Top 10 Countries With the Most Unicorns in 2026

TL;DR: The United States has the most unicorns in 2026, with 806 on both the CB Insights tracker and the Hurun Global Unicorn Index. China is second with 166 or 381, depending on which tracker you read. India and the United Kingdom trade third place.

Two American AI labs are now the most valuable private companies in the world. Anthropic is at $965 billion and OpenAI is at $840 billion. Hurun logged 156 new US unicorns in its latest year, one every two days. Four countries, the US, China, India and the UK, hold 1,104 of the 1,404 companies on CB Insights’ list.

Top 10 Countries With the Most Unicorns in 2026

The ten countries with the most unicorns are the United States, China, India, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Israel, Canada, Brazil and Singapore. The ranking is our count of the 1,404 companies on the CB Insights unicorn tracker by headquarters country, read on 10 September 2026, with Hurun’s count beside it.

Rank	Country	Unicorns (CB Insights, 10 Sep 2026)	Unicorns (Hurun 2026)
1	United States	806	806
2	China	166	381
3	India	67	61
4	United Kingdom	65	80
5	Germany	37	32
6	France	31	29
7	Israel	26	17*
8	Canada	22	24*
9	Brazil	20	16*
10	Singapore	16	20

The world total depends on the tracker. Hurun counts only start-ups founded in the 2000s, with a valuation cut-off of 1 January 2026, and Crunchbase keeps a curated list of private companies at $1 billion or more post-money.

1. United States: 806 unicorns

AI labs sit at the top of the US list, and the next two are infrastructure companies. The four most valuable US unicorns on CB Insights:

Enterprise tech accounts for 360 of the 806. The 156 new US entries Hurun logged produced a net gain of only 48, because companies that listed, sold or lost the status dropped off.

Both trackers agree on 806. The share differs: 57% of CB Insights’ list against 50.3% of Hurun’s larger one.

2. China: 166 or 381 unicorns

No country’s count moves more with the tracker. The two lists agree on the top name and little else:

Crunchbase sees the same acceleration: 38 new Chinese unicorns in the first half of 2026, up from 10 in all of 2025. Hurun puts two thirds of China’s total in five cities, led by Beijing and Shanghai. Our list of the top Chinese AI companies covers the names behind those counts.

3. India: 67 unicorns

Indian founders have built more unicorns abroad than at home. Hurun counts 217 unicorns co-founded by Indians, 156 of them outside India and more than 90% of those in the US. CB Insights’ 67 keeps India third on that tracker; on Hurun it slipped to fourth, behind the UK.

India’s list is consumer-led. OYO Rooms ($9 billion), fantasy sports app Dream11 ($8 billion), eyewear retailer Lenskart ($7.9 billion), payments company Razorpay ($7.5 billion) and quick-commerce app Zepto ($7 billion) are the largest.

Data centre operator CtrlS joined in June 2026 at $5.2 billion. Consumer and retail (19) and financial services (18) lead the CB Insights rows.

4. United Kingdom: 65 unicorns

Britain overtook India for third place on Hurun this year. Hurun’s UK Unicorn Index 2026 counts 80 UK unicorns, more than Germany, France and the Netherlands combined, and London alone has 60.

Revolut ($75 billion) is the largest, followed by payments company Checkout.com ($11 billion) and self-driving startup Wayve ($9 billion). Enterprise tech (21) and financial services (20) make up most of the CB Insights rows.

UK startups raised $16.5 billion in 2026 up to mid-June, against $19.5 billion in all of 2025, and 13 UK companies joined Crunchbase’s unicorn board in the first half.

5. Germany: 37 unicorns

The two trackers disagree most on what German companies are worth. CB Insights values defence AI firm Helsing at $5.37 billion; Hurun puts it at $18 billion. The counts sit closer, and either one gives Germany the most unicorns in the European Union.

