In June 2025, Shanghai(China) based Hurun Research Institute released the 7th edition of “Global Unicorn Index ” report, in which India retained its 3rd rank globally with a total of 64 unicorns.
- The United States of America (USA) continued to be in the top position with 758 unicorns, accounting for 49.8% of the world total number of unicorns. It was followed by China in the index with 343 unicorns.
- Germany ranks 5th globally with 36 unicorns, followed by France at 6th with 30. Canada has moved up to 7th place with 28 unicorns, while Israel slipped to 8th with 20. South Korea and Singapore share the 9th position, each with 18 unicorns.
About Global Unicorn Index:
i.The index is a ranking of the world’s unicorns, defined as start-ups founded in the 2000s, worth at least USD 1 billion and not yet listed on a public exchange.
- The index has been tracking unicorns since 2017.
ii.The data in the index covers the period from January 2024 to January 2025.
iii.The unicorns leave the Global Unicorn Index either by being ‘promoted’, i.e., by listing on a public exchange (IPO) or being acquired, or by being ‘demoted’, when their value drops below USD 1 billion..
Note: The term “unicorn” was coined in 2013 by American venture capitalist Aileen Lee.
Highlights of Hurun’s Global Unicorn Index 2025:
Key Highlights:
i.The index listed a total of 1523 unicorns (up by 5% compared to 2024) in the world, based in 52 countries.
- The total value of the world’s unicorns reached USD 5.6 trillion (tn), up by 22%.
ii.As per the index, a total of 203 unicorns were minted newly last year, averaging one every two days.
- The USA led the count with 108 new unicorns, followed by China with 36, and the rest of the world contributing 59.
iii.The Fintech, Software as a Service (Saas) and AI collectively accounted for 31% of the world’s unicorns.
- Fintech leads with 197 unicorns, followed by SaaS with 151 and AI with 128.
iv.SpaceX(USA), with a valuation of USD 350bn has become the most valuable company in the world, overtaking ByteDance(China).
- It is for the 1st time a space exploration company has led the index.
v.OpenAI witnessed the fastest jump in valuation, soaring from USD 20bn to USD 300bn in just two years.
- The San Francisco(USA) -based xAI, founded in 2023, was the youngest company among the Hurun Global Top 10 unicorns.
- Apart from xAI, the London based online bank Revolut Up and USA based Anthropic were new additions to the Top 10 Unicorns.
vi.The Tiger global(USA) management retains the crown of ‘world’s most successful unicorn investor’ followed by Softbank(Japan), and Sequoia capital(USA) ranking third.
vii.As per the index, Poland, Bangladesh, and Iran are the largest economies in the world without a single unicorn.
Top 5 countries with Most number of Unicorns:
| Rank | Country | Number of Unicorns | Up/Down compared to 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States of America(USA) | 758 | +55 |
| 2 | China | 343 | +3 |
| 3 | India | 64 | -3 |
| 4 | United Kingdom (U.K) | 61 | +8 |
| 5 | Germany | 36 | 0 |
Top 5 Global Unicorns in Global Unicorn Index 2025:
| Rank | Unicorn | Valuation (USD billion) | Country | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SpaceX | 350 | United States of America(USA) | Aerospace |
| 2 | OpenAI | 300 | USA | Artificial Intelligence (AI) |
| 2 | ByteDance | 300 | China | Social Media |
| 4 | xAI | 115 | USA | AI |
| 5 | Ant Group | 87 | China | FinTech |
Regional Rankings:
i.Southeast Asia is steadily strengthening its presence in the unicorn landscape with a total of 37 unicorns. Singapore leads with 18, followed by Indonesia (8), Vietnam (4), Thailand and the Philippines (3 each), and Malaysia (1).
ii.The European Union(EU) now has 112 unicorns, an increase of 3 from the previous year. Germany leads with 36 unicorns, backed by its strong industrial tech and enterprise software sectors, while France follows with 30, supported by robust public-private innovation efforts.
iii.From the Nordic region, Sweden contributed 6 unicorns and Finland 4. Luxembourg also made it into the Top 30 countries with 2 unicorns.
iv.In the Gulf region, there are a total of 7 unicorns—led by the UAE with 5, and Saudi Arabia entering the list with its first 2 unicorns.
Unicorn Capital:
i.San Francisco retained the title of “World’s Unicorn Capital” with 199 unicorns (Up 9), followed by New York (USA) with 142 (up 9), and Beijing(China) with 75 (down 3).
ii.With respect to India, Bengaluru (Karnataka) at 7th rank leads the index among the Indian cities, followed by Mumbai (Maharashtra) at 22nd and Gurugram (Haryana) entered the list for the first time at 27th position.
India-Specific:
i.India ranked third with 64 unicorns, led by discount broking start-up Zerodha worth USD 8.2 billion, followed by fantasy sports platform Dream11 worth USD 8 billion and Razorpay worth USD 7.5 billion.
ii.FinTech and gaming are among the key sectors fueling unicorn growth in India.
iii.Indian and Chinese entrepreneurs continued to play a major role in unicorn creation beyond their home countries.
- Indians co-founded over 130 unicorns abroad, over 90% in the USA, with a handful in the UK and Germany
Drop Outs:
i.As per the report, 143 unicorns saw a decline in valuation compared to last year, with 52 dropping off the list after falling below the USD 1bn mark.
- Among the 52, 19 were from the USA and 11 from china.
ii.While 64 unicorns were ‘promoted’ out of the list, of which 34 went Initial Public Offer (IPO) and 30 were acquired
