These are the world’s most valuable unicorns
The US and China are home to the top 10 most valuable unicorns in the world, according to the report of Hurun research institute.
Mobile payments, ride-hailing and food delivery services, property rental marketplaces online, video-sharing apps have become an important part of our everyday life. It’s difficult to imagine that a decade ago many of these companies didn’t exist. In fact, the most valuable startups in the world on average were founded only seven years ago.
It comes as no surprise that today, when a landscape of future technologies and services undergoes rapid changes, global unicorns are in the spotlight. Recently released Hurun Global Unicorn List 2019 reveals companies that are worth to keep an eye on.
Chinese startup is the world’s most valuable unicorn
Chinese fintech startup Ant Financial is the most valuable unicorn in the world, according to the Hurun Global Unicorn List 2019, released by China-based The Hurun Research Institute. The company that is a spun out of Alibaba is valued at $150 billion. Founded in 2018, Ant Financial is a parent company of one of China’s dominant digital payments providers Alipay.
The list ranks the world’s tech startups that are worth over $1 billion, are founded in the 2000s and are not yet listed on a public exchange.
The second on the list comes Chinese startup ByteDance at $75 billion. Founded in 2012, ByteDance is famous for its video-sharing app TikTok.
The third of the most valuable unicorns in the world is also a Chinese company. A ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing is worth $55 billion.
Most valuable unicorns in the world
| Rank | Name | Valuation ($ billion) | Country |
| 1 | Ant Financial | 150 | China |
| 2 | ByteDance | 75 | China |
| 3 | Didi Chuxing | 55 | China |
| 4 | Infor | 50 | USA |
| 5 | JUUL Labs | 48 | USA |
| 6-7 | Airbnb | 38 | USA |
| 6-7 | Lufax | 38 | China |
| 8 | SpaceX | 35 | USA |
| 9 | WeWork | 30 | USA |
| 10 | Stripe | 23 | USA |
Source: Hurun Global Unicorn List 2019
Six of the top 10 most valuable unicorns are based in the US, while four are found in China, according to the report.
The most valuable American unicorns include a global leader in business cloud software Infor ($50 billion), an e-cigarette startup JUUL labs ($48 billion) and an online property rental marketplace Airbnb ($38 billion).
Less than 500 global unicorns
The researches found 494 unicorns in 24 countries of the total value of $1.7 trillion. Surprisingly, on average a unicorn was founded only seven years ago.
China-based research institute claims that China leads the way with 206 unicorns and beats the US that is home to 203 unicorns. However, a research company CB Insights in the US that was using a different methodology while preparing its ranking Global Unicorn Club, found more than 200 unicorns in the US and almost 100 in China.
India with 21 unicorns takes the third position in the Hurun Global Unicorn List 2019, followed by the UK with 13 unicorns.
E-commerce, fintech, clouds, AI sector, and shared economy are the leading industries that are represented by unicorns.
The ranking also gives insights about the most valuable unicorns in 24 countries. A ride-hailing, food delivery, and mobile payments company Grab is the most valuable startup in Singapore ($15 billion), an e-commerce payment system provider Paytm – in India ($10 billion), an online retailer Coupang – in South Korea ($9 billion), a pharmaceutical company Roivant Sciences – in Switzerland ($7 billion), an e-commerce company The Hut Group – in the UK ($5 billion), a simplified graphic-design tool Canva – in Australia ($3 billion), or a long-distance carpooling service BlaBlaCar – in France ($2 billion).
Most valuable unicorns by country
| Name | Valuation ($ billion) | Country |
| Ant Financial | 150 | China |
| Infor | 50 | USA |
| Grab | 15 | Singapore |
| GO-JEK | 10 | Indonesia |
| Paytm | 10 | India |
| Coupang | 9 | South Korea |
| Roivant Sciences | 7 | Switzerland |
| The Hut Group | 5 | UK |
| Auto1 Group | 4 | Germany |
| Klarna | 4 | Sweden |
| Nubank | 4 | Brazil |
| Canva | 3 | Australia |
| Binance | 2 | Malta |
| BlaBlaCar | 2 | France |
| Infinidat | 2 | Israel |
| Kaseya | 2 | Ireland |
| Preferred Networks | 2 | Japan |
| Auth0 | 1 | Argentina |
| Bolt | 1 | Estonia |
| Cabify | 1 | Spain |
| Global Fashion Group | 1 | Luxembourg |
| HMD | 1 | Finland |
| Revolution Precrafted | 1 | Philipines |
| Rappi | 1 | Colombia |
Source: Hurun Global Unicorn List 2019