• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

The Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling hands the U.S. economy a $7.7 trillion win

1

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

The Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling hands the U.S. economy a $7.7 trillion win
Finance

The other billion dollar startup club

By
Dan Primack
Dan Primack
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Dan Primack
Dan Primack
Down Arrow Button Icon
October 1, 2015, 10:29 AM ET
Illustration by Jeremy Enecio for Fortune
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

We at Fortune have written a lot about unicorns, which we define as privately-held startups that are valued at $1 billion or more by their investors. So much, in fact, that we did a cover story about them and Hasbro sent a toy unicorn for my amusement (disclaimer: “Ella” was intercepted by my 5 year-old daughter, and now lives on her bed).

But there also is a smaller, more exclusive group of billion-dollar companies within the unicorn herd: The companies that have actually raised $1 billion or more in equity funding. You know, the ones that would be considered unicorns even if their pre-funding valuations were zero dollars and zero cents. Let’s call them honey badgers.

The latest member of this clan is SoFi, which yesterday announced $1 billion in new equity funding led by SoftBank. That brings its overall total to $1.42 billion, not including another $400 million or so in debt financing. For context, that’s about 57x the amount of funding Google (GOOG) raised before going public.

According to data provided by research firm Mattermark, SoFi is the 26th startup to ever raise $1 billion or more in venture capital (including corporate venture), of which 21 remain privately-held.

Of the five ‘exited’ companies, the results are a decidedly mixed-bag. On the upside are Facebook (FB) and Alibaba (BABA) — yes, we’re counting the Yahoo (YHOO) investment. Somewhere in between is Groupon (GRPN), which has worked out great for its early investors but been a slog for those who came in pre-IPO. And then there was the partial flameout Clearwire (acquired by existing shareholder Sprint for just a fraction of its earlier valuation) and the total flameout Fisker Automotive (Chapter 11).

Of the still-private group, Uber has raised by far the most money — seemingly adding new cash on a weekly basis. Mattermark puts the current equity total at around $6.4 billion, although it may already be higher by the time you read this.

 

The next couple names on the list are foreign — Didi Kuaidi (Chinese rival to Uber) and Flipkart (Indian e-commerce) — followed by Airbnb. The “smallest” honey badger is WeWork, which has raised just a hair over $1 billion. Thirteen of the 21 are based in the U.S.

honey-badger-dont-care
This is the part where I should draw conclusions, like how the middling batting average for the exited companies should cause concern for those invested in the larger, still-private group. Particularly given the VC-backed IPO drought. But I honestly have no clue how this plays out, given that those earlier companies were exceedingly rare — and the newer, larger group has plenty of company and operates in a different financing/tech environment.

But given the SoFi news, I felt it was worth beginning to break out these companies and begin to track them a bit differently. Particularly because a company that raised $1 billion or more in equity can no longer be satisfied becoming a $3 billion or $5 billion public company. At least not if their investors have anything to say about it…

Get Term Sheet, our daily newsletter on deals & deal-makers.

About the Author
By Dan Primack
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Finance

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Finance

em
Commentary250 Years of Innovation
America’s 250th birthday has Elon Musk and a record IPO. Its 15th had Alexander Hamilton — and a stock market bubble
By Owen LamontJuly 2, 2026
40 seconds ago
paramount
CommentaryAntitrust
How Paramount’s theater commitments could boost local economies across the nation
By Ike BrannonJuly 2, 2026
40 seconds ago
Top CD rates today, July 2, 2026: Lock in up to up to 4.40%
Personal FinanceCertificates of Deposit (CDs)
Top CD rates today, July 2, 2026: Lock in up to up to 4.40%
By Glen Luke FlanaganJuly 2, 2026
30 minutes ago
Today’s top high-yield savings rates: Up to 5.00% on July 2, 2026
Personal FinanceSavings accounts
Today’s top high-yield savings rates: Up to 5.00% on July 2, 2026
By Glen Luke FlanaganJuly 2, 2026
30 minutes ago
Sam Altman seeks new world order for AI as OpenAI slowly loses ground to Google and Anthropic 
AIMarkets
Sam Altman seeks new world order for AI as OpenAI slowly loses ground to Google and Anthropic 
By Jim EdwardsJuly 2, 2026
1 hour ago
Current refi mortgage rates report for July 2, 2026
Personal FinanceReal Estate
Current refi mortgage rates report for July 2, 2026
By Glen Luke FlanaganJuly 2, 2026
3 hours ago

Most Popular

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
Big Tech
As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 1, 2026
1 day ago
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
Success
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
By Sydney LakeJune 25, 2026
7 days ago
The Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling hands the U.S. economy a $7.7 trillion win
Newsletters
The Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling hands the U.S. economy a $7.7 trillion win
By Diane BradyJuly 1, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of oil as of July 1, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 1, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 1, 2026
22 hours ago
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
Success
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
By Preston ForeJune 27, 2026
5 days ago
Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
Success
Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
By Sydney LakeJune 29, 2026
3 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.