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Secrets of the unicorns
Secrets of the unicorns
What it takes to build a $1 billion dollar company.
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ccording to Statista*, as of April 2021 there were 591 unicorn companies in the world. The large majority of these are located in the US (288), followed by China (133), India (32) and the UK (27). But there’s one region of the world that’s seeing more unicorns galloping into existence than ever before – Europe. In data provided by venture capital firm PitchBook, 23 companies in Europe and Israel became unicorns between 1 January and 10 June 2021 alone, compared with only eight across the entirety of 2020. The current Statista European unicorn count stands at 69*. During 2020, the region recorded unicorn growth in the fields of fintech (Sweden’s Klarna), banking (Germany’s N26) and automotive
(Germany’s Auto 1 Group), but 2021 has seen unicorns form in new sectors entirely – with many companies receiving a clear COVID-19 lockdown boost. Newcomer industries include takeaway food delivery (Finland’s Wolt), digital telehealth (Sweden’s Kry), online meal kit delivery (UK’s Gousto), mental health treatments (Germany’s atai Life Sciences), grocery delivery (Germany’s Gorillas), and digital-first pet insurance (UK’s Bought By Many). With the European unicorn stampede showing no signs of slowing down, and hundreds more companies being labelled as ‘soonicorns’, the remainder of 2021 looks set to be truly legendary for entrepreneurs across Europe.
Number of unicorns in Europe*
69 in total
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9 11
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6 12
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What is a unicorn company?
Did you know?
The collective noun for a group of unicorns is called a ‘blessing’. How fitting! 1. United Kingdom: 27 2. Germany: 15 3. France: 8 4. Switzerland: 5 5. Sweden: 3 6. Netherlands: 3 7. Spain: 2 8. Luxembourg: 1 9. Lithuania: 1 10. Croatia: 1 11. Ireland: 1 12. Belgium: 1 13. Estonia: 1
A unicorn is a privately owned startup valued at US$1 billion or over. Once a company has gone public or been acquired, it’s no longer considered a unicorn. The term was coined by venture capitalist Aileen Lee in 2013, using the mythical creature to describe the rarity of this level of success occurring.
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*Statista, 2021. D/srupt The magazine for innovators & entrepreneurs
Issue 4 / 2021–22
