Over 25% of Unicorns Have Lost Their Horns, PitchBook Says
New PitchBook data reveals more than a quarter of VC-backed unicorns have fallen below the $1B valuation mark.
The unicorn herd is thinning fast. PitchBook estimates that more than 25% of venture-backed startups once valued at $1 billion or more have slipped below that threshold — earning themselves a brutal new nickname: "undercorns."
That means roughly one in four companies that once wore the coveted unicorn label no longer deserve it, at least by valuation standards. The data paints a sobering picture of startup valuations correcting after years of frothy VC dealmaking.
The term "undercorn" captures the reality that billion-dollar valuations were handed out far more generously than the underlying businesses could sustain. For founders and investors alike, it's a stark reminder that paper valuations and actual worth are very different things.
The big question now: how many more horns are about to fall off?