The momentum of new unicorn creation picked up in the final months of 2025, with the fourth quarter showing the highest count of newly minted billion–dollar-plus valued companies since Q2 2022.
In December alone, 23 companies joined The Crunchbase Unicorn Board, more than doubling the count from a year ago.
The value of the unicorn board also picked up significantly in the final month of the year, with the highest-ever value accorded to a private company. That was SpaceX, which vaulted to the top of the list when it was valued at $800 billion in a secondary market transaction, double its valuation from just three months earlier.
And Databricks, the seventh-most highly valued private company at $134 billion, was also valued up from its $100 billion valuation months earlier.
New unicorns in December
Of the new unicorns last month, 15 were U.S.-based, two hail from China, and six are based in Europe, including two from the U.K. and one each from Germany, France, Finland and Belgium.
Financial services, aerospace and AI led with the highest count of new companies to join.
It is worth noting that a third of these companies were more than 10 years old, with some seeing a reacceleration in their business driven by AI.
On the other end of the spectrum, the fastest to reach unicorn status in December was Unconventional AI, which raised its seed round at a $4.5 billion value.
Here are December’s 23 newly minted unicorns.
Fintech
- Crypto-focused digital bank Erebor, co-founded by Palmer Luckey, raised a $350 million funding led by Lux Capital. The company was granted conditional approval by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in late 2025. The 1-year-old Columbus, Ohio-based company plans to support technology businesses in AI, crypto and defense, and was valued at $4.35 billion.
- Nirvana Insurance, developer of AI-driven insurance for the trucking industry, raised a $100 million Series D led by Valor Equity Partners. The 5-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1.5 billion.
- Octane, a loan provider for outdoor equipment, RVs and power sports raised a $100 million Series F led by Valar Ventures. The funding was part equity and part secondary financing. The 11-year-old New York-based company was valued at $1.3 billion and has generated over $7.5 billion in loans.
- Imprint, a provider of co-branded credit cards and payment plans for brands to build loyalty, raised a $150 million Series D led by Khosla Ventures. The 5-year-old New York-based company was valued at $1.2 billion.
Aerospace
- K2 Space, a builder of powerful satellites, raised a $250 million Series C led by Redpoint. The 3-year-old Torrance, California-based company was valued at $3 billion.
- Finland-based Iceye, which operates satellites for military and commercial intelligence, raised a $175 million Series E led by General Catalyst. The 12-year-old company was valued at $2.8 billion.
- HawkEye 360, a provider of satellites detecting radio frequency emissions for the U.S. government and its partners, raised a $150 million Series E led by Center15 Capital and NightDragon at a value of $1 billion. As part of the deal, the 10-year-old Herndon, Virginia-based company acquired Innovative Signal Analysis.
AI
- Unconventional AI, a new startup from MosaicML founder Naveen Rao that was acquired by Databricks, plans to build an energy-efficient computer for AI. The company raised a $475 million seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed Venture Partners. The less than 1-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $4.5 billion.
- Black Forest Labs, a generative AI company for video and images, raised a $300 million Series B led by AMP and Salesforce Ventures 1. The 1-year-old Germany-based company was valued at $3.3 billion.
- Chai Discovery, builder of AI models for molecule programming, raised a $130 million Series B led by General Catalyst and Oak HC/FT. The 1-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1.3 billion.
Energy
- Energy software provider Kraken, raised a $1 billion funding led by D1 Capital Partners, with plans to separate from its parent, Octopus Energy. The 6-year-old London-based company was valued at $8.7 billion.
- Radiant, a builder of nuclear microreactors, raised a $300 million Series D led by Boost VC and Draper Associates. The 6-year-old El Segundo, California-based company was valued at $1.8 billion.
E-commerce
Marketing
- Customer relationship marketing service Brevo, which manages a CRM and communication across emails through to messaging and WhatsApp aided by AI, raised a $583 million private equity round led by General Atlantic and Oakley Capital. The 18-year-old Paris-based company was valued at $1.2 billion.
- Synthetic AI marketing research company Aaru raised a Series A led by Redpoint reported to be above $50 million per TechCrunch. The funding was raised at different valuations, giving investors access at a lower value for part of the funding. The 1-year-old New York-based company was valued at $1 billion.
DevOps
- Serval, an IT ticketing management platform reimagined with AI, raised a $75 million Series B led by Sequoia Capital. The 1-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1 billion.
- Site reliability platform Resolve.ai raised a Series A funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. The 2-year-old San Francisco-based company was valued at $1 billion in a two-tiered round with investors getting access at a lower valuation for part of the funding.
Social media
- The social media giant TikTok spun out its TikTok USDS Joint Venture, valued at $14 billion. The Bellevue, Washington-based company’s new owners Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX each own 15% of the new entity, while ByteDance retains an ownership stake of 20%.
Security
- Identity security company Saviynt, which manages security for individuals through to AI agents, raised a $700 million Series B led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. The 16-year-old El Segundo, California-based company was valued at $3 billion.
Defense
- Counter drone defense technology deployer Roark Aerospace raised a $210 million Series B. Investors were not disclosed. The 4-year-old London-based company was valued at $1.8 billion.
IoT
- I-care Group, an IoT sensor technology for maintaining industrial machines, raised a $23 million funding from existing investors. The 22-year-old Belgium-based company was valued at $1.2 billion.
Healthcare
Related Crunchbase unicorn lists:
Related reading:
Methodology
The Crunchbase Unicorn Board is a curated list that includes private unicorn companies with post-money valuations of $1 billion or more and is based on Crunchbase data. New companies are added to the Unicorn Board as they reach the $1 billion valuation mark as part of a funding round.
The unicorn board does not reflect internal company valuations — such as those set via a 409a process for employee stock options — as these differ from, and are more likely to be lower than, a priced funding round. We also do not adjust valuations based on investor writedowns, which change quarterly, as different investors will not value the same company consistently within the same quarter.
Funding to unicorn companies includes all private financings to companies that are tagged as unicorns, as well as those that have since graduated to The Exited Unicorn Board.
Exits analyzed here only include the first time a company exits.
Please note that all funding values are given in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. Crunchbase converts foreign currencies to U.S. dollars at the prevailing spot rate from the date funding rounds, acquisitions, IPOs and other financial events are reported. Even if those events were added to Crunchbase long after the event was announced, foreign currency transactions are converted at the historic spot price.
Illustration: Dom Guzman
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