The number of startups qualifying as unicorns has grown significantly in the last year and a half. The exact percentage of unicorn growth in numbers since 01/01/2021 comes to 162 per cent with 707 new unicorns emerging in that period. Up until the end of 2020, the total headcount of the mythical herd was just 436.
Recently researchers at TradingPedia published a comprehensive visual report, where they analysed the volumes, geographical distribution, density and ownership behind unicorns.
Fintech is the leading industry with 241 Unicorns in total. It is followed by internet software and services with 217 mythical creatures. At number three we have e-commerce and direct-to-consumer with 115 unicorns.
As shown in the previous report, fintech is also leading by total valuation of its startups. However, the most fascinating aspect of the fintech market is the compelling growth of the number of fintech unicorns.
Fintech Unicorns quadruple in less than 18 months
The number of fintech unicorns on New Year’s Eve 2020 was just 56. What happened in 2021 was unheard of – 138 new fintech companies emerged into the herd. Just in the first five months of 2022, another 47 startups joined the ranks for a total of 241 fintech unicorns as of June, 2022.
Many other industries also thrived throughout this period. We see internet software and services at number two with a massive 274 per cent growth. Number three and four in the list are occupied by Cybersecurity and Health, which both saw an improvement of beyond 200 per cent with 267 per cent and 207 per cent growth in numbers respectively.
“With the unforeseen events of recent years the world became even more reliant on the Internet. That is clearly visible by the fact where most of the venture capital went into in the last 18 months. It comes as no surprise that the first five industries by unicorn growth in numbers are fintech, internet software and services, cybersecurity, health and big data in that order. Fintech is the undisputed number one with banks and decentralised exchanges competing who will shape the future of digital currencies and finance,” commented Brian McColl, analyst at TradingPedia.
