Unicorn Investors: Who’s Backed The Most Billion- Dollar Companies — And Who Got In Early 2021 WHAT IS CB INSIGHTS? CB Insights helps the world’s leading companies make smarter technology decisions with data, not opinion. Our Technology Insights Platform provides companies with comprehensive data, expert insights and work management tools to drive growth and improve operations with technology. SIGN UP FOR A FREE TRIAL Unicorn Investors: Who’s Backed The Most Billion-Dollar Companies — And Who Got In Early 2 Every investor wants to back a unicorn. We look at who has the most unicorns in their portfolios and the investors best at placing early-stage bets on companies now worth $1B+. There are currently 750+ private unicorn companies valued at $1B+ — all featured on CB Insights’ real-time global unicorn tracker. Over the years, some 3,600+ investors have backed these unicorns. While the vast majority (67%) of unicorn investors have only invested in one unicorn company, there are some investors who have pulled away from the group, backing 10, 20, and even 100+ unicorn companies. Using CB Insights data, we look at which investors have backed the most unicorns — and which are in the best position to see big returns from an exit. In this report, we cover: • The top unicorn investors and their most highly valued portfolio companies • Geographic trends • The early-stage investors getting in on the ground floor • The most efficient unicorn investors Note: Data is as of Q2’21. Unicorn Investors: Who’s Backed The Most Billion-Dollar Companies — And Who Got In Early 3 The world’s top unicorn investors The top 10 unicorn investors, based on the total number of current unicorns they’ve invested in, are: 1. Tiger Global Management 2. SoftBank Group 3. Coatue Management 4. Tencent Holdings 5. Sequoia Capital China 6. Accel 7. Sequoia Capital 8. Andreessen Horowitz 9. DST Global 10. Insight Partners 10. Fidelity Investments US-based Tiger Global Management has the most current unicorn companies in its portfolio, with more than 120 current unicorns backed. Japan-based SoftBank Group comes in second place, backing 77 unicorns, followed by Coatue Management, with 61. Over 350 institutional investors boast at least 5 unicorns in their portfolios. Unicorn Investors: Who’s Backed The Most Billion-Dollar Companies — And Who Got In Early 4 Among unicorn portfolio companies, Instacart has been backed by the most top 10 unicorn investors, with 6 investing in the company: Tiger Global Management, Coatue Management, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, DST Global, and Fidelity Investments. The grocery delivery app joined the unicorn club with a $2B valuation in 2014 and was most recently valued at $39B in March 2021. Stripe has been backed by 5 of these top investors, while ByteDance (valued at $140B, making it the world’s most valuable unicorn), Checkout.com, Chehaoduo, Databricks, Fanatics, and Nubank have all attracted investment from 4. Unicorn Investors: Who’s Backed The Most Billion-Dollar Companies — And Who Got In Early 5 Geographic trends A majority of today’s unicorns are based in the United States and China. Among the top 10 unicorn investors, unicorn portfolio companies are largely US-based, followed by China-based unicorns. China-based investors have backed proportionally more Chinese unicorns, and US-based investors have backed proportionally more American unicorns. All of the US-based top 10 unicorn investors have at least half of their unicorn portfolios made up of US-based companies. Sequoia Capital China has the largest proportion of China-based unicorn portfolio companies, at 79%, while Japan-based SoftBank has backed the largest proportion of unicorns outside of the US or China, with 47% of its investments spanning other countries, including India, the United Kingdom, Brazil, and more. Unicorn Investors: Who’s Backed The Most Billion-Dollar Companies — And Who Got In Early 6 The early-stage investors getting in on the ground floor One way to measure a firm’s unicorn investment prowess is to look at the proportion of total unicorn investments to the number of those investments made at the early stage. For investors looking to reap major returns from their investments, it’s not only important to invest in high-performing companies but to invest in them early. Getting involved early on generally means greater equity, greater control, and greater eventual returns. Among the top 10 unicorn investors, Accel leads for efficiency, having invested in 51% of its unicorn portfolio companies at the early stages (seed or Series A funding). Andreessen Horowitz is in second place (37%) and Sequoia Capital China is in third (36%). Unicorn Investors: Who’s Backed The Most Billion-Dollar Companies — And Who Got In Early 7 Looking more broadly at all the investors that have backed at least 10 unicorns, Smart Money investor Benchmark leads in efficiency for early-stage unicorn investments, at 80%. It’s followed by USbased Social Capital (75%) and China-based 5Y Capital (71%). Unicorn Investors: Who’s Backed The Most Billion-Dollar Companies — And Who Got In Early 8 Additional reading This report was created with data from CB Insights’ emerging technology insights platform, which offers clarity into emerging tech and new business strategies through tools like: • Earnings Transcripts Search Engine & Analytics to get an information edge on competitors’ and incumbents’ strategies • Patent Analytics to see where innovation is happening next • Company Mosaic Scores to evaluate startup health, based on our National Science Foundation-backed algorithm • Business Relationships to quickly see a company’s competitors, partners, and more • Market Sizing Tools to visualize market growth and spot the next big opportunity If you aren’t already a client, sign up for a free trial to learn more about our platform. Unicorn Investors: Who’s Backed The Most Billion-Dollar Companies — And Who Got In Early 9
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