Tech Unicorns – Top 10 Themes in 2021 – Thematic Research

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Published: September 30, 2021 Report Code: GDTMT-TR-S336-TH

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The term unicorn describes a rare, mythical creature, but unicorns (privately held companies worth $1bn or more) are no longer rare. There are currently 826 unicorns, of which 751 are tech unicorns. In early 2020, there was a pandemic-induced slowdown in new tech unicorn births. However, 2021 promises to be a record year, with 228 new tech unicorns created in H1 2021 alone. The US is home to half of the tech unicorns today, followed by China. The US hosts most of the cloud, fintech, healthtech, big data, and cybersecurity unicorns. China leads in AI unicorns. Tiger Global is the leading investor in tech unicorns. Sequoia Capital and Softbank follow closely behind. All three have a strong portfolio in top three themes: ecommerce, cloud, and fintech. The pandemic caused a slowdown in unicorn creation in early 2020, but 2021 is the strongest year yet. A total of 228 new unicorns were born in H1 2021 alone.

What are the top themes in which unicorns operate?

Half of today’s tech unicorns are operating in the e-commerce, cloud, fintech themes, AI, Healthtech, Edtech, Bigdata, Cybersecurity, Digital Media and Blockchain. The ecommerce, cloud, and fintech unicorns together are worth more than $1.2 trillion. These internet-driven themes saw a strong growth amid the pandemic. Another 30% of today’s unicorns operate in AI, healthtech, Edtech, big data, cybersecurity, digital media, and blockchain themes. There are also a handful of unicorns in capital-intensive themes like space economy, batteries, 3D printing, and quantum computing. Due to high barriers to entry, only a few start-ups in these themes can achieve unicorn status.

What is the geographical distribution of tech unicorns operating in the top 10 themes?

The regions included are US, China, Europe, APAC ex. China and rest of the world. The US hosts most of the cloud, fintech, healthtech, big data, and cybersecurity unicorn. The first unicorns emerged in the US in the early 2000s and the country continues to lead the unicorn club. It is currently home to 379 tech unicorns. The number of unicorns in other geographies is also growing rapidly.

The US is home to half of the tech unicorns today, while China hosts 22% of them. The US hosts most of the cloud, fintech, healthtech, big data, and cybersecurity unicorns. China leads in AI unicorns

Geographies with most tech unicorns, 2021

Geographies with most tech unicorns, 2021

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Who are the leading investors in tech unicorns?

Tiger Global is the leading investor in today’s tech unicorns followed by Sequoia Capital and Softbank. These investors have a strong portfolio in the top three themes, e-commerce, cloud, and fintech. All of the top 20 investors have invested in these three themes. We are seeing increasing investments in themes like AI, healthtech, and edtech. Investors are starting to invest in blockchain, a trend that is likely to increase. Sequoia Capital has invested in six digital media unicorns including Canva, Deezer, and Kuainkan Manhua. The other investors are Accel, Coatue, Andreessen Horowitz, Goldman Sachs, Tencent Holdings, Fidelity Investments GV and Insight partners. Accel and Insight Partners are the leading investors in cybersecurity unicorns. Accel has invested in big cybersecurity unicorns like Netskope, Synk, and Illumio, while Insight Partner backs OneTrust, Transmit Security, and Acronis.

Leading investors in tech unicorns, 2021

Leading investors in tech unicorns, 2021

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Market report scope

Key Themes Ecommerce, Cloud, Fintech, AI, Healthtech, Edtech, Big data, Cybersecurity, Digital media, and Blockchain
Key Investors Tiger Global Management, Sequoia Capital, Softbank, Accel, Coatue, Andreessen Horowitz, Goldman Sachs, Tencent Holdings, Fidelity Investments GV and Insight partners.

Scope

  • This report looks at the top 10 themes in which today’s tech unicorns operate.
  • It includes a list of all the current unicorns for each theme.
  • It also provides details of the current top 10 unicorns operating in each theme, including valuation, funding, country, and description.
  • In addition, we include the geographical distribution of the current tech unicorns for each theme, the top investors by the number of investments in the current unicorns, the unicorns which we expect to exit the club in the next two years, and a list of start-ups that we expect will soon become unicorns.

Key Highlights

In early 2020, there was a pandemic-induced slowdown in new tech unicorn births. However, 2021 promises to be a record year, with 228 new tech unicorns created in H1 2021 alone.

Half of today’s tech unicorns are operating in the ecommerce, cloud, or fintech themes. Another 30% operate in the AI, healthtech, edtech, big data, cybersecurity, digital media, and blockchain themes.

The US is home to half of the tech unicorns today, while China hosts 22% of them. The US hosts most of the cloud, fintech, healthtech, big data, and cybersecurity unicorns. China leads in AI unicorns.

Tiger Global is the leading investor in tech unicorns. Sequoia Capital and Softbank follow closely behind. All three have a strong portfolio in top three themes: ecommerce, cloud, and fintech.

Reasons to Buy

  • The number of tech unicorns is growing rapidly. This report will help you understand why and identify the themes that are driving this growth.

  • It highlights the top 10 tech themes in which today’s unicorns operate. These include ecommerce, cloud, fintech, AI, healthtech, EdTech, big data, cybersecurity, digital media, and blockchain.

  • It includes predictions on which unicorns might IPO soon and an analysis of start-ups that we expect to achieve unicorn status.

  • In addition, it provides an analysis of the leading investors in unicorns, including a look at the themes in which they are investing.

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Hopin
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Indegene
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MatchMove Pay
Matrix Partners
MEGVII
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MessageBird
Miaoshou Doctor
Monzo
N26
Navi Technologies
Neo4j Inc
Netskope
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Ninja Van
Noom
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Tencent Holdings
Tessian
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The Hut Group
Thought Machine
ThoughtSpot
Thrive Capital
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Table of Contents

Executive Summary

How many tech unicorns exist today?

Where do today’s tech unicorns live?

What are the top 10 unicorn themes?

Who are the top investors in tech unicorns today?

Glossary

Further reading

Our thematic research methodology

Frequently asked questions

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