When companies cross a valuation of $1 billion, they become unicorn companies—a new and exclusive club. These companies are companies you can’t find on any exchange, as they do not have a stock market listing. These companies are among the most successful and profitable companies in the world. They are also among the rarest, with just 568 companies existing by mid-2019 and expected to be around 200 by 2023. As a startup enthusiast and venture capital investor, you would want to be part of this select club and make money for your venture capital fund – wouldn’t you? In this blog, we’ll talk about what unicorn companies are and how many companies will be worth over $1 billion by 2023.

What is a Unicorn Company?

A unicorn is a privately held company with a valuation of more than $1 billion. It is considered a rare entity in the business world, as these companies have achieved high valuations in the midst of the startup world.

A unicorn is considered an outcome of venture capital funding and the startup revolution, wherein a startup can reach a unicorn-like valuation by going public or by receiving VC funding. The term unicorn was coined by venture capitalist Aileen Lee in 2013. She used it to refer to companies with a valuation of over $10 billion.

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How Many Unicorn Companies Are There in 2023?

• According to hubspot In the year 2022, the unicorn companies will be valued at $3.5 trillion and there are more than 900 companies globally with a valuation of $1 billion or higher, making them unicorn companies.
• As per the cbninsights , in March 2023 there are 1,200 unicorns around the world. However, there is no accurate number for how many unicorn companies the world has by that time as new companies continue to be funded and acquired at an exponential rate.
• The unicorn funding model has proven to be successful for startups as it provides access to venture capital at a high valuation and helps make their business concept more viable and efficient to more financial gains for investors and founders due to greater valuation.
• One way to identify unicorn startup companies is by looking out for three key characteristics of valuation above $1 billion startup can achieve after raising venture capital from venture capitalists and growing its valuation to more than $1 billion- in addition to technology innovation and scalable business model.

Top 40 Unicorn Companies of 2023 In The World

The top 40 unicorn companies of 2023 are estimated to be worth more than $10 billion each, known as decacorns. As of January 2019, South Korea and Great Britain have the highest number of unicorn companies. The first three companies on the list are, Bytedance and SHEIN ranking 1st and 3rd respectively.

The fastest company to unicorn in 2022 was Aptos, which was founded in December 2021 and closed its first funding at a valuation of $1 billion by the end of 2022. The current startup boom is inspiring new perspectives on entrepreneurship and technology innovation and is directly impacting the startup ecosystem worldwide. It is poised for new highs but is also vulnerable due to regulatory hurdles and risk aversion by venture capital investors.

