Technology start-ups worth over $1 billion (£758m) were once so rare that they were named after a mythical creature only found in fairy stories. But these “unicorns” have become much more common in recent years, and today there are 315 across the globe, a figure which has more than doubled in just four years. This explosion of high-value companies shows no sign of abating either – all of the following companies are tipped to top the billion-dollar mark in the near future. We take a look at who they are, what they do and how much funding they've had.
When a ship docks in port, the consigner is usually handed a bill of lading – the name for the record of all the goods on board. CargoX is bringing tech to the freight world, and has developed a blockchain-based system to replace this antiquated model, which can be subject to human error. Founded in 2016, the company has raised $95 million (£72m) in funding to date, and has offices in Europe and Asia.
Deputy was borne out of founder Steve Shelley’s need for a deputy to manage his growing staffing demands. He hired Ashik Ahmed, who built him a whizzy technological platform that reduced manual tasks to zero and gave them both more time to focus on big ideas. Out of this process they officially launched Deputy in 2008, and today its software is used by hundreds of thousands of people in more than 70 countries. The Australia-based company has also raised $106 million (£80m) from venture capital firms such as Square Peg and Open View.
BetterCloud was original launched as a security tool for Google sites, but its founders soon realised that other applications could also benefit from its SaaS management software. Founded in 2011, BetterCloud is relied upon by over 2,500 companies in 60 countries for monitoring, threat mediation and security policy enforcement. To date, the company has raised $107 million (£81m) from venture capital firms such as Accel Partners, which has invested in firms including Facebook, Slack, Dropbox and Etsy.
Segment centralises all those essential user analytics tools in one simple database, making it easier for companies to know what their customers are doing and make decisions off the back of that understanding. The company got its start in 2011 when it was accepted into American seed accelerator Y Combinator’s incubator programme. Since then, it’s raised $107 million (£81m) in funding, and now boasts more than 19,000 clients in 71 countries around the world.
Faire is on a mission to take all of the stress out of buying for retailers. It’s the first wholesale marketplace to offer free returns, and uses innovative artificial intelligence tools to predict which products will fly off the shelves. Founded just two years ago by former employees of payment processing company Square, Faire now has 15,000 retailers purchasing from its platform, and has amassed an extraordinary $116 million (£88m) in funding from Sequoia, Y Combinator and Founders Fund, among others.
Serial tech entrepreneur Jason Gardner founded Marqeta in 2010 to revolutionise the payment card processing sector. Using collaborative open API technology, the California-based start-up facilitates instant card payments and issues branded credit cards for businesses. The company’s customer base doubled in 2017, and it has raised $116 million (£88m) to date from the likes of Goldman Sachs and Iconiq Capital, which described Marqeta as “the clear market leader in modern card issuing.”
RigUp initially began as a workforce bidding platform, but quickly grew into the largest marketplace and labour provider in the energy industry. Founded in 2014, RigUp allows qualified workers to find well-paid oilfield jobs in a matter of days. Large companies, meanwhile, get easy access to a talented labour pool, and can avoid all the paperwork that’s typically involved in hiring contractors. RigUp has raised $124 million (£94m) in funding to date, from top investors such as Founders Fund and Bedrock.
Back in 2014, Outreach’s founders found themselves short on cash and needing to hit sky-high sales targets, so they build a software platform that allowed 3 people to sell like a team of 20. Today, that platform is the centrepiece of Outreach’s business, and is trusted by Fortune 500 firms including Adobe and Microsoft. In its first two years, the company went from nothing to taking $10 million (£78m) in revenue, an impressive achievement that piqued the interest of venture capital firms like Spark.
A disastrous episode when booking a rental apartment gave Sonder founders Francis Davidson and Lucas Pellan the idea for their business. Sonder combines the reliability of a hotel with warmth and character of a home, so travellers feel comfortable in a new city without compromising on service. Founded in 2014, the company has raised $130 million (£99m) in funding, and now has thousands of Sonder spaces across the US and Europe, all designed, furnished and maintained by the company to ensure high standards are always met.
Upgrade’s co-founders have impressive CVs: Renaud Laplanche formerly set up Lending Club, America’s largest online lending platform, while Jeff Bogan is a former investment banker at Morgan Stanley. They put their heads together and founded Upgrade, a digital platform that offers affordable loans and helps customers harness their credit potential. In just three years, the company has raised a whopping $134 million (£102m), and now boasts five operations and technology centres across the US and Canada.
Whether you’re a Fortune 500 company or a small start-up, product analytics software is essential to know what’s selling and what isn’t. Amplitude’s simple yet powerful platform is used by over 26,000 companies from over 180 countries to do just that – it tracks over 7 trillion user actions every year. The company was propelled to success in 2012 by the Y Combinator accelerator programme, and has gone from strength to strength since, raising $136 million (£103m) in funding to date.
Zola was dubbed by Fast Company as “the Apple store for weddings.” Boasting an online registry, invitation design services and an e-commerce store, Zola’s platform simplifies the wedding planning process by centralising all the essential tools in one place. Zola was always guaranteed to be stylish – co-founder Shan-Lyn Ma previously worked at lifestyle brand chloe + isabel – but it’s also proved to be a resounding financial success, raising $141 million (£107m) since it was founded in 2013.
