The 2022 Global Unicorn Report

A unicorn startup is a private company valued over $1 billion. Venture capitalist Aileen Lee coined the term “unicorn startup” in a 2013 TechCrunch article on the lessons learned from the explosive success of the few Facebooks and Googles of the world. At the time, she said that companies who can reach this milestone valuation are as rare as unicorns.

There were 39 unicorns on the list in 2013. In 2022, there are almost 900 unicorn startups in the world, valued at more than $3.5 trillion combined. Even bigger variations of unicorns have popped up since the birth of the original term: Decacorns are valued at more than $10 billion and hectacorns are valued at more than $100 billion.

Unicorns are not as rare as they were in 2013, but it still takes a lot of hard work to join the herd. We partnered with PitchBook to take a deep dive into the world of unicorn startups and to give you a snapshot of today’s herd.

Unicorn Startup List

We’ve put together a full list of unicorn startups and highlighted total funding raised, valuation, HQ country, industry, and the number of active investors. We also highlighted investors who partner with HubSpot. Use the filters below to look through the list.

Top Unicorn Investors

Unicorns would not reach their success without the investors and venture capitalists backing their businesses. Tiger Global Management comes out on top for investing in 155 unicorns. SoftBank Investment Advisers comes close with 96 investments and Coatue Management invests in nearly 78 unicorns. 

Many investors are also HubSpot partners. For example, Y Combinator, Alchemist Accelerator, and 8VC are all a part of our partner program. HubSpot partners make up 372 of 7,188 unicorn investors.

Below, we’ve highlighted the top investors to see how their investments stack up against each other.

Unicorn Companies by Location

Unicorn companies are located all over the world. Some countries are bigger hotspots compared to others. The United States is home to more than half of the world’s unicorns. The next biggest countries are China, India, and the United Kingdom. Use the map below to see what countries house the world’s most valuable companies.

Top Tech and Tools Used by Unicorns

Free resources kits and DIY solutions are great tactics to use when you’re starting your business. However, you’ll eventually need to transition reliable and powerful platforms to take your business to the next level.

Business tools that automate and speed up processes are one key way to save time and money. Many unicorn companies understand this and use similar tools to achieve that goal.

We scanned through data from BuiltWith and SimilarTeach to uncover what tools unicorn companies use for different categories. Take a look at our findings below.

Unicorns by Industry

Learning about the most popular industries for businesses, especially unicorn companies, can jumpstart your research for your own business. For example, you can use industry benchmark data to see the projected future of that sector.

In the world of unicorns, software dominates as the number one industry. Software-based companies range from fintech-focused Webull to DIY design company Canva.

Other top industries include commercial services, retail, and transportation. Curious to see how they compare? Check out this chart below to see the breakdown of the top unicorn’ industries.

Unicorn Startup Growth Trends

There isn’t a magic recipe to become a unicorn startup. Everyone’s path is different, but there are some stages and steps many unicorns follow. For example, finding your business’s niche market and rapidly scaling are just a couple things unicorns do to skyrocket their business’s growth.

Up until 2002, only a few companies achieved a billion-dollar valuation each year. Growth started to speed up in the mid-2000s and exploded in 2010. Check out this chart below to see how many unicorns have popped up over the years.

Outlook of Unicorn Companies

The talk of unicorns may elicit excitement from some people and polite, yet exasperated, sighs from others. The idea of becoming a unicorn is still a great incentive for many thanks to the high reward and prestige. Others advocate for creating camel-like businesses that result in more sustainable growth.

Regardless of what camp you’re in, there are more companies joining the unicorn club every year. For example, 15 unicorns on our list were founded in 2020 alone.

Forbes releases a list every year of the Next Billion-Dollar Startups. Although it’s not an exhaustive list, successful companies like Viz.ai, Salt Security, and Productboard are just a few examples of the next potential herd of unicorns.

Becoming a unicorn startup is a great accomplishment that very few can accomplish. In addition to essentials like a solid team and a healthy amount of capital, you also need great tools that can grow with your business.

If you’re still on the hunt for scalable software, check out our HubSpot for Startups to learn about how we’ve helped startups increase leads, accelerate sales, and streamline customer service.