New unicorns in H1 2026 surpassed Crunchbase’s 2025 count
Crunchbase counted 195 new unicorns in the first half of 2026, edging its full-year 2025 tally despite a one-company discrepancy.
By Jordan Bell · Startups & Deals Reporter
· 3 min read
New unicorns in H1 2026 already exceeded Crunchbase’s reported total for all of 2025. The data provider counted 195 private companies joining its Unicorn Board in the first six months of the year, compared with 193 for the whole of 2025, a narrow lead of two companies.
For investors following the AI funding cycle, the count is another measure of how much capital has been directed toward young private companies. Crunchbase said robotics and AI labs led the H1 group, alongside notable activity in financial services, healthcare and biotech, AI infrastructure, developer tools, defense, semiconductors and aerospace.
The comparison needs one caveat. Crunchbase’s related list on the same report shows 192 new unicorns for 2025, rather than the 193 cited in its narrative. Either figure leaves the H1 2026 count ahead, by two or three companies, but the discrepancy means the result should not be treated as more precise than the underlying tracker allows.
What counts as a unicorn in Crunchbase’s data?
Crunchbase’s Unicorn Board is a curated list, not a census of every private company that may be worth $1 billion or more. A company joins when it reaches a post-money valuation of at least $1 billion in a funding round. Post-money valuation is the value assigned to a company immediately after new investment is included.
Crunchbase bases the board’s figures on companies’ most recently disclosed funding rounds. It excludes internal valuations, including 409A valuations used for employee stock options, and does not adjust the figures for investor writedowns.
That methodology helps explain why comparisons between trackers require care. Hurun’s Global Unicorn Index uses a different definition and timing: it covers startups founded in the 2000s that are worth at least $1 billion and are not publicly listed, with a Jan. 1, 2026 cutoff and selected updates through its June publication. Hurun reported 308 newly minted unicorns in its 2026 index, a figure that is not directly comparable with Crunchbase’s H1 funding-round-based count.
Where did the new unicorns come from?
The U.S. accounted for 110 of Crunchbase’s 195 H1 additions, or 56%. China ranked second with 38, while the U.K. had 13. By continent, North America added 115 companies, Asia 50 and Europe 27; Latin America, Oceania and Africa added one apiece.
Crunchbase estimated that the H1 cohort brought roughly $440 billion in value to its board and had raised $80 billion over time. As of early August, four of those entrants had valuations of at least $10 billion and five more were valued above $5 billion.
The highest-valued additions, according to Crunchbase, were China-based model developer DeepSeek at $50 billion, crypto exchange OKX at $25 billion and OpenAI Deployment Co. at $14 billion. Crunchbase said 19 companies in the group also completed rapid follow-on rounds, often within six months, that doubled an earlier valuation to at least $2 billion.
The increase coincided with a broader funding surge. Crunchbase separately estimated global startup funding at $510 billion in H1 2026, exceeding its $440 billion estimate for all of 2025. It said OpenAI and Anthropic together received $217 billion, or 43% of that first-half total, underscoring the concentration of funding in a small number of companies.
This story draws on original reporting from Crunchbase News.
