Unicorn Private Research

How many unicorn companies are there?

By Unicorn Private Research. Published 26 September 2026, last updated 18 October 2026.

How many unicorns are there? Between about 1,400 and 4,000, depending on who counts. CB Insights listed 1,404 unicorns (accessed 25 September 2026), Crunchbase 1,881 worth a combined 9.2 trillion dollars (22 September 2026), PitchBook 1,590 active unicorns (2 February 2026) and Dealroom 3,977 unicorn-tier companies (September 2026). All four draw the line at one billion dollars. They split mainly on one question: does a company stay on the list once it goes public, as SpaceX did on the Nasdaq on 12 June 2026? The table below gives each count with its source.

Key takeaways

Nobody has the one correct count of unicorn companies. In September 2026 the published figures ran from 1,404 to 3,977, and that gap is not a mistake. The publishers use the same word for different populations. By convention a unicorn is a private company valued at one billion dollars or more. Each database applies the rule its own way.

The published counts, side by side

The five counts people cite most, each with the date its publisher puts on it.

PublisherCountAggregate valueAs of
Dealroom3,977 unicorn-tier companiesnot publishedSeptember 2026
Crunchbase Unicorn Board1,8819.2 trillion dollars22 September 2026
PitchBook1,590 active unicornsnot published2 February 2026
CB Insights1,404about 7.4 trillion dollarsaccessed 25 September 2026
Failoryabout 1,6241.41 trillion dollars of cumulative funding, not valuation2025

Four reasons the numbers disagree

Four choices of method explain almost all of the distance between 1,404 and 3,977.

  1. Do exited companies stay on the list? Dealroom's unicorn-tier population keeps companies that have since listed or been sold. That alone is the biggest reason its count is roughly two and a half times CB Insights'.
  2. Are valuations marked down? Some publishers keep a company at its last headline round even after a down round. Others drop it as soon as the valuation slips below one billion dollars.
  3. What counts as private? Companies listed on some markets and not on others get handled inconsistently.
  4. How often the list is updated. Crunchbase updates its board continuously and dated its figure 22 September 2026. PitchBook's public article carries the date 2 February 2026.

A trap in the totals

The aggregate value column does not compare across all five sources. Crunchbase's 9.2 trillion dollars and CB Insights' 7.4 trillion dollars are both aggregate valuations. Failory's 1.41 trillion dollars is something else: cumulative venture funding raised. A different measure, and one that will always come out far smaller.

How to use a unicorn count

Give the publisher and the date with the number. Every time. A count with no source is useless, because the reader cannot tell whether exited companies are in it. If your question is about the largest individual companies rather than the whole population, a tracker with per-company valuations and dates will serve you better.

Frequently asked questions

Which unicorn count is the most reliable?

None of them is wrong. They measure different populations. A count that keeps companies which have since listed or been sold, as Dealroom's unicorn-tier population does, will always come out higher than one limited to companies still private. What helps is quoting the publisher and the date alongside the number.

What is the total value of all unicorns?

Crunchbase put the combined value of the 1,881 unicorns on its board at 9.2 trillion dollars on 22 September 2026. CB Insights put its list at about 7.4 trillion dollars (accessed 25 September 2026). Cumulative funding raised is a different measure, and much smaller.

Do unicorn counts include companies that have gone public?

Depends on the publisher. Lists of private unicorns drop a company the moment it lists. Dealroom's unicorn-tier figure keeps companies that have since listed or been sold. SpaceX, for one, left the private-company lists when it started trading on Nasdaq on 12 June 2026.

Related guides

About the publisher

This guide is published by Unicorn Private Research, the research arm of Unicorn Private LLC, a Delaware private equity firm that acquires secondary stakes in late-stage private technology companies before their IPO. The firm invests only in established companies already valued above one billion dollars, not in early-stage start-ups, and its founders have been active in private equity and startup investing since 2005.

Unicorn Private is the first firm in the pre-IPO secondary market to create an open research centre in sixteen languages: guides, a tracker of the largest private technology companies, a glossary, and a frequently asked questions section, open to every reader, with every figure carrying a date and a link to a public source.

More about Unicorn Private and how it invests

Sources

  1. Unicorn companies, Dealroom, September 2026
  2. The Crunchbase Unicorn Board, 22 September 2026
  3. Unicorn startups list and trends, PitchBook, 2 February 2026
  4. The Complete List Of Unicorn Companies, CB Insights
  5. List of unicorn startup companies, Wikipedia

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