Unicorns in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence grew better than others in 2023

The value of unicorn startups in the cybersecurity and artificial intelligence sectors grew by 24.4% and 22.9%, respectively, last year. This is evidenced by the Morningstar Pitchbook Global Unicorn Vertical Indexes.

Almost half of the new unicorns (44%) belonged to the artificial intelligence and machine learning sector.

The pace of unicorn creation dropped almost threefold over the year, but the cumulative value of all unicorns backed by venture capital funds increased by 12.77%.

There is a simple explanation for the growth in the value of unicorns in the two industries: a few companies set the tone for the entire sector. For example, the growth in the valuation of unicorn startups in the cybersecurity sector can be explained by the fact that Wiz is close to a $10 billion valuation. The artificial intelligence sector received a rising tide that lifted all boats, thanks to Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI ($10 billion) and Amazon’s investment in Anthropic ($4 billion).

Among the “losers” are unicorn startups in the field of agrotechnology, with their valuation falling by more than 20%.