China has more unicorns than the US - Rupert Hoogewerf

Rupert Hoogewerf

China overtook the US as the home of most unicorns, startups with a valuation of over US$1 billion, says the latest Hurun Report, according to the South China Morning Post. Hurun publisher Rupert Hoogewerf: “These unicorns, mostly in the new economy, are the fastest-growing companies with the most potential to grow big against a slowing economy.”

The South China Morning Post:

China’s sprawling network of start-ups worth at least US$1 billion expanded to 181 in the third quarter, overtaking the United States as home to greatest number of successful new ventures, according to Shanghai-based Hurun Report said on Friday. 

The world’s second-largest economy has added 34 “unicorns”, or start-ups worth at least US$1 billion, in the third quarter, the publisher said in a release on Friday. 

The start-ups are worth a combined 4.8 trillion yuan (US$696 billion), and the valuation of its biggest unicorn, Ant Financial, has exceeded its counterparts in the US – Uber and Airbnb, the report said. 

“China has already surpassed the US to become the country with the most unicorns,” said chairman and chief researcher of the Hurun report, Rupert Hoogewerf, in a statement. 

“These unicorns, mostly in the new economy, are the fastest-growing companies with the most potential to grow big against a slowing economy.”

More at the South China Morning Post.

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