The Unicorn Board now has over 1,470 companies that have collectively raised around $900 billion with a combined value of just under $5 trillion. So far in 2023, $61 billion has been invested in unicorn companies, including billion-dollar fundings to OpenAI, Stripe, and Shein. The new unicorns in September come from various sectors including semiconductors, AI, sustainable energy, manufacturing, and fintech.
Key takeaways:
- Eight companies joined The Crunchbase Unicorn Board in September 2023, adding more than $15 billion in value. The two highly valued unicorns, Instacart and Klaviyo, marked the first major venture-backed startup exits since late 2021.
- As of October 2023, Instacart is valued at $7.2 billion and Klaviyo at $8 billion, both below their IPO prices, indicating a lukewarm reception from public-market investors for new technology stocks in a high interest rate environment.
- Through the third quarter of 2023, 64 companies have been added to the Unicorn Board, averaging around seven new companies per month. This is a significant decrease from the average of 27 companies per month in 2022 and 52 per month in 2021.
- The most highly valued new unicorn in September was China-based automotive chipmaker GTA Semiconductor, which raised $1.8 billion at a value of $6.3 billion. Other notable additions include AI software defense tech company Helsing, valued at $1.8 billion, and battery manufacturer Ascend Elements, valued at $1.5 billion.