Number of global unicorns in 2021, by country

The number of unicorn companies found in China in 2021 was bigger than those of 11 other countries, including Germany, India and the UK, combined. The country with the most unicorns, or privately owned companies with a valuation of one billion U.S. dollars or more, were however none of these countries, but rather the United States. SpaceX, Stripe, and Instacart were the biggest of these American companies in terms of market valuation.

Made in China

Although China did not have the highest number of unicorns worldwide, the country was home to some of the world's most important ones.ByteDance, for example, was valued at around 350 billion U.S. dollars as of 2021. This made the company not only the highest valued unicorn of China, but also the most valued unicorn of the world.

Ayo Technology

The Chinese company, owner of TikTok, reinforces the trend that global unicorns tend to be active in either fintech or technology. Over 110 of these high-valued startups were active in technology, with an additional 107 in finance, insurance and real estate. In comparison, there were roughly 50 unicorns specifically dedicated to health and pharmaceuticals. This growing market made up roughly ten percent of all unicorns in the U.S. and Canada, the fourth-largest segment in the North America region.