CrunchBase : 5 New Unicorns Join The Board And 5 Exit In October

5 New Unicorns Join The Board And 5 Exit In October

Five companies joined The Crunchbase Unicorn Board in October 2024, across sectors spanning AI, energy, robotics, fintech and professional services. These five added over $7 billion in value to the board, which now hosts more than 1,550 companies collectively valued at $5.3 trillion.

Four of the new unicorns are from the Bay Area, while the other is headquartered in London but operates in Africa.

In addition, five companies, last valued at $12.5 billion jointly, exited the board in October. These five exited unicorns were higher in value than the total value added from the newly minted unicorns.

However, the overall value of the board grew as OpenAI raised the largest round this year, $6.6 billion, boosting its value from $80 billion in February to $157 billion in its most recent funding. And AI companies Sierra and Lightmatter raised funding within a year of prior fundings at significant markups from those earlier fundings.

So far this year, 32 companies have exited the board, with half going public and half being acquired. That is already above the totals in 2023, when 25 companies exited, including 12 acquired and 13 that listed.

Exits in transportation and healthcare
Three companies from China went public last month, including two in autonomous driving. Horizon Robotics went public on the Hong Kong stock exchange, raising $696 million, and WeRide raised $440.5 million in a Nasdaq listing. China-based short-distance courier provider BingEx, branded as FlashEX, also went public on Nasdaq, raising $66 million.

Meanwhile, two U.S.-based healthcare companies were acquired last month. Both focus on managing in-home ongoing care. Carebridge, a Nashville, Tennessee-based home health provider for medicare and medicaid patients, was acquired for $2.7 billion by Elevance Health, a public health company based in Indiana. And Boston-based Biofourmis, a biotech company that monitors patients at home, merged with CopilotIQ, a connected care company for those with chronic conditions.

October’s minted unicorns
Here are all of the newly minted October unicorns, by sector.
AI
Energy
  • Nuclear fusion company Pacific Fusion, based in Fremont, California, raised a whopping $900 million Series A led by General Catalyst. The 1-year old company did not disclose its valuation, but it’s surely well into unicorn territory.
Professional services
  • San Francisco-based EvenUp, an AI legal tech company for personal injury law firms, raised a $135 million Series D led by Bain Capital Ventures. The 5-year old company was valued at $1 billion.
Fintech
  • Business payment platform Moniepoint raised a $110 million Series C led by Africa-focused private equity fund DPI. Moniepoint is processing $17 billion monthly for its customers primarily in Nigeria, with plans to expand across Africa. The 9-year old London-headquartered company was valued at $1 billion.
Robotics
  • San Francisco-based Nimble Robotics, an AI robotics for e-commerce picking and packing, raised a $106 million Series C led by private investment firm Cedar Pine and previous investor FedEx. The 7-year old company was valued at $1 billion.

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