It’s the dream of every founder, tech entrepreneur, and venture capitalist backing them: To be a unicorn. Unfortunately, not everyone can make it. But as our list of the highest-valued startups of 2022 shows, the ones who make it seem to break all barriers.
The past few years have been exceptionally good for the tech industry. The pandemic accelerated digitalization across sectors. Customers started spending more time online and millions of new users migrated to the digital world. All of this has been good news for those on the list of the highest-valued startups.
So, what sectors are represented in this exclusive club of the highest-valued startups? As you would suspect, there’s a lot of technology. From artificial intelligence to fintech to software to space exploration, it’s the technology sector that leads the pack in this list. If you’re an entrepreneur, here’s your ultimate source of inspiration: A list of the highest-valued startups in the world.
1. Bytedance – $140 Billion
The highest-valued startup in the world is Bytedance, founded by Zhang Yiming, Liang Rubo, and others in 2012. The company is now valued at a whopping $140 billion. The Chinese firm that’s primarily into artificial intelligence is known as the developer of the video-sharing social networking app TikTok and its Chinese alternative Douyin.
Focusing primarily on apps of entertainment value, Bytedance uses advanced machine learning to deliver customized newsfeeds for its users. Its content discovery platform, Toutiao (‘ headlines’), curates news from both new media and traditional sources and is also a leading brand in China.
With revenues of $58 billion in 2021, Bytedance isn’t merely competing with the Chinese tech giants like Tencent, Baidu, and Alibaba. It’s also one of the biggest competitors for Meta. With around 30 percent of Generation Z’ers preferring to use TikTok for product research and 90 percent of users accessing the app every day, Bytedance’s leadership doesn’t seem to be under any immediate threat.
2. SpaceX – $100.3 Billion
SpaceX, with a valuation of around $100.3 billion, is second on our list of the highest-valued startups. Founded in 2002, the company is led by one of the most well-known entrepreneurs on the planet, Elon Musk. The firm focuses on the designing, manufacturing, and launching of rockets and spacecraft.
With a mission to make humanity an interplanetary species, SpaceX has been developing a massive rocket called Starship to colonize Mars. Although it has only undertaken low-altitude flights off Earth’s surface, according to Musk, the rocket is on target to achieve its gigantic mission.
NASA astronauts on the Artemis 3 mission to the moon will be ferried on a SpaceX vehicle. Space tourism is another focus area for the firm. The company hopes to commercially exploit the possibilities of private space services. SpaceX also has an internet system called Starlink that provides low-latency internet access to consumers around the world.
3. Shein – $100 Billion
Generation Z isn’t excited by legacy fashion brands. What has captured their imagination is an ultra-fast e-commerce fashion brand called Shein which has become the most popular shopping app in not just the USA but also several other markets. With a valuation of close to $100 billion, this Chinese brand has redefined the category for millions around the world.
With men’s wear, women’s wear, children’s apparel, and other accessories and products Shein is immensely popular with the younger generation of consumers. Primarily targeting shoppers in the USA, Middle East, and Europe, the brand’s graphic tees, boho dresses, patterned blouses, and chic swimwear are not just trendy but exceptionally affordable.
Unlike others in the category, Shein uses technology to understand customer insights and preferences and manufacture products with in-built demand. Using vloggers, the brand engages with a digital-native generation to advertise its trendy and affordable range that doesn’t compromise on quality. In a short span, the company has managed to achieve marketing stardom usually deserved for brands with decades of presence in the market.
4. Stripe – $95 Billion
Few sectors have seen the kind of venture capital activity and valuation surge as fintech. Leading the pack is Stripe, a company that’s building an economic infrastructure for the online world. With a valuation of around $95 billion, it’s fourth on our list of the highest-valued startups in the world.
Stripe offers merchants a digital payment processing platform that can safely accept credit card payments. Today the brand powers payments for some of the biggest names out there, including, Pinterest, Under Armour, Lyft, and Blue Apron. The platform can handle transactions in over 135 currencies, which makes it the right solution for companies that sell their products and services internationally.
The online payment giant is now developing APIs to allow developers to implement their payment capabilities. These APIs can manage everything from processing to acceptance to settlement and reconciliation. Stripe is also launching new offerings that help companies create their own tools for analytics.
5. Klarna – $45 Billion
The second name from fintech in our grouping of the highest-valued startups in the world, Klarna is a Swedish bank that provides easy-to-use and safe payment solutions to online stores. What makes this $45 billion company different from others is its concept of post-delivery payment that allows buyers to receive goods before paying for them.
Klarna accepts responsibility for the transaction. This ensures that the merchants get full payment while the buyer gets the flexibility to pay later. The seller doesn’t have to worry about any delayed payments since the company manages the back-end task of collecting payments through flexible modules.
The company is empowering consumers to buy products and services that they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to. Klarna is now present in 11 countries including the US, UK, and Australia. Its north European market share in e-commerce is now at ten percent. H&M, Expedia, Topshop, Missguided, and Moss Bros are some of the brands that use Klarna for their payments.
6. Checkout.com – $40 billion
Europe’s top tech unicorn, Checkout.com is the next fintech name on our list of the highest-valued startups. This $40 billion firm empowers merchants to accept more payments through a unified global platform. The company aims to be a one-stop-shop for everything related to payment, from accepting and processing transactions to detecting fraud.
What makes it different from Stripe, the other payment platform on our list is its focus on big merchants. While Stripe works with hundreds of thousands of merchants, Checkout.com only partners with a few thousand sellers. Their enterprise-only, exclusively online model has helped them succeed in a highly competitive industry.
Some of the company’s payment partners include Farfetch, H&M, and Pizza Hut. Checkout.com also is the preferred payment platform for other names in the fintech industry including Klarna, Coinbase, and Revolut.
7. Canva – $40 Billion
Graphic design isn’t something usually associated with unicorns. That was until Canva entered the picture and disrupted the sector with a collaborative, web-based design platform. This $40 billion company has democratized design and is empowering ordinary users to create high-quality designs for presentations, print, web, social media covers, posters, flyers, invitations, and much more.
Founded in Australia by Melanie Perkins, Cameron Adams, and Clifford Obrecht, Canva today is the go-to platform for creating designs online. With more than 8000 free templates, anyone can create a professional-quality design through its easy-to-use drag and drop feature.
Canva has 30 million monthly active users from over 190 countries. The platform is now used by not just individuals but also companies that don’t want to rely on external design agencies for their design tasks. Voted as the best place to work in Australia, the company is on a mission to change the world of graphic design.
8. Instacart – $39 billion
Founded by Apoorva Mehta in 2012, Instacart is a mobile app that allows users to shop for groceries, alcohol, and prescription deliveries. This $39 billion firm specializes in fast delivery from local stores located within an hour’s distance from the user. Consumers can fill up their carts, make online payments, and let the platform take care of the rest.
Delivery is managed by personal shoppers who manage their transportation. This crowdsourced model makes sure that users get their orders within the allotted time frame. By recruiting non-professional courier personnel, this on-demand platform has significantly added to the roster of its delivery crew.
Using artificial intelligence for inventory and delivery monitoring, Instacart provides demonstrable advantages to customers. Today, the service is available in 85% of the US and 70% of Canada. The service has become so popular that customers can even get their Walmart orders delivered through Instacart.
In short
As our list of the highest-valued startups in the world shows, companies that can provide value to customers, deliver innovative solutions and disrupt the category, and use technology to scale efficiently stand to gain a lot in this increasingly digitalized world.