Almost 90 new unicorns have been minted so far this year — here they are

The unicorn factory is running hot. Almost 90 venture-backed startups have cracked the $1 billion valuation ceiling in 2026 alone. That's not a trend. That's a stampede.

AI predictably hogs the spotlight. But the data reveals something more interesting: the biggest valuations aren't going to language model wrappers. They're going to a spinal implant maker founded in 2015 and a sheet metal fabricator that cuts custom parts on demand.

The AI premium is real — but it's not the whole story

MainFunc's Genspark workspace commands $2.6 billion after raising $645 million total. EXA's web engine for AI agents sits at $1.95 billion with Nvidia on the cap table. Recursive, an AI research lab founded last year, somehow lands at $4.65 billion. The pattern is familiar: attach "AI" to the pitch deck, watch the multiple expand.

Yet the two highest valuations on the board belong to companies that don't sell intelligence. They sell physics.

MiRus at $4.41 billion changes the conversation

A cardiovascular and orthopedic device company. Eleven years old. Over $1 billion raised. Boston Scientific just wrote a $1.5 billion check for a late-stage round. This isn't venture capital's typical lottery ticket — it's strategic M&A disguised as a funding round. Medical devices require FDA clearance, clinical trials, manufacturing scale. The moat is regulatory and operational, not algorithmic.

The market understands this. MiRus trades at a premium because its revenue is visible, its regulatory path is defined, and its acquirer is already identified. Compare that to Recursive: founded in 2025, valued at $4.65 billion, product unknown. One builds spines. The other builds narratives.

SendCutSend cuts metal at a $1 billion Series A

Founded in 2018. $110 million Series A led by Paradigm and Sequoia. $123 million total raised. A billion-dollar valuation on a Series A.

Let that sink in. A company that laser-cuts and bends sheet metal for industrial customers — essentially a modern machine shop with better software — just joined the unicorn club before most startups hire their first VP of Sales. The bull case: manufacturing is digitizing, supply chains are reshoring, and SendCutSend owns the digital frontend. The bear case: this is a capital-intensive, low-margin business wearing a SaaS multiple.

Paradigm and Sequoia don't make many mistakes. But they also don't mind marking up paper returns for the next fundraise.

The quiet veterans

Radar took 13 years to hit $1 billion. Founded in 2013, it raised $250 million across a decade before a $170 million Series B from Nimble and Gideon pushed it over the line. Inventory management. Unsexy. Essential. The kind of company that survives downturns because warehouses don't stop counting boxes when interest rates rise.

Farther, founded in 2019, hit $1.25 billion with a $150 million Series D led by General Atlantic. Wealth management for the mass affluent. Another seven-year overnight success.

These aren't zero-to-one breakthroughs. They're compounding machines that finally caught a bid.

Healthcare's quiet boom

Vi Labs at $1.64 billion helps health systems find patients and run operations. $275 million raised. General Atlantic and Square Peg backing. This is the other side of the MiRus coin: not devices, but workflow. The U.S. healthcare system wastes hundreds of billions on administrative friction. Vi Labs bets software can capture a slice. Investors agree.

Two healthcare unicorns in one month. Zero fanfare. That's the signal.

Cybersecurity and crypto: the also-rans

Socket at $1 billion protects software supply chains. Thrive Capital led a $60 million Series C. Aaron Levie and Andreessen Horowitz are investors. Solid business, reasonable raise, billion-dollar outcome. The math works.

Then there's the crypto whisper. The source data hints at "a few crypto companies" in the broader 90. None appear in the monthly breakdown provided. That's telling — either they're staying private about valuations, or the sector's rehabilitation remains incomplete. Token unlocks and regulatory clarity will decide.

What the count obscures

Ninety unicorns sounds like innovation exploding. It might just be capital finding fewer places to hide. Public markets are expensive. Late-stage crossover funds need deployment. Founders who survived 2023-2024's desert are finally raising again — at prices that reflect scarcity of quality, not abundance of breakthroughs.

The real question isn't how many unicorns appear. It's how many survive the next downround cycle. MiRus will. SendCutSend might. Recursive? Ask me in 2028.

The list keeps growing

TechCrunch updates this tracker monthly. By December, the count could breach 120. Each addition dilutes the signal. The unicorn designation once meant rarity. Now it means a funding round cleared a compliance checkbox.

Watch the companies that don't need the label. MiRus didn't become a unicorn this year — it became one when Boston Scientific decided it couldn't live without them. Everything else is just markup.