2015 In Review: The Year Of The Unicorn

2015 In Review: The Year Of The Unicorn by Kyle Stanford, PitchBook

Down the road, 2015 may well be remembered as the Year of the Unicorn.

More companies achieved the coveted $1 billion+ valuation in 2015 than any year before, with a new unicorn popping up at a rate of nearly 1.5 per week. It could be a few years until startups hit the milestone at the same or higher rate, as it's expected that exorbitant venture spending is about to hit last call (or already has). The term "unicorn" was coined in 2013, when joining the club was quite rare—like their namesake suggests; these days, a more prestigious milestone might be companies valued at $10 billion+, with Uber, admittedly a unique beast in the...