Source page: McKinsey & Company
Commentary
Fewer unicorn sightings
Private equity
April 26, 2023 – Growth equity fundraising soared to a record $132 billion globally in 2021, but deal momentum fell dramatically in the second half of 2022. The creation rate for unicorns—start-ups with valuation of $1 billion or more in private markets—plunged in 2022 compared with 2021, due to overall market slowdown and reduced fundraising, senior partner Alexander Edlich and colleagues explain.
To read the article, see “A winning strategy for growth investors at a time of uncertainty,” April 4, 2023.
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Visual form
Monthly bar time series with annual average bands.
Layout / body structure
One long chart runs left to right from 2020 through 2022, with a dark monthly bar for each month and a translucent annual block behind each year to show that year’s average monthly creation rate.
What is being compared
It compares the number of unicorns created each month across 2020, 2021, and 2022 and sets those monthly counts against the average number of unicorns per month in each year.
Measurement system
The vertical measure is count of unicorns per month, using a shared scale on both sides of the chart up to 70.
Visible structure inside the graphic
The chart uses narrow monthly columns laid over wide pale annual rectangles, so the reader sees both the monthly volatility and the year-level baseline at the same time.
Main takeaway from the visual
Unicorn creation accelerates dramatically in 2021 and then drops back in 2022, with the 2022 bars and average band visibly much lower than the 2021 cluster.
Key standout values or extremes
The annual average band is about 16 per month in 2020, jumps to about 49 in 2021, and falls to about 27 in 2022, while the tallest monthly spike in 2021 rises a little above 60 unicorns in a single month.
Controls / sequence, when applicable
This is a static chart image with no in-chart controls to operate.
Companion media, when applicable
There is no separate companion audio or video; the chart image is the full visual on this page.