These in-between exits don’t generate a lot of buzz, but collectively they add up to a tidy sum. Last year, for instance, U.S. startup purchases under $300 million 1 brought in about $8.7 billion altogether, Crunchbase data shows.

These small and mid-sized deals are not a long-term growth area for M&A, by many measures. The total deal value of purchases between $100 million and $300 million last year was still below levels routinely reached nearly a decade ago, as charted below.

Moreover, the total value can add up to just a fraction of a single, larger exit. ’s $32 billion purchase of , for instance, is worth more than 4x all these sub-$300 million deals put together.

Even so, we’re up from prior lows. Startup purchases in this range hit a low point a couple years ago and have rebounded since, with this year off to a brisk start as well.

Smaller deals shrink more

Smaller disclosed-price acquisitions of under $100 million are also well below peak. The volume and value of these deals hit a low in 2024 and has made somewhat of a comeback since, as charted below.

These sub-$100 million purchases are a mixed bag for returns. Investors might recoup solid profits from companies that raised a few million in seed funding and sold for prices in the tens of millions.

In other cases, startups sold for considerably less than the sums they raised in venture investment. Using Crunchbase data, we aggregated a few examples of such deals from the past year. It includes companies with known struggles, such as , which filed for bankruptcy before selling to an acquirer this month.

No power buyers

Notably, there is no “power acquirer” for small and mid-sized startup purchases. Out of 181 sub-$300 million startup acquisitions since 2024 there was no buyer with more than two such deals, per Crunchbase data.

That said, there are companies with a larger number of funded startup purchases, just without reported prices for all or most. Examples include , , , , , and , among others.

When price isn’t disclosed, it’s hard to gauge how founders and investors fared on the deal. That said, most of the more active buyers can certainly afford to pay well. Whether they choose to do so is another matter.

*This is only disclosed-price purchases. Most startup acquisitions do not have a disclosed price.

Related Crunchbase queries:

Related reading:

• Biotech Startup M&A Is Reliably Delivering Some Big Exits
• Crunchbase Predicts: Why The Race For Talent And Tech Could Accelerate Startup M&A In 2026
• M&A The Highest On Record For Unicorn Exits In 2025

Illustration:

A total of 27 companies joined the ������Ƶ last month, including six robotics companies and four semiconductor-related startups. Healthcare minted three new unicorns, while foundation AI, cloud services, aerospace and financial services each accounted for two companies that joined.

The U.S. once again dominated, with 19 companies joining the board. China tallied four new unicorns, the U.K. contributed two, and India and Germany each added one new unicorn.

Soaring valuations

Overall unicorn values soared in February as raised $110 billion at a value of $840 billion, making it the most highly valued private company of all time. Its closest rival, , raised $30 billion at a valuation of $380 billion, making it the fourth-largest valued company on the list. , the autonomous driving technology company, was valued at $126 billion, positioning it among the top 10 most highly valued private companies.

February’s new unicorns

Here are February’s newly minted unicorns.

Robotics

• , a solution for automating building equipment for autonomous construction, raised a $270 million Series B led by and . The 1-year-old company, based in San Francisco, was valued at $1.8 billion.
• Beijing-based , a physical intelligence foundation model and humanoid robotics company, raised a $290 million Series A led by and . The 2-year-old company was valued at $1.5 billion.
• , a builder of intelligent robots for industrial and service industries, raised a $145 million Series B round. The 2-year-old Beijing-based company was valued at $1.4 billion.
• Humanoid robotics company raised a $145 million Series B led by . The 2-year-old China-based company was valued at $1.4 billion.
• , a testing and control software layer for aerospace, defense, robotics and industry, raised a $150 million Series B led by . The 1-year-old Los Angeles-based company was valued at $1 billion.
• , a company that transforms 5G and Wi-Fi into spatial awareness for connective devices, an underlying layer necessary for physical AI, raised a $100 million Series B from well-known investors , , , and . The 9-year-old Belmont, California-based company was valued at $1 billion.

Semiconductor

• China-based , developer of a chip for advanced autonomous driving, raised a $330 million Series A led by and . The company, which is less than a year old and spun out of automaker , was valued at $1.5 billion.
• London-based , a photonic chip company for more efficient AI inference, raised a $220 million Series A led by . The 2-year-old company, valued at $1 billion, has plans to ship its first product in 2027.
• Reno, Nevada-based , builder of memory chips for AI, raised a $230 million Series B led by , and . The 3-year-old company was valued at $1 billion.
• , a chip developer for AI training, raised a $500 million Series B led by and . The 3-year-old company, based in Mountain View, California, was valued at $1 billion. It plans to ship its first product in 2027.

Healthcare

• New York-based , a platform that helps employers and employees source the best doctors with improved costs, raised a $118 million Series D led by . The 7-year-old company was valued at $1.4 billion.
• Palo Alto, California-based , a women’s telehealth provider, raised a $100 million Series D led by . The 4-year-old company was valued at $1 billion.
• , a Redwood City, California-based digital platform that helps medicare customers connect with advocates to navigate healthcare, raised a $130 million Series C led by . The 4-year-old company was valued at $1 billion.

Cloud services

• , a cloud platform for application development teams, raised a $100 million Series C led by . The 8-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1.5 billion.
• Mumbai-based , a cloud service GPU provider, raised a $600 million round led by . The 3-year-old company was valued at $1.4 billion.

