China is host to the most valuable startups on the planet in the annual
Hurun Global Unicorn Index from the Hurun Research Institute. In a year largely
interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, China, the world’s second-largest
economy, has 227 unicorns as of March this year – around 35% of the world’s
unicorns.
A unicorn is a startup business that has a valuation of over $1 billion and is
typically younger than eight years. The term was popularised by venture
capitalist, Aileen Lee, who coined it so because of the extreme rarity of the
feat.
China has the second highest number of unicorns on the planet, according to
Hurun. The United States, the world’s largest and richest economy, had just six
more unicorns than China. Based on tallies counted at the end of March, the two
superpowers account for nearly 80% of the globe’s unicorns.
Rupert Hoogewerf, chief researcher and chairman of Hurun Research Institute,
said the world had much to learn from the report’s findings. Hoogewerf said the
two nations accounted for 80% of the planet’s unicorns but only 25% of the
population. He pinned this finding on their ability to provide ecosystems for
unicorns to thrive in.
The world’s most valuable unicorn, according to the report, is the Alibaba
affiliate, ANT Group. The digital financial services arm of Alibaba is valued
at $150 billion after its recent IPO in Shanghai and Hong Kong. ByteDance, the
parent company of the currently under fire TikTok app, is the world’s second
most valuable unicorn.
The world’s third largest unicorn is China’s largest cab-hailer, Didi Chuxing.
Valued at $55 billion, the group has made significant headway into the research
and development of autonomous driving.
China’s fourth entry in the top five unicorns is Lufax Holding, an online
wealth management platform.
Rounding out the top five, and America’s only representative in the group is
Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The South African-born’s Space Exploration Technology
Corporation currently has a value of $36 billion.
Chinese unicorns are spread out over many sectors but dominate in AI (21),
financial technology (18) and health technology(16).
Paul Haswell, an adviser from the law firm, Pinsent Masons, said the current
climate is difficult for Chinese unicorns to navigate and find investment.
Haswell said the current trend, for now, would be for unicorns to be acquired
by big tech firms as opposed to receiving actual investments.
The world’s unicorns are based in 29 countries and 145 cities.
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