With 120+ Unicorns, Tiger Global Management Has Backed the Most Billion-Dollar Companies
Tiger Global Management, based in the United States, is the world's top unicorn investor, with more than 120 unicorn companies in its portfolio, far ahead of SoftBank Group, which has 77 unicorns and is ranked second, and Coatue Management, which has 61 and is ranked third, according to CB Insights data.
Over 350 institutional investors have at least five unicorns in their portfolios, but Tiger Global Management is at the top of the list. Tiger Global Management, one of the most profitable tech investors, owns more billion-dollar companies than any other company. Tiger Global Management is known for its fast-paced investing style, and it has already invested in over 170 startup venture deals this year.
ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, Stripe, the world's most valuable fintech company, Nubank, Brazil's top digital bank, Checkout.com, an online payment services provider, Chime, a mobile banking startup, and Grab, one of Southeast Asia's so-called super apps, are among Tiger Global Management's unicorn portfolio companies.
SoftBank Group was discovered to be the second largest unicorn investor after Tiger Global Management. SoftBank Group of Japan primarily invests in companies in the technology, energy, and financial sectors. It also manages the Vision Fund, the world's largest venture capital (VC) fund focused on technology, with over $100 billion in capital, backed by sovereign wealth funds from countries in the Middle East.
SoftBank has made investments in unicorn startups such as Klarna, the world's leading buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider, One97 Communications, the owner and operator of India's largest online commerce platform and mobile wallet Paytm, and Creditas, a Brazilian lending company.
Coatue Management, a global tech-focused investment manager based in the United States, is ranked third. Coatue Management invests in public and private markets, with a focus on technology, media, and telecommunications, as well as consumer and healthcare.
Coatue Management has invested in fintech unicorns such as Bitmain Technologies, a semiconductor company that provides blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) hardware and solutions, Fireblocks, a digital asset custody, transfer, and settlement platform, and Ramp Financial, a provider of corporate cards designed to save businesses money.
The most effective unicorn investors
In addition to ranking the world's top unicorn investors, the CB Insights report examines the so-called efficiency rate of each of the top ten unicorn investors.
This rate corresponds to the proportion of total unicorn investments to the number of early-stage investments. It demonstrates a firm's unicorn investment prowess as well as expertise in identifying future winners and champions early in their journey.
Accel, Andreessen Horowitz, and Sequoia Capital are three venture capital firms. China emerged as the most efficient unicorn investor, having invested in 51%, 37%, and 36% of their unicorn portfolio companies at the seed or Series A stage, respectively.
These investors have made early investments in fintech unicorns such as peer-to-peer payment technology company Circle (Accel), startup-focused banking services provider Mercury (Andreessen Horowitz), and cross-border payments and foreign exchange platform Airwallex (Sequoia Capital China).
Top 10 unicorn investors’ efficiency, data as of Q2 2021, Source: CB Insights
Looking at all investors who have backed at least ten unicorns, Benchmark ranks first in efficiency for early-stage unicorn investments at 80%, followed by Social Capital (75% ) and 5Y Capital (50% ). (71 percent ).
Most efficient unicorn investors, data as of Q2 2021, Source: CB Insights
According to CB Insights data, there were over 800 unicorns in the world as of August 2021, worth a total of $2,588 billion. 131 of these billion-dollar companies are in the fintech sector, with a total valuation of $516 billion.
Stripe (US$95 billion valuation), Klarna (US$45.6 billion valuation), Revolut (US$33 billion valuation), Nubank (US$30 billion), Chime (US$25 billion valuation), FTX (US$18 billion valuation), One97 Communications (US$16 billion valuation), and Checkout.com (US$15 billion) are among the top 20 most valuable private companies.