Foundational AI

• , builder of an AI model to analyze large databases, raised a $225 million Series A led by . The company also says it has signed a partnership agreement with ‘s to offer the model to its customers. The 2-year-old, San Francisco-based company was valued at $1.4 billion.
• , a model developer to debug and understand AI, raised a $150 million Series B led by . The 1-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1.3 billion.

Aerospace

• , a space-based communications infrastructure player to support commercial satellite and government missions, raised a $100 million Series B led by and. The 4-year-old Livermore, California-based company was valued at $1.3 billion.
• , an aviation hardware and software company for automated flights, raised a $300 million Series C led by and . The 10-year-old El Segundo, California-based company was valued at $1.2 billion.

Financial services

• London-based , a U.K.-based digital bank for small and medium-sized businesses, raised a $155 million Series D led by , and . The 8-year-old company was valued at $1.2 billion.
• , an agentic platform for accountants, raised a $100 million Series B led by , and . The 3-year-old company, based in New York, was valued at $1.2 billion.

E-commerce

• Brooklyn-based , a marketplace for creators to sell digital products, raised a $200 million round led by . The 5-year-old company was valued at $1.6 billion.

Coding

• , a Boston-based code translation service for legacy code, raised a $125 million Series B led by 1. The round valued the 2-year-old company at $1.3 billion.

Defense

• Berlin-based , a developer of strike drones and autonomous defense systems, raised an undisclosed sum in a round led by that valued the 1-year-old company at $1.2 billion.

Forecasting

• Boston-based , an AI-native weather satellite constellation, raised a $175 million Series F led by and . The 9-year-old company was valued at $1 billion.

Sales & marketing

• New York-based , a brand marketing platform geared for AI search, raised a $96 million Series C led by that valued the 1-year-old company at $1 billion.

Web3

• , a blockchain intelligence platform to detect crime networks, raised a $70 million Series C led by . The raise valued the 8-year-old company, based in San Francisco, at $1 billion.

Related Crunchbase unicorn lists:

• (1,703)
• (604)
• (65)
• (187)
• (115)
• (102)
• (878)
• (500)
• (228)
• (38)
• (471)

Related reading:

• Massive AI Deals Drive $189B Startup Funding Record In February While Public Software Stocks Reel
• Crunchbase Data: The AI Boom Has Drastically Changed Who’s Funding The Hottest Companies In 2025 Vs. 2021
• January Delivers Highest New Unicorn Count In More Than 3 Years

Methodology

The Crunchbase ������Ƶ is a curated list that includes private unicorn companies with post-money valuations of $1 billion or more and is based on Crunchbase data. New companies are as they reach the $1 billion valuation mark as part of a funding round.

The unicorn board does not reflect internal company valuations — such as those set via a 409a process for employee stock options — as these differ from, and are more likely to be lower than, a priced funding round. We also do not adjust valuations based on investor writedowns, which change quarterly, as different investors will not value the same company consistently within the same quarter.

Funding to unicorn companies includes all private financings to companies that are tagged as unicorns, as well as those that have since graduated to .

Exits analyzed here only include the first time a company exits.

Please note that all funding values are given in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. Crunchbase converts foreign currencies to U.S. dollars at the prevailing spot rate from the date funding rounds, acquisitions, IPOs and other financial events are reported. Even if those events were added to Crunchbase long after the event was announced, foreign currency transactions are converted at the historic spot price.

Illustration:

In December alone, 23 companies joined The Crunchbase ������Ƶ, more than doubling the count from a year ago.

The value of the unicorn board also picked up significantly in the final month of the year, with the highest-ever value accorded to a private company. That was , which vaulted to the top of the list when it was valued at $800 billion in a secondary market transaction, double its valuation from just three months earlier.

And , the seventh-most highly valued private company at $134 billion, was also valued up from its $100 billion valuation months earlier.

New unicorns in December

Of the new unicorns last month, 15 were U.S.-based, two hail from China, and six are based in Europe, including two from the U.K. and one each from Germany, France, Finland and Belgium.

Financial services, aerospace and AI led with the highest count of new companies to join.

It is worth noting that a third of these companies were more than 10 years old, with some seeing a reacceleration in their business driven by AI.

On the other end of the spectrum, the fastest to reach unicorn status in December was , which raised its seed round at a $4.5 billion value.

Here are December’s 23 newly minted unicorns.

Fintech

• Crypto-focused digital bank , co-founded by , raised a $350 million funding led by . The company was granted conditional approval by the   in late 2025. The 1-year-old Columbus, Ohio-based company plans to support technology businesses in AI, crypto and defense, and was valued at $4.35 billion.
• , developer of AI-driven insurance for the trucking industry, raised a $100 million Series D led by . The 5-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1.5 billion.
• , a loan provider for outdoor equipment, RVs and power sports raised a $100 million Series F led by . The funding was part equity and part secondary financing. The 11-year-old New York-based company was valued at $1.3 billion and has generated over $7.5 billion in loans.
• , a provider of co-branded credit cards and payment plans for brands to build loyalty, raised a $150 million Series D led by . The 5-year-old New York-based company was valued at $1.2 billion.

Aerospace

• , a builder of powerful satellites, raised a $250 million Series C led by . The 3-year-old Torrance, California-based company was valued at $3 billion.
• Finland-based , which operates satellites for military and commercial intelligence, raised a $175 million Series E led by . The 12-year-old company was valued at $2.8 billion.
• , a provider of satellites detecting radio frequency emissions for the U.S. government and its partners, raised a $150 million Series E led by and at a value of $1 billion. As part of the deal, the 10-year-old Herndon, Virginia-based company acquired .