Broker Trade Republic ($14.65 billion), process-mining software company Celonis ($13 billion), digital bank N26 ($9.23 billion) and HR software company Personio ($8.5 billion) lead the CB Insights list. Its rows lean on industrials (11) and consumer and retail (10), and Hurun counts 16 unicorns in Berlin.

6. France: 31 unicorns

France’s most valuable unicorn has already raised above its listed value. Mistral AI announced a $3.5 billion Series D at a valuation above $24 billion on 8 September 2026, Crunchbase News reported, while CB Insights still carries it at $13.25 billion.

Doctolib ($6.4 billion), health insurer Alan ($6.26 billion) and refurbished-electronics marketplace Back Market ($5.7 billion) follow. Enterprise tech is the largest category, 13 of the 31, and Hurun counts 27 unicorns in Paris.

7. Israel: 26 unicorns

Israel’s list is the most software-heavy in the top ten: 17 of its 26 CB Insights unicorns are enterprise tech, against 360 of 806 in the US.

Network software company DriveNets ($8.5 billion), blockchain developer StarkWare ($8 billion) and mobile games studio Moon Active ($5 billion) are the largest. Singapore overtook Israel for eighth place on Hurun’s index this year.

8. Canada: 22 unicorns

Canada ranks fourth in the world for AI unicorns on Hurun, with five, yet Crunchbase reported no major AI-focused rounds raised in Canada in 2026 up to June.

Blockchain company Dapper Labs ($7.6 billion), password manager 1Password ($6.8 billion) and travel app Hopper ($5 billion) are among the best known. Enterprise tech (12) and financial services (5) lead the CB Insights rows.

9. Brazil: 20 unicorns

Half of Brazil’s unicorns are fintechs, 10 of the 20 on CB Insights. Digital bank C6 Bank ($5.05 billion), lender Creditas ($3.3 billion) and e-commerce platform Nuvemshop ($3.1 billion) sit behind property platform QuintoAndar ($5.1 billion), the largest.

Brazil has the most unicorns in Latin America, with Mexico next on 8.

10. Singapore: 16 unicorns

Singapore’s largest unicorn on CB Insights is SHEIN, at $66 billion, and Hurun files the same company under Guangzhou, China. Take SHEIN out and the top Singapore name is payments company Airwallex ($11 billion).

It is the only Southeast Asian country in either tracker’s top ten, and Hurun’s 20 puts it ahead of Israel and South Korea. Consumer and retail and financial services have five CB Insights unicorns each, and our list of Singapore AI companies covers the startups coming up behind them. Next in line on CB Insights are South Korea, with 15, and the Netherlands, with 13.

Cities With the Most Unicorns

San Francisco is the unicorn capital of the world, with 222 on Hurun’s count after adding 23 in a year. New York is second with 141 and Beijing third with 86. San Francisco also produced 48 of the year’s new unicorns, more than twice Beijing’s or New York’s 22.

China’s startups cluster hardest. Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou (25) and Guangzhou (24) hold two thirds of the national total, Hurun says. In Europe, London leads with 60, then Paris with 27 and Berlin with 16. In India, Bengaluru has 25 and Mumbai 13, and in the rest of Asia, Singapore leads with 20 ahead of Seoul with 14.

AI Unicorns and AI Startup Funding by Country

The United States has 132 of the 215 AI unicorns on Hurun’s index. China has 47, the UK 9, Canada 5 and Germany 4.

AI and fintech are level on company count, 215 against 216, but AI holds 36% of all unicorn value on Hurun’s index and fintech 13%.

The funding gap is wider than the unicorn gap. The Stanford AI Index 2026 puts US private AI investment at $285.9 billion in 2025, more than 23 times China’s $12.4 billion. Stanford adds that private figures likely understate China’s total, because of its government guidance funds.

Stanford also counts 1,953 newly funded AI companies in the US in 2025, more than ten times the next country. In 2026 up to mid-June, $319 billion of AI startup funding went to US-headquartered companies, per Crunchbase, most of it to OpenAI and Anthropic.

