Reddit, Quora and Coinbase Were Some of 2017’s Biggest Unicorns

But a Chinese company called Toutiao had the biggest valuation of all.

Steve Huffman, CEO of tech unicorn Reddit. Horacio Villalobos/Corbis/Getty Images

Unicorns aren’t as rare as they seem—in the tech world, at least.

According to new analysis from venture capital tracker PitchBook, 57 companies reached valuations of at least $1 billion in 2017 (up from 43 last year). In all, 227 companies have joined the unicorn club since 2013.

This year’s best-known unicorns include:

  • Reddit, which is worth $1.8 billion.
  • Question and answer site Quora ($1.7 billion).
  • Digital currency exchange Coinbase ($1.6 billion).
  • Free stock trading site Robinhood ($1.3 billion).
  • Exercise bike company Peloton ($1.25 billion).
  • Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike ($1.1 billion).

The biggest horn of all, however, belongs to Chinese news and information service Toutiao. The AI-powered platform is worth $20 billion.

The funding information on PitchBook’s list is current as of December 14. Ginkgo Bioworks, a synthetic biology company incubated by Y Combinator, is the latest addition to the list after receiving $275 million in a funding round last week.

But while some companies soared to new heights, others lost their vaunted unicorn status. Seven companies saw their valuations dip below $1 billion this year, including:

  • Music recognition service Shazam, which Apple recently purchased for $400 million.
  • The Arabic e-commerce firm Souq, which was acquired by Amazon for $650 million.
  • Jessica Alba’s ethical consumer goods firm The Honest Company.
  • Peer-to-peer lending marketplace Prosper.

There were only three such down rounds in 2016.

VC investors poured more than $148 billion into both new and existing unicorns this year. The biggest transactions included a $4.4 billion infusion into WeWork and a $1 billion bet on Airbnb. Six other companies, including Lyft, raised at least $500 million in funding rounds.

The biggest funder of all, however, was SoftBank (SFTBF)’s Vision Fund. This year the firm funneled $98 billion into just 14 startups, including WeWork, Slack and SoFi. It also recently invested $1 billion in Uber despite the ridesharing company’s many troubles.

Reddit, Quora and Coinbase Were Some of 2017’s Biggest Unicorns