AI

• , a new startup from founder that was acquired by Databricks, plans to build an energy-efficient computer for AI. The company raised a $475 million seed round led by and . The less than 1-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $4.5 billion.
• , a generative AI company for video and images, raised a $300 million Series B led by and 1. The 1-year-old Germany-based company was valued at $3.3 billion.
• , builder of AI models for molecule programming, raised a $130 million Series B led by General Catalyst and . The 1-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1.3 billion.

Energy

• Energy software provider , raised a $1 billion funding led by , with plans to separate from its parent, . The 6-year-old London-based company was valued at $8.7 billion.
• , a builder of nuclear microreactors, raised a $300 million Series D led by and . The 6-year-old El Segundo, California-based company was valued at $1.8 billion.

E-commerce

• B2B chemical and industrial materials supply chain company raised a $10 million Series B led by and . The 11-year-old Beijing-based company was valued at $2.3 billion.
• , a luxury automotive e-commerce platform, raised funding from collector from his family office . The 40-year-old Miami-based company was valued at $1.5 billion.

Marketing

• Customer relationship marketing service , which manages a CRM and communication across emails through to messaging and aided by AI, raised a $583 million private equity round led by and . The 18-year-old Paris-based company was valued at $1.2 billion.
• Synthetic AI marketing research company   raised a Series A led by reported to be above $50 million . The funding was raised at different valuations, giving investors access at a lower value for part of the funding. The 1-year-old New York-based company was valued at $1 billion.

DevOps

• , an IT ticketing management platform reimagined with AI, raised a $75 million Series B led by . The 1-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1 billion.
• Site reliability platform raised a Series A funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.  The 2-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1 billion in a two-tiered round with investors getting access at a lower valuation for part of the funding.

Social media

• The social media giant TikTok spun out its , valued at $14 billion. The Bellevue, Washington-based company’s new owners Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX each own 15% of the new entity, while retains an ownership stake of 20%.

Security

• Identity security company , which manages security for individuals through to AI agents, raised a $700 million Series B led by . The 16-year-old El Segundo, California-based company was valued at $3 billion.

Defense

• Counter drone defense technology deployer raised a $210 million Series B. Investors were not disclosed.  The 4-year-old London-based company was valued at $1.8 billion.

IoT

• , an IoT sensor technology for maintaining industrial machines, raised a $23 million funding from existing investors. The 22-year-old Belgium-based company was valued at $1.2 billion.

Healthcare

• , a medical device company targeting heart disease, raised a Series D led by and . The 6-year-old Shanghai-based company was valued at $1.1 billion.

Related Crunchbase unicorn lists:

• (1,669)
• (186)
• (115)
• (102)
• (856)
• (493)
• (225)
• (38)
• (471)

Related reading:

• Exclusive: AI Insurance Startup Nirvana Nearly Doubles Valuation To $1.5B with $100M Series D
• Exclusive: Octane Lands $100M Series F At $1.3B Valuation To Help People Finance Large Lifestyle And Recreational Purchases

Methodology

The Crunchbase ������Ƶ is a curated list that includes private unicorn companies with post-money valuations of $1 billion or more and is based on Crunchbase data. New companies are as they reach the $1 billion valuation mark as part of a funding round.

The unicorn board does not reflect internal company valuations — such as those set via a 409a process for employee stock options — as these differ from, and are more likely to be lower than, a priced funding round. We also do not adjust valuations based on investor writedowns, which change quarterly, as different investors will not value the same company consistently within the same quarter.

Funding to unicorn companies includes all private financings to companies that are tagged as unicorns, as well as those that have since graduated to .

Exits analyzed here only include the first time a company exits.

Please note that all funding values are given in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. Crunchbase converts foreign currencies to U.S. dollars at the prevailing spot rate from the date funding rounds, acquisitions, IPOs and other financial events are reported. Even if those events were added to Crunchbase long after the event was announced, foreign currency transactions are converted at the historic spot price.

Illustration:

This is a weekly feature that runs down the week’s top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last week’s biggest funding rounds here.

The week’s largest funding rounds confirmed that we’re still very much in the AI era. This included the biggest deal, a $350 million Series C for AI hiring startup , along with good-sized financings for legal tech unicorn , shopping platform , and email security provider .

1. , $350M, AI hiring: San Francisco-based Mercor, a provider of AI-enabled tools for hiring, secured $350 million in Series C funding at a $10 billion valuation. 1 led the financing, which included participation by , and .

2. (tied) , $225M, fintech: SavvyMoney, which offers tools for financial services providers to embed features like credit scores and personalized offers into their consumer offerings, announced a $225 million investment co-led by and . Founded in 2009, the Dublin, California, company currently works with more than 1,500 financial institution customers.

2. (tied) , $225M, e-commerce: Whatnot, a live shopping platform and marketplace, has closed a $225 million Series F round, more than doubling its valuation to $11.5 billion in less than 10 months. and co-led the financing, which brings the Los Angeles-based company’s total raised to about $968 million since its 2019 inception.

4. (tied) , $150M, cybersecurity: Sublime Security, a developer of agentic AI tools for email security, raised $150 million in a Series C round led by . The financing brings total funding to date for the 6-year-old Washington, D.C.-based company to around $240 million, per .

4. (tied) , $150M, legal tech: Harvey, developer of an AI-enabled platform for legal professionals, closed on a fresh $150 million, bringing total reported funding to date to $1 billion. led the latest round, which reportedly set an $8 billion valuation for the 3-year-old, San Francisco-based company.