S.N.	Name	Funding	Date Joined	Country	City	Industry	Investors
1	ByteDance	$140	4/7/2017	China	Beijing	Artificial intelligence	Sequoia Capital China, SIG Asia Investments, Sina Weibo, Softbank Group
2	SpaceX	$127	12/1/2012	United States	Hawthorne	Other	Founders Fund, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Rothenberg Ventures
3	SHEIN	$100	7/3/2018	China	Shenzhen	E-commerce & direct-to-consumer	Tiger Global Management, Sequoia Capital China, Shunwei Capital Partners
4	Stripe	$63	1/23/2014	United States	San Francisco	Fintech	Khosla Ventures, LowercaseCapital, capitalG
5	Canva	$40	1/8/2018	Australia	Surry Hills	Internet software & services	Sequoia Capital China, Blackbird Ventures, Matrix Partners
6	Checkout	$40	5/2/2019	United Kingdom	London	Fintech	Tiger Global Management, Insight Partners, DST Global
7	Revolut	$33	4/26/2018	United Kingdom	London	Fintech	index Ventures, DST Global, Ribbit Capital
8	Epic Games	$31.50	10/26/2018	United States	Cary	Other	Tencent Holdings, KKR, Smash Ventures
9	Databricks	$31	2/5/2019	United States	San Francisco	Data management & analytics	Andreessen Horowitz, New Enterprise Associates, Battery Ventures
10	Fanatics	$31	6/6/2012	United States	Jacksonville	E-commerce & direct-to-consumer	SoftBank Group, Andreessen Horowitz, Temasek Holdings
11	Chime	$25	3/5/2019	United States	San Francisco	Fintech	Forerunner Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Homebrew
12	BYJU’s	$22	7/25/2017	India	Bengaluru	Edtech	Tencent Holdings, Lightspeed India Partners, Sequoia Capital India
13	OpenAI	$20	7/22/2019	United States	San Francisco	Artificial intelligence	Khosla Ventures, Microsoft, Infosys
14	Xiaohongshu	$20	3/31/2016	China	Shanghai	E-commerce & direct-to-consumer	GGV Capital, ZhenFund, Tencent
15	J&T Express	$20	4/7/2021	Indonesia	Jakarta	Supply chain, logistics, & delivery	Hillhouse Capital Management, Boyu Capital, Sequoia Capital China
16	Miro	$17.50	1/5/2022	United States	San Francisco	Internet software & services	Accel, AltaIR Capital, Technology Crossover Ventures
17	DJI Innovations	$15	1/23/2015	China	Shenzhen	Hardware	Accel Partners, Sequoia Capital
18	Discord	$15	4/20/2018	United States	San Francisco	Internet software & services	Benchmark, Greylock Partners, Tencent Holdings
19	goPuff	$15	10/8/2020	United States	Philadelphia	Supply chain, logistics, & delivery	Accel, Softbank Group, Anthos Capital
20	Ripple	$15	12/20/2019	United States	San Francisco	Fintech	IDG Capital, Venture51, Lightspeed Venture Partners
21	Bolt	$11	10/8/2021	United States	San Francisco	Fintech	Activant Capital, Tribe Capital, General Atlantic
22	Alchemy	$10.20	10/28/2021	United States	San Francisco	Fintech	DFJ Growth Fund, Coatue Management, Addition
23	Swiggy	$10.70	6/21/2018	India	Bengaluru	Supply chain, logistics, & delivery	Accel India, SAIF Partners, Norwest Venture Partners
24	Wiz	$10	3/17/2021	Israel	Tel Aviv	Cybersecurity	Insight Partners, Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures
25	Gusto	$10	12/18/2015	United States	San Francisco	Fintech	General Catalyst Partners, Google Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
26	Reddit	$10	7/31/2017	United States	San Francisco	Internet software & services	Y Combinator, Sequoia Capital, Coatue Management
27	Digital Currency Group	$10	11/1/2021	United States	New York	Fintech	Ribbit Capital, capitalG, Softbank Group
28	KuCoin	$10	5/10/2022	Seychelles	Victoria	Fintech	IDG Capital, Matrix Partners China, Jump Crypto
29	OYO Rooms	$9	9/25/2018	India	Gurugram	Travel	SoftBank Group, Sequoia Capital India,Lightspeed India Partners
30	Dream11	$8	4/9/2019	India	Mumbai	Internet software & services	Kaalari Capital, Tencent Holdings, Steadview Capital
31	Scale AI	$7.30	8/5/2019	United States	San Francisco	Artificial intelligence	Accel, Y Combinator, Index Ventures
32	Gemini	$7.10	11/19/2021	United States	New York	Fintech	Morgan Creek Digital, Marcy Venture Partners, 10T Fund
33	Ola Cabs	$7.50	10/27/2014	India	Bengaluru	Auto & Transportation	Accel Partners, SoftBank Group, Sequoia Capital
34	CRED	$6.40	4/6/2021	India	Bengaluru	Fintech	Tiger Global Management, DST Global, Sequoia Capital India
35	Upgrade	$6.28	2/12/2018	United States	San Francisco	Fintech	Union Square Ventures, Ribbit Capital, VY Capital
36	OneTrust	$5.10	7/11/2019	United States	Atlanta	Internet software & services	Insight Partners
37	Cerebral	$4.80	6/10/2021	United States	San Francisco	Health	Oak HC/FT Partners, Artis Ventures, WestCap Group
38	Meesho	$4.90	4/5/2021	India	Bengaluru	Internet software & services	Venture Highway, Sequoia Capital India, Prosus Ventures
39	Socure	$4.50	3/16/2021	United States	New York	Cybersecurity	Two Sigma Ventures, Flint Capital, Commerce Ventures
40	Aptos	$1	3/15/2022	United States	Palo Alto	Internet software & services	Andreessen Horowitz, Coinbase Ventures, Tiger Global Management

Total Funding Amounts of the Top Companies

• Bytedance, the world’s most valuable private company, has amassed a valuation of $140 billion- On its debut on the unicorn club by valuation and funding amount, ByteDance is worth $140 billion. The company is known for its internet-based services and is primarily known as a creator of artificial intelligence-powered internet services. The startup was founded by former tech executives from companies like Huawei and Xiaomi and has developed services like AI-assisted internet services and e-commerce platforms.
• SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, has a valuation of $46 billion- In space exploration and space technology startup, SpaceX is worth $46 billion as of July 2018. The startup is known for developing and launching rockets into space. It was founded by Musk in 2002 as a venture capital company and later transformed into an aerospace company.
• Stripe, a financial services and payment software company, has a valuation of $95 billion- In financial tech startup Stripe is worth $63 bn. The startup is known for creating financial services that can be accessed through the Internet and mobile devices.
• Canva is valued at $40 billion As a startup in the graphic design space Canva is known for providing easy-to-use graphic design tools on various platforms such as mobile phones and Computers.

What Makes These Companies Successful?

Unicorn companies have achieved a billion-dollar valuation and These companies typically have a mission that speaks to their target customers, such as “Do what you love”- They also often acquire other businesses to increase their reach, such as Atlassian’s acquisition of Trello for $425 million. They excel in customer-focused messaging, scalable sales processes and sales agility. They have great products, but sales processes are also highly important to their success.

In short, unicorn companies epitomize the startup world’s highest echelon. These companies excel in customer-focused messaging and scalable sales processes and aren’t afraid to invest heavily in technology and research. But they can’t be dismissed as purely financial entities. they also create innovative products and employ causes as part of their business model.

In conclusion, companies revolutionizing the way we access services and products, it is safe to say that companies that stand out from the crowd are here to stay. The companies and entrepreneurs mentioned above have all been startup success stories and can be a source of inspiration for others. Have a read of our blog on ‘2023 Top SaaS Seed Investors‘ for more information. It can be your next reading material.