UK ranks among best countries for unicorn startups in the world

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Unicorn start-ups are businesses which are independently owned and valued at over $1 billion. Known as ‘unicorns’ for their rarity, there are currently only 750 such businesses in the world according to cbinsights.com.

Interested in finding out more about these businesses, Money.co.uk set out to find out which countries, and sectors, produce the start-ups that reach a $1 billion valuation fastest by analysing every unicorn company’s start date and the date of its $1 billion valuation.

UK: 

Money.co.uk can reveal that the UK is the ninth best country in the world for unicorn start-ups. With 31 businesses currently valued at over $1 billion, it has taken the UK’s unicorn businesses an average of 8 years and 7 months to reach the valuation of $1 billion.

For more information about the UK’s unicorn businesses, please see the spreadsheet in the Dropbox folder linked below titled ‘Money.co.uk Unicorn Businesses – Countries’.

Countries overview: 

Country

Total number of unicorn companies

Average years taken to reach $1B

#1

China

155

5 years, 10 months

#2

Hong Kong

5

6 years, 1 month

#3

Japan

6

6 years, 3 months

=#4

USA

378

6 years, 11 months

=#4

Singapore

6

6 years, 11 months

=#4

Australia

6

6 years, 11 months

#7

Israel

17

7 years, 3 months

#8

France

16

8 years, 3 months

#9

UK

31

8 years, 7 months

#10

India

34

8 years, 9 months

#11

Brazil

12

8 years, 10 months

#12

Canada

12

10 years, 9 months

#13

South Korea

10

10 years, 10 months

#14

Germany

16

11 years, 5 months

#15

Switzerland

5

14 years, 11 months

The country that produces the start-ups which reach a $1 billion valuation fastest is China, with its 155 unicorn companies taking an average of just 5 years and 10 months to reach $1 billion.

The second fastest country for unicorn businesses to reach $1 billion is Hong Kong, whose businesses take an average of 6 years and 1 month, followed by Japan’s which take an average of 6 years and 3 months.

Fourth spot is taken by the USASingapore, and Australia, whose unicorn companies all took an average of 6 years and 11 months to reach $1 billion.

The country that produces the most unicorn businesses is the USA (378 businesses), followed by China (155), and India (34).

Sectors overview: 

Sector

Total number of unicorn companies

Average years taken to reach $1B

#1

Auto & Transportation

31

4 years, 5 months

#2

Artificial Intelligence

62

5 years, 6 months

#3

Hardware

27

5 years, 7 months

=#4

Mobile & Telecommunications

35

6 years, 4 months

=#4

E-Commerce & Direct-to-Consumer

82

6 years, 4 months

=#6

Supply Chain, Logistics & Delivery

42

6 years, 11 months

=#6

Cybersecurity

30

6 years, 11 months

#8

Data Management & Analytics

27

7 years, 0 months

#9

Fintech

131

7 years, 1 month

#10

Travel

13

7 years, 4 months


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