At FintechLIVE, we maintain a list of 21st-century fintech unicorns* updated monthly (full list here). In December, we added 6 new unicorns, and lost one, ending at 125. The total value is now $1.25 trillion up from $1.1 trillion last month.
Unicorn count:
Beginning = 120
+ 4 born this month (PhonePE, eToro, Creditas, GoCardless)
+ 2 classified as fintech this month (Shopify, PingPong)
– 1 that dropped below the one-billion mark (Sezzle)
___________________
Total = 125
Total valuation = $1.25 trillion
New in December:
Newborns:
- PhonePE: The Indian digital wallet platform was spun out by Flipkart in December at a valuation of $5.5B making it the 6th Indian fintech unicorn, and second most valuable. PhonePE is tied for 32nd most valuable fintech of the century.
- eToro: While we suspected it was worth more than a billion for several years, we finally received confirmation in a secondary offering valuing the options trading platform at $2.5B. The long-time Finovate Europe favorite has roots in Israel but is headquartered in the UK, it becomes the 11th fintech unicorn based in the UK, and the 6th most valuable. The startup is tied for 59th most valuable in the world.
- Creditas: The Brazilian lending platform surpassed the billion-dollar mark with a massive $250M round in December valuing it at $1.8B. The startup becomes the 5th Brazilian unicorn, and third most valuable. Overall it is tied for 70th most valuable in the world.
- GoCardless: The UK payments company hit the $1B mark in December based on a new $95M round.
Newly recognized this month:
- Shopify: The Canadian e-commerce giant has been a unicorn since at least 2013. However, we did not classify it as a fintech since so much of its revenue is payments related. The company is also moving into deposit gathering using Stripe’s new treasury program. The publicly-traded company was valued at $137B on Dec 31, making it the 3rd most valuable 21st-century fintech, trailing just PayPal and Ant.
- PingPong: The Chinese payments company was valued at $1.5B in a March 2019 round.
Full Fintech Unicorn List
(values as of 1 Jan 2021)
| Rank | Company | $B Value | Value Date | Founded | Country |
| 1 | PayPal | 234 | 31-Dec-2020 | 1998 | United States |
| 2 | Ant Technology | 150 | 2018 round | 2014 | China |
| 3 | Shopify | 137 | 31-Dec-2020 | 2004 | Canada |
| 4 | Square | 97.8 | 31-Dec-2020 | 2009 | United States |
| 5 | Adyen | 69.9 | 31-Dec-2020 | 2006 | Netherlands |
| 6 | Lufax | 36.2 | 31-Dec-2020 | 2011 | China |
| 7 | Stripe | 35.0 | April 2020 round | 2010 | United States |
| 8 | Afterpay | 33.8 | 31-Dec-2020 | 2014 | Australia |
| 9 | Stone | 25.8 | 31-Dec-2020 | 2013 | Brazil |
| 10 | Lakala | 23.9 | 31-Dec-2020 | 2004 | China |
| 11 | WeBank | 21.2 | Nov 2018 transaction | 2014 | China |
| 12 | Xero | 21.0 | 31-Dec-2020 | 2006 | New Zealand |
| 13 | One97 (PayTM) | 16.0 | Nov 2019 round | 2010 | India |
| 14 | Chime | 14.5 | Sep 2020 round | 2013 | United States |
| 15 | Robinhood | 11.7 | Sep 2020 round | 2013 | United States |
| 16 | Bill.com | 11.1 | 31-Dec-2020 | 2006 | United States |
| 17 | Nuvei | 10.8 | 31-Dec-2020 | 2003 | Canada |
| 18 | Klarna | 10.6 | Sep 2020 round | 2005 | Sweden |
| 19 | Nubank | 10.0 | July 2019 round | 2013 | Brazil |
| 20 | Ripple | 10.0 | Dec 2019 round | 2012 | United States |
| 21 | Coinbase | 8.0 | Oct 2018 round | 2012 | United States |
| 22 | Jiedaibao | 7.8 | Jan 2016 round | 2014 | China |
| 23 | OneConnect (PingAn) | 7.7 | 31-Dec-2020 | 2015 | China |
