Unicorn
Noun · Startup & VC · Origin: 2013
Definitions
Unicorn is a privately held startup company valued at one billion dollars or more. The term was coined by venture capitalist Aileen Lee in 2013 because such companies were considered extremely rare, like the mythical creature. At the time, there were only 39 unicorns globally. The threshold has since become more commonly reached, with hundreds of unicorn companies existing at any given time, leading some to argue the term has lost its original significance. Notable unicorns that later went public include Uber, Airbnb, Stripe, and SpaceX. A decacorn refers to a company valued at over ten billion dollars, while a hectocorn exceeds one hundred billion. The unicorn label is based on private market valuations from funding rounds, which may not reflect true market value until tested by an IPO or acquisition. The term has become a cultural symbol of startup ambition and venture capital excess.
In plain English: A startup company worth over $1 billion — it used to be extremely rare (hence the mythical name), but now there are a lot of them.
Example: "When Aileen Lee coined it, there were 39 unicorns. Now there are so many we might need a new mythical animal."
Etymology
- 2013
- Aileen Lee publishes 'Welcome to the Unicorn Club' on TechCrunch
- 2015
- 'Decacorn' ($10B+) and 'hectocorn' ($100B+) enter the lexicon
Origin Story
The Mythical Creature Worth a Billion Dollars
In startup terminology, a 'unicorn' is a privately held startup company valued at over $1 billion. The term was coined by Aileen Lee, founder of Cowboy Ventures, in a November 2013 TechCrunch article titled 'Welcome to the Unicorn Club: Learning from Billion-Dollar Startups.' Lee chose the mythical creature deliberately: at the time, reaching a billion-dollar valuation while still private was rare enough to seem almost magical. Her analysis found that only 39 U.S.-based software companies founded after 2003 had achieved this status, roughly 0.07% of venture-backed startups. The term caught fire immediately. It filled a real linguistic gap: investors, journalists, and founders needed a shorthand for these exceptional companies, and 'unicorn' was vivid and memorable. As startup valuations soared through the mid-2010s, the unicorn population exploded. By 2021, there were over 1,000 unicorns worldwide, prompting Lee herself to note that the term no longer conveyed the same rarity. Industry observers coined additional terms: 'decacorn' for companies worth over $10 billion and 'hectocorn' for those exceeding $100 billion. Despite inflation in the ranks, 'unicorn' remains one of the most widely used terms in startup and venture capital vocabulary.
Coined by: Aileen Lee
Context: TechCrunch article, November 2013
Fun fact: When Aileen Lee wrote her original article in 2013, she identified 39 unicorns. By 2024, CB Insights tracked over 1,200, showing just how much the startup landscape had changed in a decade.