Unicorn (finance)

This article is about the financing term. For the fictional animal, see Unicorn.
For other uses, see Unicorn (disambiguation).

In business, a unicorn is a startup company valued at over US$1 billion which is privately owned and not listed on a share market. The term was first published in 2013, coined by venture capitalist Aileen Lee, choosing the mythical animal to represent the statistical rarity of such successful ventures.

Many unicorns saw their valuations fall in 2022 as a result of an economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase in interest rates causing the cost of borrowing to grow, increased market volatility, stricter regulatory scrutiny and underperformance. CB Insights identified 1,248 unicorns worldwide as of May 2024. Unicorns with over $10 billion in valuation have been designated as "decacorn" companies. For private companies valued over $100 billion, the terms "centicorn" and "hectocorn" have been used. Historically, founded in 1946 American Research & Development Corporation (ARDC) is considered the first modern venture capital firm; ARDC's first breakout investment in 1957 of $70,000 in Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) became the defining success of early venture capital, and is considered the first 'unicorn'-level return investment with ARDC's Dorothy Rowe (venture capitalist) as the lead board member.

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