Unicorn Startups: 30 New Unicorn Companies (November 2026)

There are 1,919 unicorn startups worldwide, worth a combined $9.4 trillion, according to the Crunchbase Unicorn Board as of November 3, 2026. A unicorn is a privately held startup valued at $1 billion or more.

195 companies became unicorns in the first half of 2026, more than in all of 2025.

AI labs and robotics startups are leading the way. And some of the biggest unicorns, like SpaceX and Cerebras, went public this year.

In this article, we'll list 30 of the newest unicorn companies of 2026, and break down how many unicorns there are, where they're based, and what the numbers mean for investors.

Top Unicorn Statistics

• There are 1,919 unicorn startups worldwide, worth a combined $9.4 trillion (Crunchbase, November 2026)
• 195 companies became unicorns in the first half of 2026, more than in all of 2025 (Crunchbase)
• 40 companies became unicorns in July 2026, the most in a single month in more than four years (Crunchbase)
• The US produced 110 of the first half's new unicorns, and China produced 38 (Crunchbase)
• Anthropic is the most valuable unicorn, at $965 billion (Crunchbase, November 2026)
• AI startups raised 64% of global venture funding in Q3 2026 (Crunchbase)
• Searches for "Proxima Fusion", a 2026 unicorn, grew 775% between October 2024 and September 2026 (Exploding Topics)

How Many Unicorn Startups Are There?

There are 1,919 unicorn startups worldwide, worth a combined $9.4 trillion, according to the Crunchbase Unicorn Board as of November 3, 2026.

The count is rising fast. The Crunchbase board listed 1,839 private unicorns in its mid-year report, published in August 2026.

Other trackers count differently. CB Insights lists 1,447 unicorns, as of March 2026. CB Insights updates its list less often, so its count is lower.

For investors, the gap between trackers is a reminder to check which list a figure comes from before comparing it.

How Many New Unicorn Startups Were There in 2026?

195 companies became unicorns in the first half of 2026, according to Crunchbase. That's more than the 193 new unicorns in all of 2025.

The pace picked up in the summer. 40 companies became unicorns in July 2026, the most in more than four years, according to Crunchbase. Another 29 joined in August, and 38 in September.

Here's how many companies joined the Crunchbase Unicorn Board each month in 2026:

Month (2026)	New Unicorns	Source
January	31	Crunchbase
February	27	Crunchbase
March	37	Crunchbase
April	28	Crunchbase
May	29	Crunchbase
June	34	Crunchbase
July	40	Crunchbase
August	29	Crunchbase
September	38	Crunchbase

The monthly figures add up to 186 for January to June. Crunchbase's half-year report gives a higher total of 195. Crunchbase counts 311 new unicorns for January to September, more than the sum of its monthly posts, because it adds some companies later. It hasn't published its October figure yet.

Not every tracker agrees on the trend. CB Insights said new unicorn formation hit a six-quarter low in Q2 2026.

Where Are New Unicorn Startups Based?

The US produced 110 of the 195 new unicorn startups in the first half of 2026, according to Crunchbase. China produced 38, up from 10 in all of 2025.

Here's a breakdown of new unicorns by location in the first half of 2026:

Location	New Unicorns (H1 2026)	Source
United States	110	Crunchbase
China	38	Crunchbase
Europe	27	Crunchbase
United Kingdom	13	Crunchbase

China's jump is the standout. For investors, it shows unicorn creation is spreading beyond Silicon Valley, especially in robotics and AI.

Exploding Topics lists fast-growing startups by city, including San Francisco, London, Beijing, Paris and Munich.

Which Sectors Produce the Most Unicorn Startups?

Robotics and AI research labs were the leading sectors for new unicorn startups in the first half of 2026, according to Crunchbase.

AI dominates some months entirely. 26 of April's 28 new unicorns were AI-related, according to Crunchbase.

The money follows the same pattern. AI startups raised $102 billion, or 64%, of the $159 billion in global venture funding in Q3 2026, according to Crunchbase.

You can also browse fast-growing startups by sector on Exploding Topics, including AI startups, finance startups and technology startups.

What Are the Most Valuable Unicorn Companies?

Anthropic is the most valuable unicorn, at $965 billion, followed by OpenAI at $852 billion, according to the Crunchbase Unicorn Board.

Here are the 10 most valuable unicorns, as of November 3, 2026:

Rank	Company	Valuation	Total Equity Funding
1	Anthropic	$965 billion	$121 billion
2	OpenAI	$852 billion	$181 billion
3	ByteDance	$480 billion	$8 billion
4	Databricks	$190 billion	$25 billion
5	Stripe	$159 billion	$9 billion
6	Ant Group	$150 billion	$19 billion
7	Waymo	$126 billion	$27 billion
8	Revolut	$115 billion	$2 billion
9	DeepSeek	$91 billion	$23 billion
10	Ramp	$62 billion	$5 billion

Value is concentrated at the top. Anthropic and OpenAI alone are worth about $1.8 trillion, nearly a fifth of the board's $9.4 trillion total.