| 24 | Credit Karma | 7.1 | Exit | 2007 | United States |
| 25 | Lemonade | 6.9 | 31-Dec-2020 | 2015 | United States |
| 26 | Q2 Holdings | 6.8 | 31-Dec-2020 | 2004 | United States |
| 27 | nCino | 6.7 | 31-Dec-2020 | 2012 | United States |
| 28 | Greensill | 6.0 | Nov 2019 round | 2011 | United Kingdom |
| 29 | Trustly | 5.9 | Estimate based on 2021 IPO value | 2008 | Sweden |
| 30 | Root Insurance | 5.8 | Oct 2020 IPO | 2016 | United States |
| 31 | Duck Creek Software | 5.6 | 31-Dec-2020 | 2000 | United States |
| 32 | Checkout.com | 5.5 | June 2020 round | 2012 | United Kingdom |
| 33 | PhonePe | 5.5 | Dec 2020 spinout | 2015 | India |
| 34 | Revolut | 5.5 | Feb 2020 round | 2015 | United Kingdom |
| 35 | HealthEquity | 5.4 | 31-Dec-2020 | 2002 | United States |
| 36 | Plaid Technologies | 5.3 | Exit | 2012 | United States |
| 37 | Affirm | 5.0 | TechCrunch Aug 2020 | 2012 | United States |
| 38 | TransferWise | 5.0 | June 2020 secondary | 2011 | United Kingdom |
| 39 | Toast | 4.9 | Feb 2020 round | 2011 | United States |
| 40 | Virtu Financial | 4.9 | 31-Dec-2020 | 2008 | United States |
| 41 | Marqeta | 4.3 | May 2020 round | 2010 | United States |
| 42 | SoFi | 4.3 | May 2019 round | 2011 | United States |
| 43 | Better.com | 4.0 | Sep 2020 round (unconfirmed) | 2016 | United States |
| 44 | Cardlytics | 3.9 | 31-Dec-2020 | 2008 | United States |
| 45 | Gusto | 3.8 | July 2019 round | 2011 | United States |
| 46 | Tinkoff Bank | 3.8 | 31-Dec-2020 | 2006 | Russia |
| 47 | Assurance | 3.5 | Exit | 2016 | United States |
| 48 | N26 | 3.5 | May 2020 round | 2013 | Germany |
| 49 | Oscar Health | 3.2 | Mar 2018 round | 2012 | United States |
| 50 | China UnionPay | 3.0 | Per Crunchbase 12/19 | 2002 | China |
| 51 | Circle Internet Financial | 3.0 | May 2018 round | 2013 | United States |
| 52 | Devoted Health | 3.0 | May 2020 fundraising | 2017 | United States |
| 53 | GreenDot | 3.0 | 31-Dec-2020 | 1999 | United States |
| 54 | OVO | 2.9 | Mar 2019 round | 2017 | Indonesia |
| 55 | OakNorth | 2.8 | May 2019 round | 2015 | United Kingdom |
| 56 | Verafin | 2.8 | Exit Nov 2020 | 2003 | Canada |
| 57 | Brex | 2.6 | June 2020 round | 2017 | United States |
| 58 | Toss | 2.6 | Aug 2020 round | 2011 | South Korea |
| 59 | eToro | 2.5 | Dec 2020 secondary | 2007 | United Kingdom |
| 60 | PineLabs | 2.5 | Dec 2020 round | 1998 | India |
| 61 | Lifelock | 2.3 | Exit | 2005 | United States |
| 62 | iZettle | 2.2 | Exit | 2010 | Sweden |
| 63 | Avant | 2.0 | Sep 2015 round | 2012 | United States |
| 64 | AvidXchange | 2.0 | Jan 2020 round | 2000 | United States |
| 65 | FirstP2P | 2.0 | Per Crunchbase 12/19 | 2013 | China |
| 66 | Tipalti | 2.0 | Oct 2020 round | 2010 | United States |
| 67 | Waterdrop | 2.0 | Aug 2020 round | 2016 | China |
| 68 | Zenefits | 2.0 | May 2015 round | 2013 | United States |
| 69 | Airwallex | 1.8 | Apr 2020 round | 2015 | Australia |
| 70 | BillDesk | 1.8 | Nov 2018 round | 2000 | India |
| 71 | Creditas | 1.8 | Dec 2020 round | 2012 | Brazil |
| 72 | Blend | 1.7 | Aug 2020 round | 2012 | United States |
| 73 | Carta | 1.7 | May 2019 round | 2012 | United States |
| 74 | Wefox | 1.7 | Dec 2019 round | 2015 | Germany |
| 75 | Zuora | 1.7 | 31-Dec-2020 | 2007 | United States |
| 76 | Mercury | 1.7 | Exit | 2001 | United States |
| 77 | Monzo | 1.6 | May 2020 round | 2015 | United Kingdom |
| 78 | Judo Bank | 1.6 | Dec 2020 round | 2016 | Australia |
| 79 | Fawry | 1.5 | 31-Dec-2020 | 2008 | Egypt |
