Top Investors Behind Unicorn Startups Since 2023
259 new unicorns have emerged since 2023, adding $605 billion in value and raising $130 billion. Here’s who’s backing them.
A Surge in Unicorn Startups and Their Backers
Since 2023, 259 new unicorn startups—private companies valued at $1 billion or more—have been added to the global list, contributing a combined $605 billion in value and raising $130 billion in funding.
Leading the charge are well-known venture firms such as Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners, both of which have invested in a dozen or more of these high-growth companies. Other top investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Accel, and tech giant Nvidia.
These investors are betting big on sectors like artificial intelligence and semiconductors, where many of the new unicorns are showing rapid revenue growth.
Where the Unicorns Are Coming From
Just over half of the new unicorns are based in the U.S., while 17% hail from China. In China, HSG (formerly Sequoia Capital China) and Tencent were the most active investors.
Most of the top investors are U.S.-based multistage venture capital firms, corporate backers, and a few growth equity firms. Y Combinator is the only accelerator to make the list.
New Unicorns by the Numbers
The broader unicorn board now includes 1,586 private companies, with a combined valuation of $5.9 trillion and $1 trillion raised in total funding.
Among the highest-valued unicorns in AI are:
- xAI
- Safe Superintelligence
- Perplexity
- Anysphere
- Mistral AI
In China, top unicorns include:
- Yangtze Memory Technologies
- GTA Semiconductor
- Changxin New Bridge
- Yinwang Smart Technology (Huawei’s self-driving tech unit)
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Early-Stage Leaders: Series A & B Investors
Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, and Lightspeed led or co-led the most Series A and Series B rounds among the unicorns minted since 2023. These early investments could generate the highest returns if these startups exit successfully.
Private equity firms, corporate investors, and other multistage venture firms also played key roles in these early rounds.
Seed-Stage Champions
Y Combinator stands out at the seed stage, backing nine of the new unicorns. Andreessen Horowitz and SV Angel followed with five each. Other active seed investors include:
- Lux Capital
- Khosla Ventures
- Global Founders Capital
Big-Spending Backers and Mega Rounds
The largest funding round in this group went to xAI, which raised $6 billion from a group of unnamed investors. Safe Superintelligence raised a total of $3 billion across two major rounds, one of which was led by Greenoaks.
General Catalyst led or co-led 10 large rounds worth $100 million or more, investing a total of $3.6 billion.
Among the biggest backers:
- Lightspeed led a major round in Skild AI.
- Andreessen led a $414 million round in Mistral AI.
- Both firms led or co-led multiple rounds of over $1 billion.
Few Unicorns Have Exited—So Far
While funding remains strong, exits are rare. Only six of the unicorns created since 2023 have exited:
- Three went public, including CoreWeave.
- Three were acquired, including Windsurf.
Notably, Tiger Global, once one of the most active unicorn investors, has pulled back from private deals since 2022 due to reduced liquidity and fewer exit opportunities.