For more on the biggest private companies, see our list of decacorn companies.

The 30 Newest Unicorn Startups of 2026

These 30 companies all had their unicorn rounds announced between January and August 2026. They're ranked by their latest reported valuation. Several have raised again at higher valuations since.

1. DeepSeek

Valuation: $91 billion (November 2026)

Unicorn round: $7.4 billion Series A, its first outside round (June 2026)

Lead investors: Founder Liang Wenfeng (Tencent, CATL, JD.com and IDG also invested)

Headquarters: Hangzhou, China

What they do: DeepSeek is a Chinese AI lab that makes open-weight frontier models and the DeepSeek chatbot. In October 2026, it raised a further $15.9 billion at a $90 billion valuation, according to Crunchbase. (Source: Crunchbase)

2. Etched

Valuation: $21 billion (August 2026)

Unicorn round: ~$500 million at $5 billion (January 2026)

Lead investors: Stripes (latest round: Jane Street)

Headquarters: Cupertino, CA, US

What they do: Etched makes AI inference chips designed only for transformer models. (Source: Reuters)

3. Kling AI

Valuation: $18 billion (reported)

Unicorn round: ~$2.8 billion (July 2026)

Lead investors: CPE, Guofang Investment, BlueFive, Tencent, Citic Securities

Headquarters: Beijing, China

What they do: Kling AI is a text-to-video AI company that Kuaishou is spinning out. (Source: Crunchbase)

4. Hadrian

Valuation: $7.87 billion (August 2026)

Unicorn round: $131 million (January 2026)

Lead investors: T. Rowe Price

Headquarters: Hawthorne, CA, US

What they do: Hadrian runs automated factories that make parts for defense and aerospace. (Source: Bloomberg)

5. XPeng Robotics

Valuation: $6.3 billion+

Unicorn round: $900 million+ first round (August 2026)

Lead investors: IDG Capital

Headquarters: China

What they do: XPeng Robotics makes the IRON humanoid robot. It's a unit of Chinese EV maker XPeng. (Source: Electrek)

6. Valar Atomics

Valuation: $6 billion (August 2026)

Unicorn round: $450 million at $2 billion (March 2026)

Lead investors: Sequoia (latest round)

Headquarters: El Segundo, CA, US

What they do: Valar Atomics is building small nuclear reactors to power AI data centers. (Source: Bloomberg)

7. Lumilens

Valuation: $5.51 billion

Unicorn round: $700 million+ Series C (August 2026)

Lead investors: Atreides, Bain Capital Ventures, Meritech, Seligman, Spark

Headquarters: San Jose, CA, US

What they do: Lumilens makes silicon-photonic interconnects that move data between chips in AI data centers using light. (Source: Dealroom)

8. Ineffable Intelligence

Valuation: $5.1 billion

Unicorn round: $1.1 billion seed (April 2026)

Lead investors: Sequoia, Lightspeed

Headquarters: London, UK

What they do: Ineffable Intelligence is an AI research lab founded by former DeepMind researcher David Silver. (Source: Crunchbase)

9. Wonderful

Valuation: $5 billion (September 2026)

Unicorn round: $150 million Series B (March 2026)

Lead investors: Insight Partners

Headquarters: Amsterdam, Netherlands

What they do: Wonderful builds AI agents for customer service. (Source: TechCrunch)

10. AMI Labs

Valuation: $4.5 billion

Unicorn round: $1.03 billion seed (March 2026)

Lead investors: Cathay Innovation, Greycroft, Hiro Capital, HV Capital, Bezos Expeditions

Headquarters: Paris, France

What they do: Advanced Machine Intelligence (AMI Labs) is Yann LeCun's startup building "world model" AI. (Source: TechCrunch)

11. humans&

Valuation: $4.48 billion (reported)

Unicorn round: $480 million seed (January 2026)

Lead investors: SV Angel, Georges Harik

Headquarters: Redwood City, CA, US

What they do: humans& is an AI research lab focused on human-centric AI. (Source: Crunchbase)

12. MiRus

Valuation: $4.4 billion

Unicorn round: $1.5 billion corporate investment (May 2026)

Lead investors: Boston Scientific

Headquarters: Georgia, US

What they do: MiRus makes medical devices, including a nickel-free heart valve. (Source: Crunchbase)

13. Nexthop AI

Valuation: $4.2 billion

Unicorn round: $500 million Series B (March 2026)