6. (tied) , $100M, finance: Human Interest, a San Francisco-based startup that helps small businesses offer 401(k) plans to their employees, raised more than $100 million at a $3 billion valuation, . That valuation is up from the $1.3 billion the company was last valued at in 2024. Previous investors , , , and again backed the company. 

6. (tied) , $100M, semiconductors: Substrate, a San Francisco-based startup seeking to build semiconductor factories with new laser-based technology, raised $100 million from , , and others.

8. , $80M, biotech: Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Zag Bio, a developer of thymus-targeted medicines, its public launch with $80 million in financing, including a recently closed Series A round. founded and incubated the startup and co-led the Series A financing with the .

9. , $79M, identity security: ConductorOne, an identity security startup building an AI platform geared for human, non-human and AI identities, landed $79 million in a Series B financing led by . The 4-year-old Portland, Oregon-based company says it saw 400% revenue growth last year.

10. , $60M, personal care: Blueprint, a Los Angeles-based brand that markets supplements, skin and hair care products, and foods geared to promote well-being and longevity, raised $60 million from a long list of venture and celebrity investors including , , and .

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the Crunchbase database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the period of Oct. 25-31. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the week.

Illustration:

and co-led the financing, which brings the Los Angeles-based company’s total raised to about $968 million since its 2019 inception. Whatnot had raised $265 million in a at a nearly $5 billion valuation in January.

New investors and participated in the Series F, alongside returning backers , , and . Other investors include, and.

As part of the latest financing, Whatnot says it will initiate a tender offer where select current investors will buy up to $126 million worth of shares.

Funding to e-commerce startups globally so far this year totals $7.1 billion, per Crunchbase . That compares to $11.3 billion raised by e-commerce startups globally in all of 2024. This year’s numbers are also down significantly from post-pandemic funding totals, which surged to $93 billion in 2021.

‘Retail’s new normal’

Live commerce is the combination of livestreaming and online shopping. , co-founder and CEO of Whatnot, said in an announcement that his startup is “proving that live shopping is retail’s new normal.”

The company says more than $6 billion worth of items have been sold on its platform in 2025 so far, more than twice its total for all of 2024. Its app facilitates the buying and selling of collectibles like trading cards and toys through live video auctions. It also offers items such as clothing and sneakers. It competes with the likes of , which also has a livestreaming option called eBay Live. It’s also a competitor to Shop.

“Whatnot brought the live shopping wave to the US, the UK, and Europe and has turned it into one of the fastest growing marketplaces of all time, , Whatnot board member and managing partner at , ’s independent growth fund, said in a release.

The company plans to use its new funds to invest in its platform, roll out new features and “evolve” its policies. It is also accelerating its international expansion, adding to its current 900-person workforce by hiring across multiple departments.

Related query:

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• TikTok Shop Rival Whatnot Bags $265M At $5B Valuation For Live Shopping Platform

Illustration:

The Stockholm-based company, which has evolved its model to offer more than just buy now, pay later plans, had set a price range for its IPO of $35 to $37 per share. Late Tuesday, it increased the price of its shares to $40 due to “better-than-expected demand.”

Shares opened at $52 and climbed as high as $57.20 before closing at $46.40 on Wednesday, trading on the under the ticker symbol KLAR.

Klarna raised $1.37 billion from the offering.

The company had filed a draft registration statement with the last November, and in March made its prospectus public. But by early April, Klarna seemed to be hitting an indefinite pause on its IPO plans after President announced sweeping tariffs.

At its peak as a private company, Klarna was valued at $45.6 billion. More recently, it was valued at $14.6 billion. Its market cap after its first day trading on the NYSE stood at $17.5 billion.

Since its 2005 inception, the company has in funding from investors including , and , with adding $1.63 billion to that total in a debt financing just last week. Unlike many other fintechs, Klarna is profitable and turned net income of $21 million in 2024.

The open IPO market

Its IPO follows a string of well-received venture-backed debuts, including the blockbuster market entry by design software provider , which saw shares triple in first-day trading (although they have come back down to earth since).

Klarna’s IPO also comes amid renewed interest in investment in fintech startups, with multiple rounds above $100 million closing this year.

Overall, the IPO dam in fintech finally seems to have broken in 2025.

Since the beginning of the year, several companies in the fintech space have either gone public or filed to do so.

• In early June, shares of closed up 168% at $83.29 in their first day of trading on the minting the stablecoin issuer with a market cap of around $16.7 billion and renewing hopes for an IPO market rebound. More recently, shares have traded in the $118 range.
• Digital bank went public on June 12, and came out swinging. Chime’s shares shot up 37% in first-day trading on , closing at $37. Shares have traded around $23 in recent days.

Meanwhile, digital wealth management startup filed confidentially for a U.S. initial public offering on June 23. And in early June, crypto exchange confidentially filed its own plans for a U.S. IPO. Expense management firm (formerly TripActions) also filed confidentially for a U.S. IPO in June. And, blockchain lender is set to make its public debut on Sept. 11.

Related Crunchbase query:

Related reading:

• The IPO Market Is Opening Up. These 14 Companies Could Be Next.
• Here Are The Fintech Companies That Could Go Public In 2025
• Tech IPO Darlings Give Up Some Gains
• These Are The Fintech IPOs That Could Follow Klarna’s Debut
• Circle Shares Soar 168% In First Day On NYSE, Potentially Unlocking IPO Market
• Chime Climbs In Market Debut
• The Longer IPOs Delay, The Less Likely Debuts Will Happen

Illustration:

An early investor in , and , Kranz went on to launch his own venture firm, , in August 2022 with the goal of “connecting visionary founders with real-world adopters.” In June, Kranz announced the close of the San Francisco-based firm’s , Sentinel Fund I, with committed capital totaling $213.5 million.

