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Written by Itay Zehora for Forbes Israel
In Israel alone, despite COVID-19 and the subsequent financial crisis, some 15 companies have become new unicorns in the past year. Although the path to the top is hard and winding — the trend does not show any signs of slowing down.
The next Israeli Unicorns
Almost a decade has passed since the term “unicorn” was coined as an iconic term and it seems that the glittering branding has been played out and the awe-inspiring mythical creature has become almost banal. In 2013, when the term was used for the first time in order to describe the phenomenon of private companies with valuations of over a billion dollars, there were only a few dozen such companies in the whole world.
These days, it is estimated that no less than 630 companies are have a nine-zero/ten digit price tag, with their aggregate value already crossed the $2 trillion dollar mark. In Israel, despite the pandemic and the subsequent financial crisis, or maybe even because of the coronavirus, some 15 new unicorns have popped up in the past year. The trend shows no sign of slowing down. At the end of the first quarter of 2021, there are already 17 new unicorns.
If we calculate the number of companies who will become unicorns in the coming years, even in the most optimistic estimates, it comes to less than one percent of the total number of companies — such that it is still a rather unusual milestone in the overall landscape. This special project features 15 Israeli companies who are expected to be granted the prestigious status of ‘Unicorn’ in the coming years – the next Israeli Unicorns.