Lead investors: Lightspeed (Andreessen Horowitz also invested)

Headquarters: Santa Clara, CA, US

What they do: Nexthop AI makes Ethernet networking equipment for AI data centers. (Source: Crunchbase)

14. Bedrock Robotics

Valuation: $4.1 billion (October 2026)

Unicorn round: $270 million Series B (February 2026)

Lead investors: CapitalG, Valor Atreides AI Fund

Headquarters: San Francisco, US

What they do: Bedrock Robotics makes self-driving systems for construction equipment. In October 2026, it raised a $600 million Series C at a $4.1 billion valuation, according to TechCrunch. (Source: Crunchbase)

15. Waabi

Valuation: $3.8 billion (reported)

Unicorn round: $750 million Series C (January 2026)

Lead investors: G2 Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures

Headquarters: Toronto, Canada

Search growth (2 years): +165%

What they do: Waabi builds AI software for self-driving trucks and robotaxis. (Source: Crunchbase)

16. Mind Robotics

Valuation: $3.4 billion (May 2026, reported)

Unicorn round: $500 million Series A (March 2026)

Lead investors: Accel, Andreessen Horowitz

Headquarters: Palo Alto, CA, US

What they do: Mind Robotics, a Rivian spin-out, builds AI-powered robots for factories. (Source: Reuters)

17. Proxima Fusion

Valuation: €2.4 billion (about $2.7 billion)

Unicorn round: €411 million (July 2026)

Lead investors: XTX Ventures, East X Ventures

Headquarters: Munich, Germany

Search growth (2 years): +775%

What they do: Proxima Fusion is developing stellarator fusion power plants. (Source: Proxima Fusion)

18. Neros Technologies

Valuation: $2.5 billion

Unicorn round: $250 million Series C (August 2026)

Lead investors: Sequoia, American Strategic Technology Fund

Headquarters: Los Angeles, CA, US

What they do: Neros makes low-cost FPV and interceptor drones for militaries. (Source: WilmerHale)

19. Moove

Valuation: $2.1 billion

Unicorn round: $250 million Series C (August 2026)

Lead investors: Mubadala, Woven Capital, Ion Pacific

Headquarters: Dubai, UAE

What they do: Moove offers vehicle financing for ride-hailing drivers and runs autonomous vehicle fleets. (Source: Wamda)

20. Rogo

Valuation: $2 billion

Unicorn round: $160 million Series D (April 2026)

Lead investors: Kleiner Perkins

Headquarters: New York, US

What they do: Rogo makes AI research tools for investment banks. (Source: Crunchbase)

21. Wispr Flow

Valuation: $2 billion

Unicorn round: $280 million Series B (August 2026)

Lead investors: Menlo Ventures

Headquarters: San Francisco, US

What they do: Wispr Flow is an AI voice dictation app. (Source: Dealroom)

22. TARS

Valuation: ~$1.9 billion

Unicorn round: $455 million pre-Series A (April 2026)

Lead investors: Hillhouse, HSG

Headquarters: Shanghai, China

What they do: TARS develops humanoid robots. (Source: Crunchbase)

23. Ominimo

Valuation: $1.6 billion

Unicorn round: $23 million Series B, first close (July 2026)

Lead investors: EBRD Venture Capital

Headquarters: Budapest, Hungary

What they do: Ominimo sells AI-priced motor insurance. (Source: FinTech Global)

24. Granola

Valuation: $1.5 billion

Unicorn round: $125 million Series C (March 2026)

Lead investors: Index Ventures (Kleiner Perkins also invested)

Headquarters: London, UK

What they do: Granola is an AI note-taker for meetings. (Source: Tech.eu)

25. KreditBee

Valuation: $1.5 billion

Unicorn round: $280 million Series E, including $220 million of new money (April 2026)

Lead investors: Dragon Fund, Hornbill, Motilal Oswal Alternates

Headquarters: Bengaluru, India

What they do: KreditBee is a lending app for consumers and small businesses. (Source: Crunchbase)

26. Harmattan AI

Valuation: $1.4 billion

Unicorn round: $200 million Series B (January 2026)

Lead investors: Dassault Aviation

Headquarters: Paris, France

What they do: Harmattan AI builds autonomy software for drones and defense aircraft. (Source: TechCrunch)

27. Cathedral

Valuation: $1.4 billion (reported)

Unicorn round: $160 million Series A (July 2026)

Lead investors: Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia

Headquarters: Washington, DC, US

What they do: Cathedral builds AI cyber tools for the US military. (Source: Crunchbase)

28. Humanoid

Valuation: $1.4 billion

Unicorn round: €133 million Series A (July 2026)

