Number of global unicorns in 2020, by country

The number of unicorn companies found in China in early 2020 was bigger than those of 29 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 in none of these countries, but rather in the United States. Infor, JUUL Labs and The We Company were the biggest of these American companies, when looking at their market value.

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. ANT Financial, for example, was valued at around 125 billion U.S. dollars as of January 2020. 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, a spin-off from Alibaba's Alipay, reinforces the trend that global unicorns tend to be active in either Fintech or technology. Over 140 of these high-valued startups were active in technology, with an additional 100 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.