Outside the US and China, the AI unicorns on CB Insights include Sakana AI in Japan ($2.64 billion) and chip designer Rebellions in South Korea ($2.34 billion, joined July 2025). Our AI startup funding statistics cover round sizes and investors, and the countries with the highest AI adoption rates cover use rather than funding.

Unicorns in Asia Outside China

Outside China, India leads Asia with 67 unicorns on CB Insights, then Singapore (16), South Korea (15), Indonesia (7), Japan (5) and Hong Kong (5).

Southeast Asia: 28 to 67, depending on who counts

Tracxn counts 67 Southeast Asian unicorns created to date as at 1 August 2026, 52 of which still hold the status. DealStreetAsia counted 58 created at mid-2025. Our State of the Startup Ecosystem in Southeast Asia 2026 report sets the two side by side.

Hurun counts 35 current unicorns in the region, worth $80 billion, with Singapore at 20, Indonesia at 7 and Thailand at 3, and fintech making up nearly half. Six Southeast Asian companies left its index in 2026. CB Insights carries 28:

• Singapore (16): SHEIN and Airwallex, covered above.
• Indonesia (7): Traveloka ($3 billion), Akulaku ($2 billion), DANA, Xendit and Kopi Kenangan. See our Indonesian AI companies for the next wave.
• Thailand (2): Ascend Money ($1.5 billion) and payments company Opn ($1 billion).
• Vietnam (1): e-wallet MoMo ($2.27 billion). Our Vietnam tech startups list covers the companies below the $1 billion line.
• Malaysia (1): used-car platform Carsome ($1.7 billion).
• Philippines (1): Revolution Precrafted ($1 billion). See tech startups in the Philippines.

Two Southeast Asian names still listed at $1 billion or more

CB Insights still lists Indonesian aquaculture startup eFishery at $1.3 billion. eFishery suspended its founder in December 2024, and on 29 April 2026 an Indonesian court sentenced him to nine years for embezzlement and money laundering, SeafoodSource reported.

Revolution Precrafted, the Philippines’ entry, was settling its obligations to clients in 2021 after complaints from suppliers and contractors, Rappler reported. The list still carries it at $1 billion.

North Asia: South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong

South Korea has 15 unicorns on CB Insights and 16 in Hurun’s table, led by fintech Toss ($7 billion), and Seoul alone has 14 on Hurun’s city count. Japan has 5 on CB Insights and 9 in Hurun’s table. Hong Kong has 5 on CB Insights, including travel platform Klook ($1.35 billion) and virtual bank WeLab ($1 billion). Our tech startups in Asia roundup covers the region’s companies below the unicorn line.

Are New Unicorns Coming Back in 2026?

Yes. Crunchbase says new unicorns are joining its board at the fastest half-year pace since the second half of 2022. The US produced 110 of the first half’s 195, China 38 and the UK 13, with robotics and new AI labs leading.

Hurun saw the same turn over its own year, with 308 newly minted unicorns, up from 203, while 88 fell below the $1 billion line and dropped off.

The chart counts survivors. It groups today’s CB Insights list by the year each company joined, so companies that have since listed, sold or lost the status are missing and older years look smaller than they were. Even so, 443 companies from 2021 remain, more than the 2023, 2024 and 2025 cohorts put together.

Hire Senior Engineers Outside the Unicorn Hubs

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is a unicorn company?

A unicorn is a private company valued at $1 billion or more. CB Insights counts any private company over $1 billion. Hurun adds two conditions: founded in the 2000s, and not yet listed.

What is a decacorn?

A private company valued at $10 billion or more. The CB Insights list has 82: 58 in the US, 11 in China and 3 in the UK. Hurun counts 91 unicorns worth $10 billion or more.

Which Asian country has the most unicorns?

China, with 166 on CB Insights or 381 on Hurun. Outside China, India leads with 67 on CB Insights, and Singapore leads Southeast Asia with 16 to 20.