fortune_unicorn

September is typically abuzz with busy new deals and even in a pandemic, the month did not disappoint with 10 new fintech unicorns! Though we don’t have monthly historical numbers, I’m going to go out on a limb and say it was the biggest month ever in fintech unicorn births.* The list** now stands at 111 companies. And drumroll please, the total market cap is just shy of $1 TRILLION ($980B to be precise).

Here is the month in a nutshell:

  • 10 new unicorns
  • 4 major valuation increases among existing private unicorns
  • 1 unicorn IPO
  • 1 unicorn exit

Other September milestones:

  • First Canadian fintech unicorn (Nuvei)
  • First fintech unicorn out of Uruguay (dLocal) and first in South America outside of Brazil, which has 4
  • Tinkoff joined the list at #28 with its $5.5B exit, the second-highest exit ever, $1.5B less than Credit Karma
  • Brazil now tied with India for 4th most prolific fintech country (4 each) after the United States (61), China (10), and UK (9)
  • One of the highest initial valuations ever, Better.com joining the list at #37 (#21 excluding public or exited companies) with a $4B valuation
  • The biggest YTD climb for a private fintech company, as Chime went from $5.8 billion in December 2019 to $14.5B this month

New Unicorns in September

Private valuation increases (new valuation listed)

IPO

  • $2.1B Nuvei

Previously overlooked

Note:
* Even after subtracting Sezzle, Trustly, and Blend which were first reported as unicorns earlier this summer
** Our unicorn list includes any fintech startup started since 2000 that is currently valued at more than US$1 billion or has been acquired for more than $1B.