Global Unicorn Index 2021 released

Recently, the Hurun Research Institute 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. 

Context

Recently, the Hurun Research Institute 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. 

• Hurun Research has been tracking unicorns in China since 2017 and the world since 2019.

Key-findings of the Index

• Hurun Research founded 1,058 unicorns in the world, based in 42 countries and 221 cities.
• 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.
• Mexico, Netherland, Bahamas, Belgium, Chile, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Norway, Senegal, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam are among the thirteen countries that have produced unicorns for the first time. 

India and Unicorns

• India has a total of 54 Unicorns. It is ranked third in the world, after the United States and China.
• India has added 33 Unicorns in a single year. This has helped India overtake the UK in the number of Unicorns.
• However, the US and China are way ahead of India in the number of Unicorns. 
  • The US has added 254 unicorns and now totals 487 companies, while China added 74 to take its tally to 301 Unicorns. These top-two occupants are home to 74% of the unicorn universe.
  • ByteDance is the most valuable company in the world, valued at $350 billion, followed by Ant Group at $150 billion, SpaceX at $100 billion.
  • 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.