| 80 | GoHealth | 1.5 | Exit | 2001 | United States |
| 81 | Hippo | 1.5 | July 2020 round | 2015 | United States |
| 82 | PingPong | 1.5 | Mar 2019 round | 2015 | China |
| 83 | PolicyBazaar | 1.5 | May 2019 round | 2008 | India |
| 84 | Remitly | 1.5 | July 2020 round | 2011 | United States |
| 85 | WorldRemit | 1.5 | Bloomberg article about acquistion of SendWave | 2010 | United Kingdom |
| 86 | CGTZ | 1.4 | June 2018 round | 2013 | China |
| 87 | BillTrust | 1.3 | SPAC estimated early 2021 | 2001 | United States |
| 88 | Metromile | 1.3 | Nov 2020 SPAC (proposed) | 2011 | United States |
| 89 | Atom Bank | 1.3 | July 2019 round | 2014 | United Kingdom |
| 90 | Clover Health | 1.2 | Jan 2019 round | 2013 | United States |
| 91 | dLocal | 1.2 | Sep 2020 round | 2016 | Uruguay |
| 92 | Figure | 1.2 | Dec 2019 round | 2018 | United States |
| 93 | Galileo | 1.2 | Exit | 2000 | United States |
| 94 | Greenlight | 1.2 | Sep 2020 round | 2014 | United States |
| 95 | Rapyd | 1.2 | Dec 2019 round | 2016 | United Kingdom |
| 96 | Deposit Solutions | 1.1 | Sep 2019 round | 2011 | Germany |
| 97 | Cayan | 1.1 | Exit | 1998 | United States |
| 98 | Tradeshift | 1.1 | May 2018 round | 2009 | United States |
| 99 | C2FO | 1.0 | Apr 2019 round | 2008 | United States |
| 100 | ChromeRiver | 1.0 | Exit | 2007 | United States |
| 101 | Dave | 1.0 | June 2019 round | 2016 | United States |
| 102 | EBANX | 1.0 | Oct 2019 round | 2012 | Brazil |
| 103 | Expensify | 1.0 | Estimate based on $100M ARR | 2008 | United States |
| 104 | Fast | 1.0 | Oct 2020 rumors | 2019 | United States |
| 105 | Flywire | 1.0 | Feb 2020 round | 2011 | United States |
| 106 | HighRadius | 1.0 | Jan 2020 round | 2006 | United States |
| 107 | Interswitch | 1.0 | Nov 2019 round | 2002 | Nigeria |
| 108 | LendingHome | 1.0 | Mar 2018 round | 2014 | United States |
| 109 | Liquid | 1.0 | Apr 2019 round | 2013 | Japan |
| 110 | Mollie | 1.0 | Sep 2020 round | 2004 | Netherlands |
| 111 | MoneyLion | 1.0 | July 2019 round | 2013 | United States |
| 112 | Neon Pagamentos | 1.0 | Estimate | 2016 | Brazil |
| 113 | Next Insurance | 1.0 | Oct 2019 round | 2016 | United States |
| 114 | Numbrs | 1.0 | Aug 2019 round | 1999 | Switzerland |
| 115 | Payoneer | 1.0 | Dec 2017 round | 2005 | United States |
| 116 | Personal Capital | 1.0 | Exit | 2009 | United States |
| 117 | RazorPay | 1.0 | Oct 2020 round | 2014 | India |
| 118 | Riskified | 1.0 | Nov 2019 round | 2012 | United States |
| 119 | Upgrade | 1.0 | June 2020 round | 2016 | United States |
| 120 | Varo Money | 1.0 | Estimate | 2015 | United States |
| 121 | WealthSimple | 1.0 | Oct 2020 round | 2014 | Canada |
| 122 | WeLab | 1.0 | Dec 2019 round | 2013 | HongKong |
| 123 | GoCardless | 1.0 | Dec 2020 round | 2011 | United Kingdom |
| 124 | Finicity | 1.0 | Exit | 1999 | United States |
| 125 | Bright Health | 1.0 | Nov 2019 round | 2015 | United States |
*To qualify, a company must have been founded in 2000 or later*** and have its primary business related to financial services including banking, savings, lending, investing, insurance, wealth management, SMB accounting and payroll. We do not include health insurance companies. Services can be sold directly to consumers or through financial institutions or other companies. Full list here.
** If you know any missing unicorns, please email jim@fintechlabs.com
***There are two exceptions started in the 1998/1999 timeframe, PayPal and Finicity.
