The year gone by saw the global unicorn tally almost double to 1,058—from last year’s 586.
The USA led with 487 unicorns, up from last year’s 254; followed by China on 301, up from 74. Together, they accounted for 74% of the world’s unicorns. The report also said there were large economies like Italy, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Poland in the list of 160 countries without a single known unicorn.
As many as 13 countries officially produced unicorns for the first time, led by Mexico, Holland, Bahamas, Belgium, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Norway, Senegal, Thailand, Turkey, U.A.E. and Vietnam.
Falling prey to China’s regulatory crackdown and its failed initial public offering, Jack Ma-founded Ant Group lost the crown of the world’s most valuable unicorn to its fellow Chinese startup ByteDance, as its valuation surged to $350 billion.
The year also saw Elon Musk’s SpaceX break into the top three unicorns in the world. The space exploration company has raised a mammoth $6.6 billion in 51 funding rounds, with the latest one valuing the unicorn at $100 billion.