Anyone that has bought stocks or shares knows just how much paperwork is involved in the process. But with Carta, all documentation is digitised and centralised into one system, so it’s easy to see exactly what you own in a few clicks. The company was founded in 2012 by serial tech entrepreneur Manu Kumar, and has since raised $144 million (£109m) in funding, bringing its total valuation to $800 million (£606m). In September 2018, Carta worked on a major study that revealed just 9% of startup equity is owned by women.
From talent assessment to recruitment, performance management to succession planning, there’s not much Beisen’s iTalent platform can’t do. It’s the only comprehensive, cloud-based talent management platform in the whole of China, and is relied upon by firms including Baidu, ZTE Corp and Alibaba to source top talent for their businesses. Beisen has raised $147 million (£113m) in funding since its foundation in 2002, with the latest round led by top tech investors Sequoia Capital.
Checkr was founded by two software engineers who spotted an opportunity to modernise the background checking industry. Using artificial intelligence tools, Checkr aims to eliminate hiring bias and ensure that businesses in every sector get the right candidates for the job. In its five-year history, the business has amassed a 10,000-company strong client base, and counts Y Combinator and Accel as venture backers. In total, it’s raised $149 million (£113m) across three funding rounds.
Miaoshou Doctor was founded in 2015 to capitalise on the burgeoning online healthcare market in China. Five years later, the app has raised $164 million (£124m) in funding, allowing it to build out an online hospital, medical record management system, and e-commerce platform to sell medicines direct to patients. Not only that, it offers a doctor’s appointment booking service across 20 provinces and 63 cities, and has ambitious plans to expand further across China in 2019.
Onshape aims to give its customers “maximum CAD power with minimum CAD hassle”. The cloud-based system centralises product design tools in one secure, easily accessible place, making engineers’ lives easier. Its unique business model has attracted attention from venture capital firms such as Andreessen Horowitz, which has contributed to Onshape’s $169 million (£128m) funding total. It’s been popular with customers too – six months after the app’s launch in 2015, over 10,000 CAD professionals were using it.
As the number of global smartphone users is expected to hit 3.8 billion by 2021 according to market researcher Newzoo, it’s essential for brands to understand how to target them. And that’s where Braze comes in. The lifecycle engagement platform allows companies to create personalised marketing messages and analyse their customers’ journey across multiple channels. Founded in 2011, Braze counts Lyft, HBO and Microsoft as clients, and has raised $175 million (£133m) in funding to date, taking its overall company valuation to over $850 million (£644m).
SiSense’s platform is proof that dealing with big datasets doesn’t have to be complicated. Its streamlined analytics tools, launched in 2010, are powerful enough to deal with huge amounts of information, but simple enough for anyone without a technical background to use. Today, firms such as GE, Nasdaq and Philips rely on SiSense for actionable business insights, and the company has raised $178 million (£135m) in funding. It will use the latest cash injection to expand its global footprint, CEO Amir Orad said.
Blend stands for better lending, both in name and mission. The digital platform was launched in 2012 by three former Palantir Technologies employees with the aim of making the post-recession financial landscape more transparent and trustworthy. Tackling first the mortgage, then insurance markets, Blend uses technology to simplify application processes, cutting down on cost and paperwork. The company has garnered $180 million (£136m) of funding in just five years, giving it a total valuation of over $500 million (£379m).
Farming might be one of the world’s oldest industries, but modern farmers are becoming increasingly tech-savvy, using tools to map optimal sowing areas and track market prices for crops. To do this, many are Farmers Business Network (FBN), an agronomic data app that launched in the US in 2014. From an annual starting fee of $700 (£527), FBN members get access to intel from a 5,000-strong community and a competitively priced e-commerce site. It’s no surprise that the app has raised $190 million (£144m) from blue-chip investors.
This innovative app allows you to get paid the second you step out of the office, rather than waiting for a paycheck. Simply tap in your bank and employer details, and Earnin uses your location to note how long you’re at work, then allows you to cash out immediately. The app was founded five years ago by entrepreneur Ram Palaniappan to make life easier for those living paycheck to paycheck. Today, it’s used by employees at over 50,000 companies, and has raised an impressive $193 million (£146m) in funding.
A car is sold every four minutes through CarDekho, India’s largest online one-stop shop for new and used cars. Prospective buyers benefit from innovative features like Feel The Car system, which offers a full 360-degree immersive viewing experience, complete with engine noises. CarDekho was set up in 2008 by IT graduates Amit and Anurag Jain. It has since raised $196 million (£149m) in funding from the likes of Google Capital, which it has used to expand to Southeast Asia and the UAE.
An essential part of running a business is ensuring cash flows smoothly, but ensuring outgoing payments and incoming invoices line up isn’t always easy. C2FO was founded to solve those problems – it’s the world’s first working capital market, helping businesses to get paid faster. Since its first transaction in 2010, C2FO has generated more than $139 billion (£105bn) in working capital, and has raised $200 million (£152m) in funding rounds led by top venture firms like Union Square Capital, an early investor at Twitter.
Founded in 2010 in Silicon Valley, this live location-mapping service is used by over 1.2 million developers, along with apps like Snapchat, Lyft and Weather.com. The company has raised over $225 million (£171m) to date in three multi million-dollar funding rounds, the latest of which saw it receive $164 million (£125m) from investors including SoftBank. It plans to use its latest cash injection to expand its AR, VR and gaming capabilities, or even integrate its technology into a new generation of self-driving cars.