The United States has emerged as the country with the largest number of unicorn startups, with 714 of them.
The USA is followed by China with 156 unicorn startups and India ranked third with 68 of them.
For emphasis, unicorn startups are privately held companies valued at $1 billion or more and represent some of the most successful and fast-growing ventures in the business world.
According to BestBrokers’ analysis of CB Insights, while new unicorn startups continue to appear each year, the pace at which they do has slowed since the frenzied boom of 2021 and 2022, when hundreds of companies reached this milestone.
In the insight made available to The Guardian yesterday, the United Kingdom is fourth with 55 unicorn startups. Others are Germany (33), France (29), Israel (24), Canada (22), Brazil (18) and Singapore, which ranked 10th, is home to 16 unicorns respectively.
In terms of cities with the most unicorns in 2025, San Francisco emerged number one with 196 startups; New York is next with 124; Beijing is third with 59, London is fourth with 44 and Shanghai ranked fifth with 34 startups.
The insight noted that as of early September 2025, 63 private companies have achieved unicorn status, reaching valuations of $1 billion or more. At the forefront is Thinking Machines Lab, founded in February by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati. In just five months, the startup secured $2 billion in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz, pushing its valuation to an impressive $12 billion.
Further, it noted that in 2025, AI (17) and Enterprise Tech (15) dominate new unicorn creation, reflecting investors’ focus on software, automation, and scalable technology. Fintech (5), Robotics (4), and Healthcare (3) follow, while a broad range of other sectors, from Defence Tech to Renewable Energy, produced single unicorns, highlighting that high-value startups are increasingly concentrated in a few high-growth industries but still emerging across diverse fields.
Out of the world’s 10 most valuable private companies, four are AI startups, which are OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, and Databricks, each valued at over $100 billion. The list also features leaders in aerospace (SpaceX), media (ByteDance), fintech (Stripe, Revolut), enterprise and consumer tech (Canva), and consumer retail (SHEIN). Collectively, these ten companies are worth an estimated $1.665 trillion.
The report noted that SpaceX has been the world’s most valuable private company since December 2024, starting at a $350 billion valuation thanks to Starlink’s rapid growth. By July 2025, that figure had surged to approximately $400 billion, cementing its position at the top of the private market.
