Unicorns, defined as private companies valued at over $1 billion, are now becoming a common phenomenon, with AI startups in particular gaining incredible numbers and dominance soon after launch.
A prime example is OpenAI, which has taken the world by storm since the release of its AI chatbot ChatGPT in November 2022 and now boasts a staggering valuation of $80 billion. This impressive figure cements OpenAI as the third most valuable unicorn company in the world, trailing only ByteDance, the company behind TikTok, and spacecraft manufacturer SpaceX.
With strong interest in AI over the past two years and OpenAI’s significant market value, BestBrokers conducted analysis using the latest data from CB Insights to identify new entrants to this elite group in 2024.
What is noteworthy is that of the 35 startups that had become unicorn companies as of the end of May 2024, 10 were AI companies.
The latest AI unicorns making waves include Figure, an AI robotics company developing multipurpose humanoid robots, Cognition AI, and Perplexity.ai, a disruptive search engine challenger.
Founded in 2022, Figure has quickly risen to a valuation of $2.68 billion. This rapid growth has been backed by a staggering $854 million in funding from venture capitalists and angel investors. Figure’s robots are expected to bring science fiction closer to reality, paving the way for advanced automation and AI integration in everyday work.
Founded in 2023, Cognition AI has developed AI software that can act as a software engineer. The technology can write code and has the potential to autonomously develop new AI systems in the future. Having raised $196 million to date, Cognition AI’s innovative approach has seen the company’s market value rise to a staggering $2 billion.
Perplexity.ai, which is challenging Google’s dominance in internet search but has been accused of indiscriminately collecting data, including plagiarizing the work of journalists, is set to raise another $62.7 million in its fourth funding round, putting its valuation at more than $1 billion by April 2024.
Another entrant into the unicorn world is xAI, the company behind Grok, which raised $6 billion in Series B in May. The company is now valued at $24 billion, according to Crunchbase.
The complete list of companies that will become unicorns in 2024:
| Serial number | company | Valuation ($1 billion) | industry |
| 1 | xAI | twenty four | artificial intelligence |
| 2 | Monad Lab | 3 | Cipher |
| 3 | shape | 2.68 | artificial intelligence |
| Four | Bend the spoon | 2.55 | Consumer/Retail Technology |
| Five | Moonshot AI | 2.5 | artificial intelligence |
| 6 | Zyra Therapeutics | 2.15 | Biotechnology |
| 7 | Cognitive AI | 2 | artificial intelligence |
| 8 | Ninja One | 1.90 | Enterprise Technology |
| 9 | Weka | 1.6 | Enterprise Technology |
| Ten | Altruist | 1.5 | Fintech |
| 11 | Huntress | 1.55 | Enterprise Technology |
| 12 | Sigma Computing | 1.50 | Enterprise Technology |
| 13 | Sierra | 1.40 | artificial intelligence |
| 14 | Liquid Death | 1.40 | Consumer/Retail Technology |
| 15 | Hash Key | 1.30 | Cipher |
| 16 | Tsum | 1.30 | transportation |
| 17 | Polyhedral Network | 1.25 | Cipher |
| 18 | AI together | 1.25 | artificial intelligence |
| 19 | Muse | 1.20 | Enterprise Technology |
| 20 | Creation | 1.20 | Enterprise Technology |
| twenty one | Uzum | 1.16 | Fintech |
| twenty two | Eleven Lab | 1.10 | artificial intelligence |
| twenty three | Confused AI | 1.05 | artificial intelligence |
| twenty four | Crutrim | 1 | artificial intelligence |
| twenty five | Perfios | 1 | Fintech |
| 26 | Semperis | 1 | Enterprise Technology |
| 27 | Silver Fort | 1 | Enterprise Technology |
| 28 | Pigments | 1 | Enterprise Technology |
| 29 | Data Snipper | 1 | artificial intelligence |
| 30 | Humanity Protocol | 1 | Identity |
| 31 | Intrabio | 1 | Biotechnology |
| 32 | Merkle Manufacturing | 1 | Cipher |
| 33 | Minute Media | 1 | Digital Content |
| 34 | sandbox | 1 | game |
| 35 | Exreal | 1 | Home appliances |
These additions bring the number of private unicorns to 1,241 as of May 2024.
The African unicorn list has not been updated. The last unicorn on record was Egypt’s MNT Halan in February 2023. There are several possible factors behind this.
Infrastructure challenges: Many parts of Africa face a lack of reliable electricity, internet connectivity and transport infrastructure, which are crucial for the growth of technology startups.
Access to capital: Compared to other regions such as the US and Europe, access to venture capital and investment for early stage startups can be limited. This limits the expansion potential of African startups. Additionally, Africa has seen a sustained decline in funding over the past year.
Regulatory Environment: Some African countries have a regulatory environment that is hostile to entrepreneurship and innovation, especially when it comes to cryptocurrencies. Complex bureaucratic processes can hinder the growth of startups.
Other reasons include:
- Market Segmentation
- Education and skills gap
- risk avoidance
However, there are seven unicorns across Africa.
Meanwhile, as of this year, the United States is home to more than half of all unicorn startups (662), followed by China with 169 and India with 71.
The UK has the most unicorns in Europe with 54 startups, compared to Germany with 31 and France with 27.
