Global startup economy is expanding but U.S, China still lead with unicorns

There are more unicorns worldwide than you think. But the club of unicorns for tech-enterprises valued above one billion US dollar status is still for a very small number of startups.

Per a MoneyTransfers.com analysis, there were 1,087 unicorns as of April 21, 2022. These had a collective valuation of nearly $3.64 trillion. Moreover, 519 of these attained the $1B status in 2021.

Unicorns may not be as rare as before, but joining the herd is no mean feat. Virendra Gupta, CEO of Dailyhunt, agrees. He says, “Every company that has become a unicorn has slogged for the last eight-nine years to be where they are today.”

The U.S dominates the unicorn space

MoneyTransfers’ analysis also gives a geographic distribution of these unicorns. It indicates a concentration of them in the U.S. and China. While the U.S is home to 554 of these, China boasts another 180. India comes in at third place with 64 of them.

Most of the U.S based firms are headquartered in the tech hubs of San Francisco and New York. Other areas hosting them are Seattle, South Carolina, and Boston, and several reasons explain their concentration in the country and the Silicon Valley in particular.

The American allure for startups

Firstly, America has some of the most business-friendly laws around. These provide a conducive environment for businesses to set up and thrive. Additionally, many consider it a safer operating environment than many others.

As for setting up within Silicon Valley, this is where innovation and Venture Capital reside. Those two are the mainstay of the startup economy. Any business set up here can tap into the abundant supply of tech know-how and deep pockets of venture capitalists.