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Thirteen companies joined The SA¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ Unicorn Board in May 2025, including five from Europe, SA¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ data shows.

The five new unicorns from Europe mark the highest monthly count of new billion-dollar startups since 2023 for the continent. They included the first two from Germany and the first company from Portugal so far this year to be valued at $1 billion-plus. The U.K. also added two companies last month, marking three total this year.

Six companies joined from the U.S., adding up to 31 so far this year. And two companies joined from India, adding up to three companies in 2025 year to date.

Collectively, these 13 companies added $21.7 billion in value to the board in May.

Sales and marketing, and defense tech — sectors impacted by AI — led for new unicorn companies in May, with two each.

Exits

Six companies exited the board in May, removing $13.4 billion in value.

They include four unicorn companies that went public last month: Israel-based social trading platform , San Francisco-based digital clinic , India-based electric scooter manufacturer , and Austin, Texas-based advertising platform . Each of these companies went public at or above their last known valuation, except for Hinge Health which was last valued at $6.2 billion and debuted at $2.6 billion.

Two unicorns were acquired. Coding startup , last valued at $1.1 billion in 2024 was acquired by for $3 billion. , a direct to consumer snack company known for its frozen smoothies, valued at $1.1 billion in 2021, was acquired by for an undisclosed amount.

 May’s newly minted unicorns

Here are the 13 newly minted unicorns in May, by sector.

Sales and marketing

• , a marketing solution for apps to grow users and engagement, raised an undisclosed funding from . The 12-year-old California-based company was valued at $4.3 billion. It was acquired by in 2020.
• , a platform for automating customer interactions, raised a $120 million Series C led by , and . The 6-year-old Berlin, Germany-based company was valued at $1 billion.

Defense tech

• Lisboa, Portugal-based , a builder of unmanned aerial surveillance systems, raised an undisclosed funding amount at a $1.3 billion valuation. The 24-year-old company’s surveillance technology .
• , a dual-use company building unmanned drones for the defense sector, raised a $181 million Series C led by . The 10-year-old Bayern, Germany-based company was valued at $1 billion.

DevOps

• IoT device management service raised a minority investment led by ’s fund at a value of $4.65 billion. The 25-year-old U.K.-based company was acquired by private equity firm in 2018.

Biotechnology

• , an AI oncology drug development company, raised a $365 million Series D without disclosing investors. The 4-year-old New York-based company was valued at $1.6 billion.

E-commerce

• , a photorealistic try on technology for fashion, raised an undisclosed amount from family office. The 2-year-old Nevada-based company was valued at $1.5 billion.

Logistics

• Bangalore, India-based , a last-mile delivery provider for businesses, raised a $200 million Series F led by and . The 11-year-old company was valued at $1.2 billion.

Product tools

• , a data-driven product development platform, raised a $100 million Series C led by . The 4-year-old Bellevue, Washington-based company was valued at $1.1 billion.

HR

• , an employee recognition platform, raised a $165 million Series B led by and . The 14-year-old Utah-based company was valued at $1 billion.

SaaS

• , a provider of tools for restaurants to increase sales, raised a $120 million Series C led by and. The 7-year-old Palo Alto, California-based company was valued at $1 billion.

Media and entertainment

• London, U.K.-based , an indie streaming service, raised a $100 million funding led by . The 18-year-old company was valued at $1 billion.

Raw materials

• , an e-commerce marketplace for steel and cement, raised a $40 million Series B led by and . The 5-year-old Mumbai, India-based company was valued at $1 billion.

Related SA¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ unicorn lists:

• (1,585)
• (52)
• (110)
• (102)
• (793)
• (494)
• (206)
• (37)
• (444)
• (514)

Related reading:

• The Week’s Biggest Funding Rounds: Pathos, Addepar Top Busy Week For Health And Fintech 

Methodology

The SA¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ Unicorn Board is a curated list that includes private unicorn companies with post-money valuations of $1 billion or more and is based on SA¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ data. New companies are 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 .

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. SA¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ 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 SA¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ long after the event was announced, foreign currency transactions are converted at the historic spot price.

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