The creation of unicorns -or start-ups valued at more than 1,000 million euros- is a clear indicator of the health of innovation in a city or territory. For the entrepreneurial world, the presence of these emerging companies means that investors, who finance their growth, have high expectations of their success in the international market.
Historically, the United States has been ahead of the rest of the world, since it was there that Silicon Valley and its ecosystem of technology companies were born. Its leadership has been maintained over time despite the economic turmoil. However, in the rest of the world, the picture is changing.
For the first time, Europe has surpassed Asia in the number of unicorns. According to the CB Insights ranking, there are about 1,100 start-ups in the world. Of this total, 19% were created in the Old Continent, just ahead of Asia, with 18% of the total, which had historically surpassed it. Meanwhile, the United States continued with a total leadership with 58% total, and Latin America with 5%.
These figures, relative to the second quarter of the year, must be placed in a context of a considerable drop compared to two years ago, when the creation of unicorns was soaring as a result of the digital boom of the pandemic and the high liquidity in the markets. Now, the unfavorable macroeconomic situation has frightened investors, who are much more cautious when it comes to granting start-ups the privilege of being valued at 1,000 million.
