Global Unicorn Count Tops 1,600, With 13 Additions In July

Thirteen companies spanning sectors from AI to energy and professional services joined The Crunchbase Unicorn Board in July, while five had exits, a hopeful signal for the hundreds of well-funded companies stabled on the board.

The board also reached a new milestone last month: It now includes more than 1,600 unicorn startups, or private companies currently valued at $1 billion or more, according to Crunchbase data.

Among the 13 new companies, six are U.S.-based, two are from Sweden, and one each hail from France, China, Singapore, UAE and Saudi Arabia. Leading sectors for new unicorns in July were AI apps and infrastructure, e-commerce and healthcare.

Five exits

Last month also posted five unicorn exits, signaling that more liquidity could be on the horizon from the board, which still holds a collective valuation just under $6 trillion.

Three unicorns went public in July: San Francisco-based design collaboration platform Figma, Beijing-based autonomous robotics company Geek+, and Atlanta-based insurtech Accelerant.

Two companies were also acquired: California-based Windsurf — was bought by AI code generation startup Cognition for an undisclosed price after an earlier planned $3 billion acquisition by OpenAI fell apart — and Texas-based Iodine Software, which aims to improve payment outcomes for hospitals was acquired by Waystar for $1.25 billion.

July’s newly minted unicorns

New unicorn industries in July ran the gamut from media and entertainment to transportation, to AI. Here are last month’s 13 newly minted unicorns, by sector.

AI

Vibe coding startup Lovable raised a $200 million Series A led by Accel. The 1-year-old Stockholm, Sweden-based company was valued at $1.8 billion. The startup said it reached $75 million in annual recurring revenue, or ARR, in seven months since turning on revenue. After its funding announcement, growth sped up to $100 million in ARR. Lovable says it has 2.3 million users and 180,000 subscribers.
Media infrastructure AI provider Fal raised a $125 million Series C led by Meritech Capital Partners. The 4-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1.5 billion.
Multimodal AI solutions lab Reka AI raised a $110 million Series B from investors Nvidia and Snowflake among others. The 3-year-old Sunnyvale, California-based company was valued at $1 billion.

E-commerce

Etraveli, a tech platform for booking flights, raised a private equity funding led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. The 24-year-old Uppsala, Sweden-based company owns multiple travel brands, and powers flights for Booking.com. Etraveli, previously acquired by CVC Capital Partners, was valued at $3.1 billion.
Quick commerce service Ninja raised a $254 million funding led by Saudi Arabia-based Riyad Capital. The company delivers groceries and essentials across Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait. The 3-year-old Saudi Arabia-based company was valued at $1.5 billion.

Data and analytics

Anaconda, which simplifies management of python and R for data science projects, raised a $150 million Series C led by Insight Partners. The 13-year-old Austin, Texas-based company was valued at $1.5 billion. Anaconda has $150 million in ARR as of July 2025 and says it’s profitable.

Energy

CATL Intelligent, a subsidiary of battery provider Contemporary Amperex Technology, is using AI to reimagine its battery business from materials, oversight and recycling. It raised an undisclosed Series A funding. The Fujian, China-based subsidiary was valued at $1.4 billion.

VR/AR

Xpanceo, developer of a smart contact lens, raised a $250 million Series A led by Hong Kong-based Opportunity Venture. Prototypes include smart lenses with biosensors for health monitoring, XR/AR content for gaming, and night vision capabilities. The 4-year-old Dubai-based company was valued at $1.4 billion.

Healthcare

Professional services

Employee experience platform LumApps merged with Swiss-based mobile-first deskless employee management software Beekeeper. The deal is backed by London-based Bridgepoint, a major shareholder in LumApps. The 12-year-old France-based company was valued at $1.1 billion.

Media and entertainment

Newsletter publishing platform Substack raised a $100 million Series C led by Bond and TCG. The 8-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1.1 billion.

Networking

Airalo, a digital eSIM provider for devices for travelers, raised a $220 million Series C led by CVC Capital Partners. The 6-year-old company operating from Singapore was valued at $1 billion.

Transportation

Rivian spinoff Also, builder of yet-to-be-launched products in the micromobility and e-bikes sector, raised a $200 million funding led by Greenoaks, after raising from Eclipse Ventures four months earlier. The less than 1-year-old Palo Alto, California-based company was valued at $1 billion.

Related Crunchbase unicorn lists:

Methodology

The Crunchbase Unicorn Board 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 added to the Unicorn Board 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 The Exited Unicorn Board.

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: Dom Guzman