What is a unicorn company?
Key takeaways
- A unicorn is a privately held company valued above one billion dollars.
- The term was popularized in 2013 by investor Aileen Lee of Cowboy Ventures.
- Decacorns are above 10 billion dollars and hectocorns above 100 billion dollars.
- Several private companies now exceed 100 billion dollars in reported valuation.
A unicorn is a privately held company, usually a technology startup, with a valuation above one billion dollars. The term was popularized in 2013 by the venture investor Aileen Lee, founder of Cowboy Ventures, to describe how rare such companies were at the time.
Related categories
- Decacorn: a private company valued above 10 billion dollars.
- Hectocorn: a private company valued above 100 billion dollars.
Why unicorns stay private longer
Abundant private capital, the growth of the secondary market and the cost and complexity of a public listing have allowed many companies to postpone an IPO. A larger share of their growth is therefore captured by private investors before shares reach the public market.
How large the biggest have become
Reported valuations in 2026 include Anthropic at about 965 billion dollars and OpenAI at more than 700 billion dollars, depending on source. SpaceX listed in June 2026 at a valuation of about 1.77 trillion dollars. See the unicorn tracker for figures and dates.
How investors gain exposure
Exposure before an IPO comes through secondary purchases of existing shares, SPVs, funds or direct participation in funding rounds, each with its own constraints.
Related guides
- What is pre-IPO investing?
- How to value a private unicorn
- How to invest in OpenAI, Anthropic, Stripe and Databricks before an IPO