Great Wall Strategy Consultants released the "China Unicorn Enterprise Research Report 2021" pointed out that in 2020, the number of Chinese unicorn enterprises reached another peak---251, the total valuation of the first time over the trillion US dollars, 1.05536 trillion US dollars, among which the valuation of more than 10 billion US dollars (including) a total of 12 super unicorn enterprises (5 new added), these 12 enterprises' valuation accounts for more than 50% of the total, these 12 Unicorns are BytesDance, Ant Group, Didi Taxi, Cainiao Network, Kuaishou, Webank, JDT, Yuanfudao, Sheln, JD Logistics, Sense Time and Manbang Group. In 2020, there were 72 new unicorn companies and 24 listed Unicorn companies.

1.     Unicorn Corporate track and regional distribution

In 2020, unicorns are distributed in 27 tracks and 88 subdivided tracks.  Compared with the first four stages, in 2020, there were 9 new tracks, like web celebrity detonation products and commercial satellites etc., among them, innovative drug and equipment track new unicorn enterprises number is the most, 11.  Unicorns have remarkable achievements in opening up new tracks and in leading new formats.  

In 2020, unicorn enterprises are distributed in 29 cities, and nearly 90 percent of unicorns gather in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta and the Chengzhou-Chongqing region.  Among them, there are 82 in Beijing, 44 in Shanghai, 25 in Hangzhou, 20 in Shenzhen, 12 in Guangzhou, 11 in Nanjing, 9 in Tianjin, 8 in Qingdao, 5 in Chengdu, and 3 in Xi 'an, Jinan, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Wuhan, Suzhou and Changzhou. Three cities, Changchun, Changzhou and Weinan, have seen unicorns for the first time.

2.     The pace of unicorn listings has accelerated

The epidemic has not changed the popularity of unicorns by capital. Just as Internet-related enterprises dominated the international financial market in 2020, the financing and listing of unicorns was booming. 

According to the report, the number of newly funded unicorns in 2020 was 127, up from 82 in 2019. Internet education, new energy and intelligent vehicles, innovative drugs and instruments, web celebrity detonation products are the financing hot track. The financing activity of Internet education track is high, and the total amount of new financing in 2020 ranks first, and the capital shows the trend of concentration to the top enterprises; The whole industry chain of the automobile has a unicorn enterprise layout, new energy and intelligent automobile track unicorns are leading in the number of newly financed enterprises; COVID-19 and policies benefits companies in the biomedical sector, innovative drugs and instruments and digital medical track were leading in the number of newly funded enterprises as well as listed enterprises; Unicorn enterprises emerged in large numbers in Web celebrity detonation products track, which is greatly favored by capital. 

Head investment institutions remain the main investment force behind unicorns, focusing on new retail, innovative drugs and instruments, and corporate digital services.  Sequoia capital, IDG capital, Matrix China, Hillhouse capital, Huaxing capital, Yunfeng capital, 5Y capital (morningside capital), China international capital, Qiming Ventures , Temasek, Shunwei capital, ZhenFund, CITIC Industrial Fund, CDH investments, Warburg Pincus investment, GGV capital, CMB international, SIG Asia, Innovation factory and other 19 head Part of the investment institutions, each of them has invested in more than 15 episodes of unicorns.

In 2020, a total of 24 unicorn companies went public, and the positive effect of deepening reform of China's capital market is being highlighted among unicorns. Twelve unicorns listed in the US, eight in mainland China and four in Hong Kong. Since 2019, the registration system has been implemented on the Science and Technology Innovation Board and the Growth Enterprise Market, which not only improves the basic system of the capital market, but also further expands the range of listing destinations for unicorns. By December 31, 2020, six unicorn companies had been listed on the Science and Innovation Board and one on the Growth Enterprise Market. The 24 listed unicorns are mainly distributed in innovative drugs and instruments, new energy and intelligent vehicle.

3.     The trajectory of the unicorns over the past five years

According to the tracing study on unicorn companies of Great Wall Strategy Consultants from 2016 to 2020, the number of unicorns climbed from 131 to 251, and the number of newly established unicorns showed an increase in volatility. In the past four years, a total of 64 unicorns have been listed in the domestic and foreign capital markets, and the proportion of listed companies has increased year by year, from 3 in 2017 to 24 in 2020. 

Regional innovation vitality has been enhanced. In the past five years, unicorn enterprises have been distributed in more and more cities.  From 2016 to 2020, the number of cities where unicorns are located increased from 16 to 29. The proportion of "Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Shenzhen" unicorn enterprises has gradually decreased, from 87.8% in 2016 to 68.1% in 2020. The innovation vitality of all regions continues to improve, with the number of unicorn enterprises in Guangzhou, Nanjing, Qingdao and Tianjin increasing by 6 or more in 2020 compared with 2016.

Platform enterprises continue to expand the ecosystem, and the number of investment and incubation unicorn enterprises increases year by year. From 2016 to 2020, the number of unicorns incubated by new economy platform enterprises Tencent, Alibaba, Xiaomi, Baidu and JD is 87, 74, 40, 30 and 21 respectively. The track is gradually expanding, the ecology is gradually improving, and the pattern is gradually clear.  Large enterprises were also accelerating their efforts to cultivate unicorns. From 2018 to 2020, the total number of unicorns incubated is 10, 31 and 45 respectively. 

The high growth of unicorn enterprises and the favor of capital, also drive up the price of the unicorn after it went public. Sixteen unicorns are worth more than $10 billion after going public, and four are worth more than $100 billion. As of December 31, 2020, 16 unicorn companies with market capitalization of over $10 billion are Meituan reviews, Pinduoduo, CATL, Xiaomi, NYSE：BEKE, JD health, NIO, Xpeng Motors, Tencent Music, LEADING IDEAL, POP MART, Innoventbio, Ping An Health Cloud, iQIYI, Qianxin and Perfect Diary. Four of them, Meituan reviews, Pinduoduo, CATL and Xiaomi, are worth more than $100 billion. After kuaishou went public in 2021, its market capitalization reached more than 100 billion on March 31.

Note: GEI Chinese Unicorn enterprise standard:

(1) An enterprise registered in China with the corporate capacity; (2) It has been established for no more than 10 years; (3) It has received private investment but has not been listed; (4) Companies that meet the requirements of (1), (2) and (3) and whose valuation exceeds (including) 1 billion US dollars are called unicorns; (5) Enterprises that meet the requirements of (1), (2) and (3) and whose enterprise valuation exceeds (including) $10 billion are called super unicorns.

Annex 1:

2020 China Unicorn List

（The total list includes the top 251, here the top 20 were selected）

* Companies that became unicorn in 2020

Annex 2:（other related lists）

List of companies that became unicorns in 2020 and went public in the same year

(According to the order of going public in 2020)

List of companies that became unicorns in 2021(as of March 30th)

（Order by year of set-up, Companies in the same year are ranked by the first letter of their name）

* Company that became unicorn in 2021 and went public in the same year