A total of 195 companies joined Crunchbase’s list of private startups valued at $1 billion or more during the first half of 2026, surpassing the number recorded throughout 2025, when 193 companies received that classification according to the article’s main text. This represents the highest level since the second half of 2022, at a time when startup funding is experiencing significant variation across valuations and sectors.
According to Crunchbase data, companies in this cohort added approximately $440 billion to the total value of the billion-dollar company list, equivalent to 5% of its current value. These companies also raised $80 billion through their funding rounds, representing 5% of the funding received by private companies that still maintain valuations of $1 billion or more.
Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Lead the Way
Robotics companies and artificial intelligence laboratory startups were among the most prominent sectors producing new unicorns. Other sectors that stood out during the period included financial services, healthcare and biotechnology, artificial intelligence infrastructure, application deployment and development tools, as well as defense technology, semiconductors and aerospace.
China’s DeepSeek, which specializes in developing open-source models, topped the list of the most valuable new companies after receiving a valuation of $50 billion in its first external funding round. Cryptocurrency trading platform OKX, headquartered in the Seychelles, came second with a value of $25 billion. Third place went to OpenAI Deployment Co. in San Francisco, after it raised $4 billion from private equity investors at a valuation of $14 billion.
The group included four companies classified as decacorns valued at $10 billion or more during the first half, along with five other companies whose valuations each exceeded $5 billion by early August 2026. Based on 2025 company trends, Crunchbase indicates that the valuations of companies in the new cohort could rise significantly over the following year. Of the 193 companies that joined in 2025, 12 became decacorns, while the valuations of 18 companies exceeded $5 billion; nine of those decacorns became companies worth more than $10 billion in 2026.
The United States Leads as China Advances
The United States accounted for 110 new companies, equal to 56% of the first-half total. China came second with 38 companies, a major jump from the 10 new companies recorded in 2025, while the United Kingdom ranked third with 13 companies.
- North America: 115 companies.
- Asia: 50 companies.
- Europe: 27 companies.
- Latin America, Oceania and Africa: one company for each region.
Successive Funding Rounds Drive Up Valuations
Nineteen companies from the first-half cohort completed rapid subsequent funding rounds, often within six months or less, doubling their previous valuations and bringing them to $2 billion or more. Examples include semiconductor company Etched, which doubled its valuation to $10 billion from $5 billion in six months, and defense technology company Hadrian, whose valuation rose to $7.9 billion from $1.6 billion in seven months. The valuation of Valar Atomics, which is developing nuclear reactors for artificial intelligence, also increased to $6 billion from $2 billion in four months.
Crunchbase believes that the acceleration of subsequent rounds and rising valuations, alongside the addition of trillions of dollars to the value of the company list during the first six months of 2026, reflect growing momentum around the fastest-growing companies in the current artificial intelligence cycle. The article also notes that the first half saw the largest exit of a venture-backed company up to that time, through SpaceX’s initial public offering.
List Methodology
The Crunchbase Unicorn Board includes private companies that reached a post-money valuation of $1 billion or more, with companies added when they reach that threshold in a funding round. The list does not reflect companies’ internal valuations, such as valuations determined for employee stock options, nor are the values adjusted based on periodic investor write-downs. Funding figures include private investments in companies classified as unicorns, as well as companies that later moved to the exited companies list.