Epic Games, the makers of “Fortnite,” reached unicorn status in 2018.Getty
When Instagram sold to Facebook for $1 billion in 2013, it felt like a massive sum of money.
Five years later, we seem to be numb to the billion-dollar acquisitions and valuations around us. WhatsApp was acquired for $19 billion. Uber is valued at $72 billion.
Yet, to build a billion-dollar company from scratch is still an incredibly difficult feat. Last year, CB Insights reported that the odds of becoming a unicorn — a company valued at $1 billion or more — was less than 1% for companies that had raised venture capital.
So far in 2018, there have been 35 tech companies in the US to reach this unicorn status, according to data provided by PitchBook.
Others were included in PitchBook’s list, like the makeup company Pat McGrath Labs, the fancy healthcare provider One Medical, and the publicly traded weed dispensary company MedMen. There were also international companies. For our list, we selected US companies with technology at the core of their business.
Here are the 35 US tech companies that have reached unicorn status in 2018:
35. ThoughtSpot
What it does: Search and AI-based analytics
What it’s worth now: $1 billion
Year founded: 2012
34. WalkMe
What it does: Guides users to navigate websites and apps more efficiently
What it’s worth now: $1 billion
Year founded: 2011
33. Tresata
What it does: Analytics software company
What it’s worth now: $1 billion
Year founded: 2011
32. Talkdesk
Talkdesk CEO Tiago Paiva.Talkdesk
What it does: Cloud-based call center software
What it’s worth now: $1 billion
Year founded: 2011
31. JFrog
What it does: Deploys software to the cloud
What it’s worth now: $1 billion
Year founded: 2008
30. OutSystems
OutSystems CEO Paulo Rosado.
What it does: Platform for “low code” app creation. Think Squarespace, but for mobile apps.
What it’s worth now: $1 billion
Year founded: 2001
29. SoundHound
What it does: Audio and speech recognition software
What it’s worth now: $1.05 billion
Year founded: 2005
27. Rubicon
What it does: Waste management and recycling
What it’s worth now: $1.066 billion
Year founded: 2008
26. Postmates
What it does: Food delivery
What it’s worth now: $1.076 billion
Year founded: 2011
25. Convoy
What it does: Tech-powered trucking services
What it’s worth now: $1.085 billion
Year founded: 2015
24. Tradeshift
What it does: Open-source trade platform
What it’s worth now: $1.1 billion
Year founded: 2005
23. Brex
What it does: Corporate credit cards for startups
What it’s worth now: $1.1 billion
Year founded: 2017
22. Lime
What it does: Electric scooters and e-assist bikes
What it’s worth now: $1.1 billion
Year founded: 2017
21. Cohesity
Cohesity CEO Mohit Aron.Cohesity
What it does: Data infrastructure and storage
What it’s worth now: $1.1 billion
Year founded: 2013
20. Gitlab
What it does: A single application for development operations, from project planning to source code management.
What it’s worth now: $1.1 billion
Year founded: 2011
18. Starry
The Starry Station.Starry
What it does: Internet for $50 per month
What it’s worth now: $1.29 billion
Year founded: 2014
16. Toast
What it does: Restaurant point-of-sale and management system
What it’s worth now: $1.4 billion
Year founded: 2011
15. Allbirds
What it does: Merino wool shoes
What it’s worth now: $1.4 billion
Year founded: 2014
14. Samsara
What it does: Fleet management system
What it’s worth now: $1.4 billion
Year founded: 2015
13. Freshworks
Freshworks CEO Girish Mathrubootham.Courtesy of Freshworks
What it does: Customer support and sales software
What it’s worth now: $1.5 billion
Year founded: 2010
12. ZipRecruiter
What it does: Job listings and recruiting platform
What it’s worth now: $1.5 billion
Year founded: 2010
11. Dataminr
What it does: Discovers critical, breaking information before it’s in the news
What it’s worth now: $1.592 billion
Year founded: 2009
10. Discord
Discord CEO Jason Citron.Discord
What it does: Voice, video, and text app designed for gamers
What it’s worth now: $1.65 billion
Year founded: 2012
9. Automation Anywhere
Automation Anywhere CEO Mihir Shukla.Automation Anywhere
What it does: Software that helps companies automate repetitive and routine tasks, which industry folks like to call “robotic process automation,” or RPA.
What it’s worth now: $1.8 billion
Year founded: 2003
8. Bird
What it does: Electronic scooters
What it’s worth now: $2 billion
Year founded: 2017
7. Roblox
“Heroes of Robloxia”Roblox
What it does: Online game creation platform
What it’s worth now: $2.4 billion
Year founded: 2005
6. Circle
What it does: Cryptocurrency investment platform
What it’s worth now: $3 billion
Year founded: 2013
5. UiPath
UiPath CEO Daniel Dines.UiPath
What it does: Automates routine tasks for businesses. Similar to Automation Anywhere, it calls its technology, “robotic process automation.”
What it’s worth now: $3 billion
Year founded: 2005
4. Snowflake
Snowflake Computing CEO Bob Muglia.Snowflake
What it does: Cloud-based data-warehousing
What it’s worth now: $3.95 billion
Year founded: 2012
3. DoorDash
What it does: Food delivery
What it’s worth now: $4 billion
Year founded: 2013
2. Epic Games
What it does: Video game developers and the makers of “Fortnite.”
What it’s worth now: $15 billion
Year founded: 1991
1. Juul Labs
What it does: Electronic cigarettes
What it’s worth now: $16 billion
Year founded: 2017
