23 startups that became unicorns in 2017, scoring valuations of $1 billion or more

Business Insider

Once upon a time, a startup worth $1 billion or more was considered to be a rare, almost mythical thing — a unicorn. But in the past few years, unicorns have become far more plentiful, more like horses.

A year ago, the venture capital industry looked like it was going to tighten its belt and bring valuations back to earth. But in 2017, venture investment continued to flow heavily and is on track to match or exceed dollars deployed in 2016, says PitchBook, a database that tracks such deals.

Mega deals, where investors poured giant sums into one company at a high valuation, made up less than 1% of total transactions, but, by the third quarter, PitchBook says they accounted for 22% of the total deal value.

All of that means that new unicorns were plentiful in 2017. Dozens of startups were crowned with unicorn status worldwide, including these 23 US companies, according to CB Insight’s list of unicorns. (We took the valuations of these companies from Pitchbook.)

Some of them, you’ve likely heard of. Others may have slipped under your radar.

 

Rubicon Global

Valuation:
$1 billion

Select investors:
Goldman Sachs, Leonardo DiCaprio, Promecap

Rubicon allows business to order trash collection from a variety of waste haulers when they need it, and helps them recycle more.

Symphony Communication Services

Symphony Communication Services

Symphony Communications

Valuation:
$1 billion

Select investors:
BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, Google

Symphony is a cloud-based communications platform for the financial services sector that lets people communicate and share documents.

Katerra

Katerra

Katerra

Valuation:
$1 billion

Selected investors: 
Foxconn Technology Company, Khosla Ventures, Moore Capital Management

Katerra offers software for the construction industry for building design, logistics and purchasing. It is currently working on a new round of financing seeking a $2.5 billion valuation, the WSJ reports. 

Zoom Communications

Zoom Communications

Zoom CEO and cofounder Eric S. YuanZoom

Valuation:
$1 billion

Select investors:
Sequoia Capital, Qualcomm Ventures, Emergence Capital Partners

Zoom offers online video and web-conferencing services.

Desktop Metal

Valuation:
$1.02 billion

Select investors:
Australian Future Fund, GE Ventures, Data Collective

Desktop Metal makes 3D printers that can print metal.

CrowdStrike

CrowdStrike

CrowdStrike founder CEO George Kurtz Crowdstrike

Valuation:
$1.05

Select investors:
Warbug Pincus, capitalG, Accel Partners

CrowdStrike offers cybersecurity software that uses artificial intelligence to protect against hackers.

Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab founder, CEO Peter BeckRocket Lab

Valuation:
$1.10 billion

Select investors:
Lockheed Martin, Khosla Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners

Rocket Lab offers a rocket-for-hire launch vehicle used to launch satellites.

Duo Security

Duo Security

Duo Security CEO Dug SongDug Song/About Me

Valuation:
$1.17 billion

Select investors: 
Meritech Capital, Lead Edge Capital, Benchmark

Duo is a cloud service that manages passwords and makes sure devices are virus-free before they connect to the corporate network.

Clover Health

Clover Health

Clover Health co-founder CEO Vivek GaripalliClover Health

Valuation:
$1.20 billion

Select investors:
Google Ventures, Sequoia Capital, First Round Capital

Clover Health is a new option for health insurance that includes real-time monitoring and big data analysis to help manage chronic illness.

Rubrik

Rubrik

Rubrik CEO Bipul SinhaYouTube/Nutanix

Valuation:
$1.30 billion

Select investors:
Greylock Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures

Rubrik offers data backup, recovery, and search software for companies that store data both in the cloud and in their own data centers.

Robinhood

Robinhood

Robinhood cofounder Vladimir TenevRobinhood

Valuation:
$1.30 billion

Select investors:
Google Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, DST Global

Robinhood offers an app for “free stock trading” allowing people to buy stocks without paying commissions.

Ginkgo BioWorks

Ginkgo BioWorks

Ginkgo Bioworks

Valuation:
$1.38

Select investors:
Y Combinator, Data Collective, MassVentures

Ginkgo BioWorks calls itself the organism company. It designs custom microbes for all sorts of applications, from crops that fertilize themselves to fermented ingredients for fragrances.

Indigo Agriculture

Valuation:
$1.40 billion

Select investors:
Activant Capital Group, Alaska Permanent Fund, Baillie Gifford & Co.

Indigo is using big data to improve crop yields. It determines which microbes a crop will need, then treats seeds with those microbes.

AvidXchange

AvidXchange

AvidXchange CEO Michael PraegerYouTube

Valuation:
$1.40 billion

Select investors:
Temasek Holdings, Charlotte Angel Partners, TPG Growth

AvidXchange makes software that automates a company’s bill payments, approvals, and other manual tasks.

Peloton Interactive

Peloton Interactive

YouTube/Peloton

Valuation:
$1.41 billion

Select investors:
True Ventures, Tiger Global Management, L Catterton

Peloton offers an exercise bike that streams on-demand classes.

 

C3 IoT

C3 IoT

C3 IoT CEO Tom SiebelDelivering Alpha

Valuation:
$1.41 billion

Select investors:
Makena Capital Management, TPG Growth, Breyer Capital

C3 IoT offers a cloud service that hosts big data, AI, and Internet of Things applications.

Squarespace

Squarespace

Squarespace founder and CEO Anthony CasalenaSquarespace

Valuation:
$1.50 billion

Select investors:
General Atlantic, Index Ventures, Accel Partners

Squarespace offers a service for building and hosting websites.

 

Coinbase

Coinbase

Coinbase CEO Brian ArmstrongAnthony Harvey/Getty Images for TechCrunch

Valuation:
$1.60 billion

Select investors:
Y Combinator, Union Square Ventures, DFJ Growth

Coinbase is an online exchange that allows users to purchase and store their cryptocurrency.

Afiniti

Valuation:
$1.60 billion

Select investors:
GAM Holding

Afiniti offers contact center software that uses artificial intelligence to pair customers with customer service agents.

Quora

Quora

Quora founder and CEO Adam D’AngeloQuora

Valuation:
$1.70 billion

Select investors:
Y Combinator, Matrix Partners, Benchmark

Quora is a question-and-answer website.

Carbon3D

Carbon3D

Carbon3D cofounder and CEO Joseph DeSimoneCarbon3D

Valuation:
$1.74 billion

Select investors:
Google Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Wakefield Group

Carbon3D manufactures 3D printers that use a sophisticated technology that allow them to produce polished final results.

Reddit

Reddit

Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian Noam Galai/Getty

Valuation:
$1.80 billion

Select investors:
Y Combinator, Sequoia Capital, Coatue Management

Reddit is website that bills itself as “the front page of the internet,” where people share and discuss links to articles, photos, forum posts, and videos.

Affirm

Affirm

Affirm cofounder CEO Max LevchinAffirm

Valuation:
$1.80 billion

Select investors:
Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures, Singapore Wealth Fund

Affirm is a finance company that allows online stores to offer monthly payment plans to their customers.

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