During his time at GIC, the most valuable lesson he learned, Kranz said,  “is how emerging markets evolved in innovation capability.”

“Twenty years ago, emerging markets were deficient in core innovation. Ten years ago, they became excellent fast followers,” he told Crunchbase News. “By the time COVID happened, emerging markets — mainly China — had become leaders in core innovation, particularly in AI.”

The Chinese, in Kranz’s view, commercialized AI “more effectively and far earlier” than Silicon Valley discovered its true promise.

With Sentinel, Kranz aims to take the lessons he learned during his time at GIC to invest globally in multistage enterprise technology companies.

Kranz describes Sentinel as a multistage venture fund that is thematic in nature. It focuses on three core themes: interoperable commerce; the financial internet, or the “Finternet;” and next-generation enterprise stacks.

In an email interview with Crunchbase News, Kranz shared his vision for Sentinel, why he doesn’t believe every development from should be breaking news, and why he thinks that one day IPOs could become nonevents.

The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

What would you say are the most valuable lessons you learned from your time at GIC? What were some of the most notable investments you were involved in?

Besides how emerging markets evolved in innovation capability, I learned that it’s important to remain rational through market cycles. There are market cycles where you’re trying to be pragmatic and rational in environments that are fundamentally crazy — either so bullish that pricing defies belief, or so negative that no deals get done and innovation seems to have stopped. You have to maintain good grounding and interpret who’s operating from fear versus who brings clarity of purpose, underwriting and vision.

My most notable investments centered around what I call “the movement of people and packaging of food.” I’ve been passionate about food delivery since childhood and consider myself an expert in this space. Over my 25 years in VC, I followed this trend line from early losses with (a dot-com grocery delivery company) to investing in food delivery during a major down market — companies like DoorDash and in the U.S., in China, and , , , and in other emerging markets.

These evolved into platform companies, not just delivery companies, expanding into payments and other services. … Most companies I backed are now over 10 years old and have become the incumbents that the next generation is targeting.

Tell us more about Sentinel. What is your average check size? Who are your LPs?

We typically invest in Series A, B, and C rounds, writing checks ranging from single digits to mid- to high-double digits (in millions). Our LP base includes prominent sovereign wealth funds and family offices that are available to partner with us as co-investors on deals.

What we look for is the ability to leverage our network outside the U.S. to help companies go global. We call this “Sentinel Labs” — it’s the continuation of work I did at GIC with the I founded, which was a platform connecting enterprises outside the U.S. with startups in developed markets.

Why do you think China’s AI tech is ahead of the U.S.? How has that allowed China to infiltrate the U.S. economy? What are U.S. investors still missing?

The Chinese are exceptionally smart about commercializing technology. Years ago, pre-COVID, I visited ‘s R&D labs. After visiting labs at , and other great tech companies, I know what American Silicon Valley companies with infinite R&D budgets look like, often tinkering on quantum computing and other research without clear commercialization paths.

But at ByteDance, scientists are responsible for both inventing and commercializing. During my full-day visit, they showed me not just basic research, but demos of technologies they were actively commercializing. The pathway from R&D to commercialization was maintained tightly; they had to show results within a year.

This approach allowed companies to successfully infuse AI long before Silicon Valley popularized the idea of a new AI Industrial Revolution.

exemplifies this perfectly. TikTok’s success wasn’t due to better content or superior marketing to kids. It was simply smarter at using AI to make content more attractive, addictive and engaging. Its algorithm for curating user content is its unique value proposition, predicated on extremely effective AI that analyzes user signals to determine optimal daily content.

provides another compelling example. Many drone companies in Silicon Valley had substantial funding and talent, but couldn’t make drones fly long enough, carry sufficient weight, or avoid obstacles. DJI built what I consider the world’s greatest consumer drone by leveraging AI and recognizing that features like sonic collision avoidance required purpose-built semiconductors. DJI partnered with the Chinese government to develop semiconductor processes, enabling them to employ and commercialize AI in drones with unmatched results.

The contrast is striking: In the U.S., we found ourselves stuck in labs with clipboards and lab coats, essentially waiting for breakthroughs to happen.

Today, Americans are inventing and commercializing applications across various technologies, particularly LLMs, which appears to be effective catch-up. In some areas, we might be leaping forward.

However, I find it concerning that U.S. media has a celebrity-obsessed approach. Every development from OpenAI becomes breaking news, creating the impression that everything important happens in Silicon Valley. I absolutely disagree with this narrative.

I’m confident that at this very moment, the Chinese have invented and commercialized AI that is not only globally competitive but arguably more effective for specific applications. They will export these technologies. We must be careful not to let the loudest environment be viewed as the most successful.

While I’m proud of America’s AI leadership and expect continued leadership, we cannot be overly self-centered. We must remain deferential to the fact that China has a long history of inventing and commercializing AI before Silicon Valley. Given this track record, it’s hard to believe they’ve suddenly fallen behind.

The media hype around the Valley needs to be balanced with realistic understanding of the past 15 years in artificial intelligence development globally.

Where are the next great tech IPOs (really) coming from? Why does today’s AI boom hinge “on the ‘boring’ infrastructure layer no one’s covering?”

At Sentinel, we hold a controversial belief about the future of IPOs. We think the current administration is blazing a trail of tokenization across all asset classes. Right now, we’re seeing tokenization for cash — the most liquid asset in the world got more liquid. While it seems odd to make cash more liquid through tokenization, there are genuine benefits.

