Author : Naveen Prasad, Founder & MD at Group Agilis       July 8, 2021

The world of entrepreneurship has a dictionary of its own, a more recent one is 'decacorn' - term coined to refer to those new businesses that have reached a valuation of more than $10 billion in a very short time.

But let's first start with Unicorns

Unicorns are privately owned startup companies with a valuation of $ 1 billion. The number of unicorns has been constantly growing. There are more than 700 unicorns in the world. The US alone has more than 230 unicorns leading China. China has more than 225 unicorns and each minute gives rise to a minicorn. India is also apprising this journey of affluence. Unicorns have been heaping in Europe, with around 27 unicorns in the UK, 15 in Germany,

Unicorns are privately owned startup companies with a valuation of $ 1 billion. The number of unicorns has been constantly growing. There are more than 700 unicorns in the world. The US alone has more than 230 unicorns leading China. China has more than 225 unicorns and each minute gives rise to a minicorn. India is also apprising this journey of affluence.

Unicorns have been heaping in Europe, with around 27 unicorns in the UK, 15 in Germany, 8 in France and in many more. The country has a valuation of around $7. 16 billion and is home to more than 55 unicorns. With the current trends going, till 2023, India will enter the list of 100 Unicorns.

From Unicorns to The Era Of Decacorn Companies

Decacorns are startups that have a valuation of more than 10 billion dollars. According to research published by Cbinsights, as of June 2021, there are a total of 700+ unicorns in the world and among them approximately 30 are decacorns. Some of these include Bytedance, Stripe, SpaceX, Canva, Byjus, Nubank, Rivian, Instacart, One97 communications and many more.

While Bytedance and Didi Chuxing both from China are the triumphant decacorns, the USA has the highest number of Decacorns rising within a few weeks, including SpaceX, Stripe, Roblox and many more. India is also home to three decacorns - Byjus, One97communications and Oyo reaching the tag of 10 billion dollars.

DChanged Trends

We are living in the era of unicorns. But the trends have been changing. Since 2018 researchers have seen a boost in decacorns. And in a few years, we will see a total makeshift in this stratum.

Thanks to Technology. The needs of people have been proliferating which is the central reason for the accretion of 'Decacorns.' If we look at the stats of previous years, then even the valuation of $1 billion was enough to establish a flourishing, long-lasting company. But that's not the case anymore.

If we take the example of the US, ranging from its nine startups every year, four-five have the chance of getting a valuation of $10 billion. But this process takes time. Usually an average of around five-six years to become a unicorn and then average two-three years to become a decacorn.

Let's look at the study of a few Decacorns and get a glimpse of how they hit $ 10 billion?

1.Uber

A US-based company, founded in 2009. Uber connects riders to local drivers with its app. It's a ride-sharing company and is popular all over the world. It started its operations in a few regions and then established networking in almost 780+ regions. It's the perfect example to look upon and to learn from.

After its launching in 2009 as a unicorn, in 2014 it entered the category of decacorn. And as of 2021 data, it has gained a market capitalisation of $95.01 billion, building its place among the most valuable companies by market cap, with a ranking of 159.

Tuesday morning Singapore time revealed that ether successfully broke all the previous records and reached a mark of $ 2151.25. The data reveals that it is covid-19 80% of the Year to - date

2. Didi Chuxing

Didi Chuxing, a china based company that offers transportation services worldwide. Its app services operate in regions of Asia, Australia and Latin America. It was established in 2012 and soon after attaining unicorn status in 2014, then it gained decacorn status too, just after six months.

Since then it's been elevating and currently has a worth of $56 billion. Its investors have also invested in other early startups including Uber, Ola, Lyft and many more.. Stripe

A US-based company, which works in the domain of payment processing software and financial sectors. It was founded in 2009 and in 2014 it entered the list of unicorn and then decacorn in 2018. Currently, it has a valuation of $ 95 Billion.

Bitcoin Being the most commonly used digital currency is known to hold the total of 50% of the entire market capitalisation.

3. Pinterest

A company founded in 2010 with the motto, "productivity tool for planning your dreams." It's a platform that lets people save and explore images, gifs, and videos of almost every theme. After two years of its launching, it entered the unicorn list in 2012 and then as a decacorn startup in 2017.

According to stats, it enjoys 459 million active users every month. Currently, Pinterest has a worth of $40.05B.

Some other unicorns including Wework, a real estate company that offers working space for startups and services was founded in 2010, in 2014 it became a unicorn and in 2015 a decacorn.

Lu.com, a company that offers banking and financial services was founded in 2011, in 2014 it became a unicorn and then a decacorn in 2025.

Global Switch, Lyft, Airbnb, Juul, Bitmain etc. are also some of the unicorns that entered the list of decacorns.

Conclusion

One thing is evident from these cases, companies that implemented technology and apps to improvise everyday lives of people, accelerated this list.

According to an article published by CBInsights, there are plenty of chances for industries working in technology services, fintech, mobile services, IT to achieve unicorn status swiftly. Once the companies enter the unicorn list, then soon they'll hit the $10 Billion mark and make their place as Decacorns. And the list of 30 will multiply in the coming years with mushroomed Decacorns.