1.5

USA

Walnut

SaaS

31

Gupshup

1.5

USA

San Francisco

Communication Platform

31

Rippling

1.5

USA

San Francisco

SaaS

31

Plume

1.5

USA

Palo Alto

SaaS

31

Signifyd

1.5

USA

San Jose

Cyber Security

31

Yugabyte

1.5

USA

Sunnyvale

Cloud

31

Innovaccer

1.5

USA

San Francisco

Big Data

31

Starry

1.5

USA

Boston

Telecommunication

48

Starburst

1

USA

Boston

Data Analytics

48

Alation

1

USA

San Francisco

Artificial Intelligence

48

MindTickle

1

USA

San Francisco

SaaS

48

Headspin

1

USA

Palo Alto

SaaS

48

Misfits Market

1

USA

Pennsauken

E-commerce

48

Aura

1

USA

Burlington

Cyber Security

48

Tekion

1

USA

San Ramon

Artificial Intelligence

48

Moglix

1

Singapore

Singapore

E-commerce

48

Nium

1

Singapore

Singapore

FinTech

48

Instabase

1

USA

San Francisco

SaaS

48

ShipBob

1

USA

Chicago

Logistics

48

Pendo

1

USA

Raleigh

SaaS

48

Omio

1

Germany

Berlin

E-commerce

48

Vise

1

USA

New York

FinTech

48

Tresata

1

USA

Charlotte

Big Data

48

Axtria

1

USA

Berkeley Height

Big Data

48

o9 Solutions

1

USA

Dallas

Artificial Intelligence

48

CloudBees

1

USA

San Jose

SaaS

Source: Hurun Research Institute

 

 

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