Lead investors: Prime Movers Lab

Headquarters: London, UK

What they do: Humanoid makes humanoid robots for industry and retail. (Source: EU-Startups)

29. Neysa

Valuation: $1.4 billion (reported)

Unicorn round: Up to $600 million in equity, part of a $1.2 billion raise with debt (February 2026)

Lead investors: Blackstone

Headquarters: Mumbai, India

What they do: Neysa runs a GPU cloud for AI workloads. (Source: Crunchbase)

30. Skyroot Aerospace

Valuation: $1.1 billion

Unicorn round: ~$60 million (May 2026)

Lead investors: Sherpalo Ventures, GIC

Headquarters: Hyderabad, India

What they do: Skyroot builds orbital launch rockets. It's India's first space unicorn. (Source: Via Satellite)

Which Unicorn Companies Went Public or Were Acquired in 2026?

2026 has been a big year for unicorn exits. SpaceX's June IPO was the largest venture-backed exit of all time, according to Crunchbase.

Here are some of the biggest unicorn exits of 2026:

Company	Exit	Date	Value	Source
SpaceX	IPO (Nasdaq)	June 2026	Largest venture-backed exit ever	Crunchbase
Cerebras Systems	IPO (Nasdaq)	May 2026	~$95 billion at first-day close	CNBC
Anysphere (Cursor)	Acquired by SpaceX	Announced June 2026	$60 billion	CNBC
ChangXin Memory (CXMT)	IPO (Shanghai)	July 2026	~$85.5 billion at IPO price	Crunchbase
Shein	IPO (Hong Kong)	September 2026	~$26.3 billion	Crunchbase
Hugging Face	To be acquired by Nvidia	Agreed September 2026	$12.9 billion (including up to $1 billion in employee retention)	Nvidia SEC filing

More are coming. Anthropic filed a public S-1 with the SEC on October 26, 2026, and plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol ANT, according to Anthropic. It hasn't set a price range or listing date yet. If it lists, the board will lose its most valuable company.

For investors, exits matter because they return cash to venture funds, which can then back the next wave of startups.

What Does Search Data Say About New Unicorn Startups?

Exploding Topics data shows that searches for "Proxima Fusion" grew 775% between October 2024 and September 2026, according to Exploding Topics. Searches peaked at 38.7K a month in July 2026, the month of its unicorn round.

Here's how monthly search interest in new unicorns and their sectors has changed, according to Exploding Topics data:

Search Term	October 2024	Peak	September 2026	2-Year Change
Proxima Fusion	3.1K	38.7K (July 2026)	27.1K	+775%
Waabi	2.5K	10.8K (July 2026)	6.6K	+165%
Stablecoin	14.1K	117.9K (May 2026)	49.5K	+250%
Small modular reactor	15.4K	118.2K (November 2025)	33.1K	+115%

Website traffic tells a similar story for new AI unicorns. Granola's website received 2.1 million visits in June 2026, about 8x as many as in June 2025, according to Semrush. Wispr Flow's received 3.1 million, nearly 10x as many as a year earlier, according to Semrush.

You can compare any startup's website traffic month by month in Semrush Traffic Analytics.

The Exploding Topics startups database lists nearly 1,000 AI startups alone, as of October 2026. The AI startups page shows each company's location, founding date and search growth.

For investors, search and traffic growth can flag a startup before its next funding round. Exploding Topics tracks fast-growing startups across every sector. Here are some of the fastest-growing AI startups right now:

What's Next for Unicorn Startups?

Venture funding remains near record levels. Startups raised $679 billion in the first three quarters of 2026, the highest total for that period on record, according to Crunchbase.

The biggest unicorns are heading for public markets. OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar told staff OpenAI "will be a public company in 2027," or sooner if growth continues, according to CNBC.

We'll update this list as Crunchbase publishes new monthly unicorn counts.

How We Compiled This List

We used the Crunchbase Unicorn Board and Crunchbase News's monthly reports for unicorn counts, and company announcements and news reporting for each company's round. We list companies whose first $1 billion+ round was announced between January and August 2026, and rank them by their latest reported valuation. Where a valuation comes from unnamed sources, we mark it as reported. Where sources gave different figures, we used the company's own announcement or Crunchbase. Search figures come from Exploding Topics, and website traffic figures come from Semrush. Figures are as of November 3, 2026.

For more on startups and investing, take a look at:

• Decacorn Companies
• Startup Statistics
• Generative AI Startups
• Investment Trends
• Venture Capital Trends

Today's unicorns were early-stage startups just a few years ago. Want to find the next ones first? Use Exploding Topics Pro to track fast-growing startups and the trends behind them. The Investor plan adds Trending Startups. And use Semrush Traffic Analytics to see how any startup's website traffic grows, month by month.