40% of VC-funded US unicorns valued below $1 billion in secondary markets
Aileen Lee, cofounder of seed venture capital firm Cowboy Ventures.
Lee, who coined the term unicorn for startups valued at $1 billion or more, said more startups are likely to join the club where unicorn valuations will trade lower.
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With the current environment and investors' fear of ‘catching a falling knife’, she said more companies will face abrupt shutdowns in 2024.
Over the past decade, the number of US unicorns has surged significantly, ballooning from 39 in 2013 to 532 in 2023. According to Lee, despite challenges, the unicorn club will continue to grow at a rate of 15% year-on-year, reaching 1,400 over the next decade.
Enterprise in focus
Presently, there are 416 unicorns that are in enterprise businesses, constituting around 78% of the total unicorns in the US, with a combined worth of $1.2 trillion. A decade ago, only 38% of unicorns belonged to the enterprise category, amounting to $55 billion in total value (20%).
Top high-valued enterprise companies in the current landscape include OpenAI, Databricks, Samsara, VillageMD, and Cloud Kitchens.
Lee said that OpenAI is poised to become the first AI super unicorn, which
