"A soonicorn is a venture-backed company valued between $500 million and $999 million. It's set to cross the billion-dollar unicorn threshold, but not quite there yet. Think of it as a minor league star before they hit the bigs. There are now more than 2,000 soonicorns in the U.S. alone, up dramatically from a decade ago. Why the sudden surge? AI has made it easier than ever to launch a company at a sky-high valuation."
"Some start-ups are hitting soonicorn status on their very first funding round. But "soon" doesn't guarantee "ever." Soonicorns won't necessarily become unicorns. Some will go public at lower valuations, others will stall, and some will fail altogether. It's all about how quickly they'll hit their stride. Before 2015, reaching unicorn status took about 6.5 years. Today, it takes closer to 3.5 years-and AI is accelerating that timeline even further."
Soonicorns are venture-backed companies valued between $500 million and $999 million, positioned to cross the billion-dollar threshold but not yet unicorns. The United States now hosts over 2,000 soonicorns, a sharp increase from a decade earlier. Widespread adoption of AI has lowered barriers and driven rapid valuation growth, enabling some startups to reach soonicorn status on their first funding round. Acceleration has shortened the typical time to unicorn from about 6.5 years before 2015 to roughly 3.5 years today. Many soonicorns will not become unicorns; outcomes include public listings at lower valuations, stagnation, or failure, depending on execution speed.
Read at Entrepreneur
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