This began with the GENIUS (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins) Act. The next development will be the Clarity Act, which we expect will enable tokenization of public stocks, private companies and private credit. The experimental possibilities are extensive.

When this happens, IPOs will become one liquidity option among many, but may not be the highest priority for all companies. Today’s secondaries market is booming but restricted — you must be a registered securities buyer, and transactions are largely one-to-one. You can’t simply purchase company shares on a platform like eBay.

We envision a world where the Clarity Act and tokenization of real-world assets dramatically transform how private markets raise money and seek liquidity. I’d call this not one black swan event, but possibly 10 black swans. We’re entering an era where traditionally illiquid asset classes may become significantly more liquid.

This shift will fundamentally change the nature and importance of IPOs. For some companies, IPOs could become nonevents because public-market investors will have already accessed tokenized versions of those shares before the IPO. The IPO becomes a less significant milestone in a company’s lifecycle.

How do you believe the Trump administration is lowering friction in the capital markets, and what does that mean for the future of venture capital investing?

The capital market changes won’t necessarily impact venture investing first. The transformation will likely begin with digital cash, then extend to public stocks and private credit, with private companies coming later in the sequence.

The key development is tokenization of real-world assets, which features two particularly innovative elements for capital markets.

First, smart contracts can embed information and validation directly into transactions. KYC (Know Your Customer) requirements can be built into token transactions, significantly reducing friction and costs for market changes.

Second, and more controversially, is enabling yield-based transfers of cash or tokenized money market funds as payment methods. This concept is potentially transformative.

Currently, we deposit cash in banks that provide roughly 2.5% returns even when Treasuries yield 5%, because banks capture the difference while risking our deposits in other assets. With blockchain-based saving accounts tied to Treasuries, I should receive nearly the full 5% yield.

The revolutionary aspect: if I can use these tokenized treasury-linked assets for payments, every transaction transfers yield rights along with the principal. When I Venmo you $10, I’d transfer the rights to the yield on that $10. This would be both exciting and terrifying for global capital markets.

There’s a scenario where this experiment could be given life through innovation-friendly regulation. This represents a major debate point for the Clarity Act. While the GENIUS Act sidestepped this issue, the Clarity Act will address it directly.

Companies like Circle already provide rewards for USDC that could be perceived as yield, but it’s structured as token rewards rather than direct U.S. dollar yield. We’re just one step away from explicit dollar-based yield on cash that can be used for payments and transfers.

This is the major black swan event I believe is approaching.

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Ultra-unicorns — private companies valued at $5 billion or more — are a growing cohort, with 17 companies joining this elite 211-member club so far in 2025.

A further analysis of Crunchbase data finds that alongside active venture firms, private equity investors have played a significant role in funding this group of highly valued private companies, which make up 13% of the overall ������Ƶ but represent the majority of value, accounting for $3.5 trillion of the total $6 trillion collective value.

Among the most active by investment count in $5 billion-plus unicorns, private equity firms represent half of the firms listed, Crunchbase data shows.

We analyzed the investors who amassed the largest count of portfolio companies and those who invested at the highest values. Let’s dive in.

Andreessen leads

, , , and have the highest investment counts in $5 billion-plus unicorns, our data shows.

Tiger Global ranked third despite its pulling back massively from investing  in private companies since the second half of 2022 and reportedly selling off investment stakes in individual companies. The New York-based firm has invested in ultra-unicorns including , and .

It is worth noting that across this list of leading investors, half are venture capital and half are private equity investors — an indication of how much private equity has invested in this asset class of highly valued private companies.

Private equity investors dominated the list by portfolio counts as they rack up later-stage investments across a wider pool of companies compared to venture capital firms that invest earlier and keep investing in their winning companies.

Portfolio counts were led by Tiger (19% of companies), (18%), then , and venture investor Andreessen Horowitz.

Early investors

Andreessen, Accel and Sequoia Capital hold the top three slots for investment counts in Series A and B rounds, Crunchbase data shows. Those firms have invested in ultra-unicorns including Scale AI, Databricks, and .

Andreessen invested in 16 unique companies at early-stage, while Accel and Sequoia each invested in 14 companies.

The list of early investors was dominated by U.S. firms.

Active investors in China — the second-largest market for $5 billion-plus unicorns — were Beijing’s , Hong Kong-based (formerly Sequoia Capital China), and Shenzhen-based .

Few private equity investors are listed as active at this funding stage.

Andreessen, Accel and — which invested in ultra-unicorns including , and — led the most rounds from seed through Series B.

Y Combinator leads for seed

At the seed level, portfolio counts are led by by a large margin, with the startup accelerator representing 10% of the seed investments in the $5 billion-dollar-plus club. It was an early investor in g, Scale AI and .

1, which typically invests with smaller checks, ranks second. The San Francisco-based firm was an early investor in and .

Other seed investors in this cohort in the top five are — which invests heavily in YC companies —  and .

Private equity dominates for dollars

and Softbank Vision Fund led the largest rounds by amounts in this asset class. (Note: This does not indicate the amount an investor invested in a round, but the overall size of the rounds they led.)

This list was dominated by private equity as well as some Big Tech companies including and , which backed Scale AI and , respectively. Andressen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital also make the list of leading investments above $8 billion.

Will exits pick up?

To date, six companies valued at or above $5 billion have exited in 2025, compared to nine companies in 2024.

A number of ultra-unicorns have also moved toward IPOs. They include (valued at $12.5 billion), ($9.2 billion) and ($6.7 billion), which have all filed confidentially with the .

