In the first half of 2026, 195 companies joined The Crunchbase Unicorn Board, far surpassing 2025's 193. The U.S. leads with 110 companies (56% of new unicorns), followed by China (38) and the U.K. (13). North America accounts for 115, Asia for 50, and Europe for 27.

H1 2026 added roughly $440 billion in value to the board, representing 5% of its current value. These companies raised $80 billion, 5% of funding from still-private unicorn-valued companies. Robotics and AI neolabs led the new unicorns, alongside financial services, healthcare, biotech, AI infrastructure, devtools, defense, semiconductor, and aerospace.

Four companies were valued as decacorns, and five above $5 billion. The most valuable new unicorn is China-based Deep Seek, valued at $50 billion. OKX follows at $25 billion, followed by Open AI Deployment Co. at $14 billion.

Fast fundraising was prominent, with 19 companies doubling valuations within six months. Notable fast fundraisers include semiconductor startup Etched, defense tech unicorn Hadrian, and Valar Atomics. The first six months of 2026 also saw the largest-ever venture-backed exit: SpaceX's IPO.

The U.S. leads, China picks up. The U.K. was the third-largest market. The U.K. was the third-largest market with 13 companies joining.

By continent, North America accounts for 115 new unicorns, Asia with 50 and Europe with 27. Latin America, Oceania and Africa each count for one. The U.S. leads with 110 companies — 56% of new unicorns in H1.

China was in second place with 38 companies, a significant surge from 10 new unicorns in 2025. The U.K. was the third-largest market with 13 companies joining. By continent, North America accounts for 115 new unicorns, Asia with 50 and Europe with 27.

Latin America, Oceania and Africa each count for one. Fast raises In the current frenzied funding environment, 19 of H1's new unicorns raised fast follow-on rounds, often in six months or less, and doubled on an earlier valuation to reach at least $2 billion or more. Notable among the fast fundraisers are semiconductor startup Etched, which doubled its prior valuation to $10 billion from $5 billion just six months earlier; defense tech unicorn Hadrian, whose valuation vaulted to $7.9 billion, up from its prior $1.6 billion valuation seven months earlier; and Valar Atomics, building nuclear energy reactors for AI, was valued at $6 billion, up from $2 billion four months earlier.

AI momentum Trillions in value were added to The Crunchbase Unicorn Board in the first half of the year, including from some of the largest-ever venture funding deals. The first six months of 2026 also notched the largest venture-backed exit of all time: Space X's IPO. Taken together with the rapid follow-on raises at ever-larger valuations some of those companies have achieved, it's clear that the momentum around the fastest-growing companies has picked up significantly in this AI cycle.

Related Crunchbase unicorn lists: New Unicorns Companies H1 2026 (195)The Crunchbase Private Unicorn Company List (1,839)Exited unicorns (643)New unicorns in 2026 (232)New unicorns in 2025 (192)New unicorns in 2024 (117)New unicorns in 2023 (102)Unicorns in the U.S. (947)Unicorns in Asia (542)European unicorns (250)Unicorns from Lat Am (39)Emerging unicorn leaderboard (489)Related reading: A Record 14 Billion-Dollar Rounds In July Pushed Venture's Historic Run Higher Led By Deep Seek, 10 Frontier Labs Rush Onto The Crunchbase Unicorn Board In June Crunchbase Data: Global Startup Investment Hit Record $510B In H1 2026 As AI Boom Accelerates Funding And Exits Methodology The Crunchbase Unicorn Board is a curated list that includes private unicorn companies with post-money valuations of $1 billion or more and is based on Crunchbase data. New companies are added to the Unicorn Board as they reach the $1 billion valuation mark as part of a funding round. The unicorn board does not reflect internal company valuations — such as those set via a 409a process for employee stock options — as these differ from, and are more likely to be lower than, a priced funding round.

We also do not adjust valuations based on investor writedowns, which change quarterly, as different investors will not value the same company consistently within the same quarter. Funding to unicorn companies includes all private financings to companies that are tagged as unicorns, as well as those that have since graduated to The Exited Unicorn Board. Exits analyzed here only include the first time a company exits.

Please note that all funding values are given in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. Crunchbase converts foreign currencies to U.S. dollars at the prevailing spot rate from the date funding rounds, acquisitions, IPOs and other financial events are reported. Even if those events were added to Crunchbase long after the event was announced, foreign currency transactions are converted at the historic spot price.

Illustration: Dom Guzman.