Unicorns, defined as privately owned companies valued at over $1 billion, are becoming increasingly common. AI startups, in particular, are rapidly growing and achieving remarkable success shortly after their inception. For example, OpenAI, the San Francisco-based company behind ChatGPT, is currently valued at $80 billion, making it the world's third-largest unicorn startup by market valuation, following ByteDance and SpaceX.
The AI hype over the past two years, coupled with OpenAI's status as the third-largest privately held company globally, motivated our team at BestBrokers to analyze the most recent dataset on unicorn startups from CB Insights. We aimed to identify the companies that joined this mythical group in 2024 and found that out of 28 startups reaching unicorn status this year, 12—nearly 43%—are AI-focused. Additionally, 8 are in the Fintech or Crypto sectors.
Artificial Intelligence Dominating the Unicorn Landscape in 2024
Many of the private companies reaching unicorn status this year are unsurprisingly AI startups. Of the 28 companies that saw their market value exceed $1 billion by the end of May 2024, 12 are developing artificial intelligence systems—such as generative AI and large language models—or heavily implementing AI into their main products and services.
One notable example is Sunnyvale-based Figure, which is developing general-purpose humanoid robots. Launched in 2022, the company has raised $854 million in venture capital and angel funding from investors like Intel Capital, OpenAI Startup Fund, Bezos Expeditions, and the Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund, achieving a valuation of $2.68 billion.
Another interesting AI unicorn is Cognition AI, based in San Francisco, which has developed AI software that functions as a software engineer, capable of coding and potentially developing new AI autonomously in the future. Founded in 2023, Cognition AI has raised $196 million and is valued at approximately $2 billion.
Perplexity.ai is among the latest additions to the AI unicorn herd, challenging Google's dominance in internet search. The company raised $62.7 million in its fourth funding round, surpassing $1 billion in valuation in April 2024.
The Largest Privately Held Companies in the World
As of May 2024, the number of privately held unicorns reached 1,241, with Chinese social media giant ByteDance leading the chart by market valuation. The company behind TikTok is followed by U.S.-based spacecraft maker SpaceX and the company that brought AI to the masses—OpenAI. Here are the ten most valuable unicorns as of May 2024:
Which Countries Are Home to the Most Unicorns?
The United States has consistently held the title for the most unicorns, housing more than half of all startups at 662. Interestingly, many of these companies were started by immigrants or established elsewhere before relocating to the U.S. Notable examples include SpaceX, Databricks, and Stripe.
The U.S. boasts 662 unicorns with a combined worth of over $2.153 trillion, followed by China with 169 unicorns valued at $641.7 billion, and India with 71 unicorns worth $192.24 billion.
Silicon Valley, New York, and Beijing – The Unicorn Capitals in 2024