With $482 billion in investor capital placed into these 211  private high-value companies since the early 2000s, a few more listings in 2025 would certainly help alleviate the venture capital liquidity crunch.

Related Crunchbase unicorn lists

• (211)
• (1,605)
• (78)
• (112)
• (102)
• (804)
• (500)
• (209)
• (37)
• (456)
• (524)

Related reading:

• The Rise Of The Ultra-Unicorns: $5B+ Startups Are Leading The Private-Market Herd In 2025

Methodology

The Crunchbase ������Ƶ is a curated list that includes private unicorn companies with post-money valuations of $1 billion or more and is based on Crunchbase data. New companies are as they reach the $1 billion valuation mark as part of a funding round.

For this article, we examined a subset of these companies which are still private and have a current value of $5 billion or more.

Investment analysis is based on disclosed rounds in Crunchbase.

The unicorn board does not reflect internal company valuations — such as those set via a 409a process for employee stock options — as these differ from, and are more likely to be lower than, a priced funding round. We also do not adjust valuations based on investor writedowns, which change quarterly, as different investors will not value the same company consistently within the same quarter.

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The most highly valued to join last month was , which raised a $2 billion seed round at a $12 billion value.

The U.S. led unicorn creation in June with 11 companies, followed by China with four. Israel, India, UAE and Switzerland each added one, as did New Zealand, with its first unicorn company, per Crunchbase data.

Eight exits

Six companies from the board went public, including four from the U.S. The most notable of the bunch was neobank , which went public at a value of $9.8 billion. Other U.S. unicorns that exited in June include , a stablecoin service for payments, AI-driven precision medicine startup , and behavioral health company .

Two unicorn companies from China went public: voice AI company and vehicle sharing service .

Two unicorns were also acquired in June: SMB accounts payable service , was purchased by New Zealand-based accounting software service , and , which was acquired by private equity firm .

June’s newly minted unicorns

Here are the 20 newly minted unicorns in June, by sector.

AI

• ’s AI research lab raised a $2 billion seed round — the largest seed round on record — led by . The less than 1-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $12 billion.
• , a conversational AI for customer experience, raised a $131 million Series C led by and Andreessen Horowitz. The 2-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1.5 billion.
• deploys GenAI for companies and governments. It raised a $17.3 million first close in a round of funding, led by and . The 4-year-old Reston, Virginia-based company was valued at $1.2 billion.
• , an AI meeting assistant, raised a secondary financing for its early team members, valuing the company at $1 billion. The 9-year-old San Francisco-based company is reportedly profitable and says it’s used by people at 75% of Fortune 500 companies.

Robotics

• , developer of humanoid and quadrupedal robotics for industrial and consumer use, raised a $97 million Series C led by . The 8-year-old Hangzhou, China-based company was valued at $1.7 billion.
• , a robotic AI inspection service for defense, energy and manufacturing, raised a $125 million Series D led by . The 12-year-old Pittsburgh-based company was valued at $1.3 billion.
• , a developer of a humanoid robot for retail that manages inventory, replenishment and packaging, raised a $153 million funding led by . The 2-year-old Beijing-based company was valued at $1 billion.

Financial services

• , a platform to trade on event outcomes, raised a $185 million Series C led by . The 6-year-old New York-based company was valued at $2 billion.
• , a fund administration platform for private equity and venture, raised a $130 million Series D led by . The 12-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1.1 billion.

Developer tools

• , a product management tool for software teams, raised an $82 million Series C led by Accel. The 6-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1.3 billion.
• , a real time data observability platform for software, raised a $115 million Series E led by . The 9-year-old Tel Aviv, Israel-based company was valued at $1.1 billion.

Web3

• , a cryptography company building encryption solutions for blockchain, raised a $57 million Series B led by and . The 5-year-old Switzerland-based company was valued at $1.2 billion.
• , a blockchain infrastructure developer integrated into , raised a $29 million Series A led by Ribbit Capital. The 3-year-old Dubai-based company was valued at $1 billion.

Software

• , an open source operating system to compete with Windows and MacOs in China, raised a $418 million corporate funding led by The 5-year-old Guangdong, China-based company was valued at $1.6 billion.

Healthcare

• , a medical imaging equipment company that can identify, diagnose and recommend treatment, raised a $139 million Series A led by and. The 7-year-old Shanghai-based company was valued at $1.4 billion.

Sports

• , a software service for high performance sports team development, raised a $235 million Series F led by existing investor . The 15-year-old Durham, North Carolina-based company was valued at $1.2 billion.

Defense tech

• Military planning software company raised a $24 million Series C extension led by . The 6-year-old Honolulu-based company was valued at $1.1 billion. Its Series C funding 3 months earlier led by and valued the company at $650 million.

Network services

• , a networking infrastructure company, raised a $170 million Series C led by General Catalyst. The 9-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1 billion.

E-commerce

• , a B2B e-commerce marketplace for food and groceries, raised a $120 million Series D led by . The 9-year-old Bangalore, India-based company was valued at $1 billion. Jumbotail also announced in June that it completed an acquisition of , a B2B marketplace, incubated by SC Ventures.

Devices

• , a smart collar technology to manage cattle grazing, raised a $99 million Series D led by . The 9-year-old Auckland, New Zealand-based company was valued at $1 billion.

Related Crunchbase unicorn lists

• (1,605)
• (77)
• (112)
• (102)
• (803)
• (501)
• (209)
• (37)
• (454)
• (523)

Methodology

The Crunchbase ������Ƶ is a curated list that includes private unicorn companies with post-money valuations of $1 billion or more and is based on Crunchbase data. New companies are as they reach the $1 billion valuation mark as part of a funding round.

The unicorn board does not reflect internal company valuations — such as those set via a 409a process for employee stock options — as these differ from, and are more likely to be lower than, a priced funding round. We also do not adjust valuations based on investor writedowns, which change quarterly, as different investors will not value the same company consistently within the same quarter.

Funding to unicorn companies includes all private financings to companies that are tagged as unicorns, as well as those that have since graduated to .

Exits analyzed here only include the first time a company exits.

Please note that all funding values are given in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. Crunchbase converts foreign currencies to U.S. dollars at the prevailing spot rate from the date funding rounds, acquisitions, IPOs and other financial events are reported. Even if those events were added to Crunchbase long after the event was announced, foreign currency transactions are converted at the historic spot price.

Illustration:

The five new unicorns from Europe mark the highest monthly count of new billion-dollar startups since 2023 for the continent. They included the first two from Germany and the first company from Portugal so far this year to be valued at $1 billion-plus. The U.K. also added two companies last month, marking three total this year.

Six companies joined from the U.S., adding up to 31 so far this year. And two companies joined from India, adding up to three companies in 2025 year to date.

Collectively, these 13 companies added $21.7 billion in value to the board in May.

Sales and marketing, and defense tech — sectors impacted by AI — led for new unicorn companies in May, with two each.

Exits

Six companies exited the board in May, removing $13.4 billion in value.

They include four unicorn companies that went public last month: Israel-based social trading platform , San Francisco-based digital clinic , India-based electric scooter manufacturer , and Austin, Texas-based advertising platform . Each of these companies went public at or above their last known valuation, except for Hinge Health which was last valued at $6.2 billion and debuted at $2.6 billion.

Two unicorns were acquired. Coding startup , last valued at $1.1 billion in 2024 was acquired by for $3 billion. , a direct to consumer snack company known for its frozen smoothies, valued at $1.1 billion in 2021, was acquired by for an undisclosed amount.

 May’s newly minted unicorns

Here are the 13 newly minted unicorns in May, by sector.

Sales and marketing

• , a marketing solution for apps to grow users and engagement, raised an undisclosed funding from . The 12-year-old California-based company was valued at $4.3 billion. It was acquired by in 2020.
• , a platform for automating customer interactions, raised a $120 million Series C led by , and . The 6-year-old Berlin, Germany-based company was valued at $1 billion.

Defense tech

• Lisboa, Portugal-based , a builder of unmanned aerial surveillance systems, raised an undisclosed funding amount at a $1.3 billion valuation. The 24-year-old company’s surveillance technology .
• , a dual-use company building unmanned drones for the defense sector, raised a $181 million Series C led by . The 10-year-old Bayern, Germany-based company was valued at $1 billion.

DevOps

• IoT device management service raised a minority investment led by ’s fund at a value of $4.65 billion. The 25-year-old U.K.-based company was acquired by private equity firm in 2018.

Biotechnology

• , an AI oncology drug development company, raised a $365 million Series D without disclosing investors. The 4-year-old New York-based company was valued at $1.6 billion.

E-commerce

• , a photorealistic try on technology for fashion, raised an undisclosed amount from family office. The 2-year-old Nevada-based company was valued at $1.5 billion.

Logistics

• Bangalore, India-based , a last-mile delivery provider for businesses, raised a $200 million Series F led by and . The 11-year-old company was valued at $1.2 billion.

Product tools

• , a data-driven product development platform, raised a $100 million Series C led by . The 4-year-old Bellevue, Washington-based company was valued at $1.1 billion.

HR

• , an employee recognition platform, raised a $165 million Series B led by and . The 14-year-old Utah-based company was valued at $1 billion.

SaaS

• , a provider of tools for restaurants to increase sales, raised a $120 million Series C led by and. The 7-year-old Palo Alto, California-based company was valued at $1 billion.

Media and entertainment

• London, U.K.-based , an indie streaming service, raised a $100 million funding led by . The 18-year-old company was valued at $1 billion.

Raw materials

• , an e-commerce marketplace for steel and cement, raised a $40 million Series B led by and . The 5-year-old Mumbai, India-based company was valued at $1 billion.

Related Crunchbase unicorn lists:

• (1,585)
• (52)
• (110)
• (102)
• (793)
• (494)
• (206)
• (37)
• (444)
• (514)

Related reading:

• The Week’s Biggest Funding Rounds: Pathos, Addepar Top Busy Week For Health And Fintech 

Methodology

The Crunchbase ������Ƶ is a curated list that includes private unicorn companies with post-money valuations of $1 billion or more and is based on Crunchbase data. New companies are as they reach the $1 billion valuation mark as part of a funding round.

The unicorn board does not reflect internal company valuations — such as those set via a 409a process for employee stock options — as these differ from, and are more likely to be lower than, a priced funding round. We also do not adjust valuations based on investor writedowns, which change quarterly, as different investors will not value the same company consistently within the same quarter.

Funding to unicorn companies includes all private financings to companies that are tagged as unicorns, as well as those that have since graduated to .

Exits analyzed here only include the first time a company exits.

Please note that all funding values are given in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. Crunchbase converts foreign currencies to U.S. dollars at the prevailing spot rate from the date funding rounds, acquisitions, IPOs and other financial events are reported. Even if those events were added to Crunchbase long after the event was announced, foreign currency transactions are converted at the historic spot price.

Illustration: