These unicorns haven't had new financing for over five years. How come they're still on the list?

According to data from IT Juzi, as of July 22, 2025, there are a total of 428 domestic unicorn enterprises on the list.

These startups with valuations exceeding $1 billion maintain their unicorn status due to their high valuations.

The high valuations of unicorn companies often rely on financing support - When a company obtains new financing, the valuation recognized by the investors will push up or maintain the overall valuation of the enterprise. The continuous financing ability also sends a signal to the outside world that "the enterprise is favored by capital and has great development potential", strengthening the market's recognition of its high valuation.

However, IT Juzi found that among the existing unicorns, some companies have not had any new financing progress in the past five years.

By counting the time elapsed since the last public financing of unicorns, we can see the current financing situation of domestic unicorns.

Data from IT Juzi shows that there are 247 unicorns that have received financing in the past three years (the last public financing occurred after July 2022), accounting for the largest proportion, reaching 58%. This includes a large number of newly - emerged unicorns in that year (more than half), as well as some long - established unicorn enterprises.

This data shows indirectly that currently, domestic capital such as VCs and industrial giants still has a relatively positive attitude towards investing in unicorns.

There are 140 unicorns that have received financing in the past 3 - 5 years (the last public financing occurred between July 2020 and June 2022), accounting for about 33%. There is still a possibility of new financing for this group of unicorns in the future.

For unicorns that have not received financing for more than 5 years (the last public financing occurred in June 2020 or earlier), they are our key focus - For such enterprises, the possibility of obtaining new financing is relatively small.

On the one hand, after being supported by capital, some unicorn enterprises have entered a self - sustaining rhythm and no longer need external financing, thus halting capital operations.

On the other hand, some unicorn companies have overly high valuations and no longer make breakthrough progress in their business. With the cooling of the capital market, they are unable to obtain new financing.

IT Juzi conducts research and judgment on all unicorn companies at the end of each year. Companies that have not had new financing for many years, whose business development is significantly lagging behind, and whose actual company value has been greatly discounted will be temporarily adjusted and removed from the unicorn club. Therefore, currently, the proportion of "unicorns that have not received financing for more than 5 years and are still on the list" is relatively small in the total.

Currently, there are 41 unicorn companies that are still on the list and have not received financing for more than 5 years, accounting for only 9% of the total.

Who are these 41 companies that have not received financing for a long time but whose unicorn status cannot be easily shaken?

We found that from a background perspective, they can be divided into two categories: One is the independent business incubated/spun - off from large enterprises; the other is startup companies.

Unicorn enterprises incubated by large companies can be said to have a "backing" and are born with a "golden spoon" in their mouths. According to statistics from IT Juzi, there are currently 12 such unicorns still on the list.

This includes well - known Internet giants such as Alibaba (Cainiao, Taopiaopiao), JD.com (JD Technology), and Baidu (Du Xiaoman). These companies spun off their well - developed business lines in the form of subsidiaries and carried out independent financing. These companies became unicorns as a result of being screened and continuously supported by large companies.

In addition, some traditional large enterprises have also incubated/launched new business brands and developed them into unicorn - level enterprises.

For example, in 2015, Baosteel Group (now China Baowu) integrated its original high - quality e - commerce resources for bulk commodities and built the Internet platform for the steel and bulk commodity supply chain, "E - Youyun Shang". After several rounds of financing worth billions of yuan, it became a unicorn.

Haoxiangjia is a new business company under Five Star Holdings, mainly providing solutions for smart buildings and smart homes.

To some extent, this type of enterprise needs to rely on the resources of its parent company to achieve a path of continuous development.

In addition, there are 29 "startup company - faction" unicorns that have not received new financing for 5 years. Although they do not have the "protection" of large companies or groups and no longer have external financing, their business is relatively stable, and they are still in continuous operation and even doing well. Their representatives include Mihoyo, DJI, Bitmain, Bianlifeng, APUS, etc.

For example, Mihoyo only received a few million yuan in angel financing at the beginning of its establishment and has not received any financing since then. However, games such as "Genshin Impact" under its banner have maintained high popularity, and the company's revenue situation is good. Mihoyo tried to go public in 2017 but failed after queuing for three years and finally withdrew its listing application.

Another unicorn that withdrew its listing application is Megvii. On November 29, 2024, artificial intelligence unicorn Megvii Technology voluntarily requested to withdraw its registration application documents for the Science and Technology Innovation Board, and its A - share IPO process came to an abrupt end. The company said that the decision was made based on a comprehensive consideration of technological trends, the industry environment, and its own strategic choices.

For more information on unicorn companies, please refer to the following table:

Of course, from the perspective of investors, it is more desirable for unicorn enterprises to obtain a new round of financing or go public to raise funds in the secondary market. Investors can obtain capital returns through these transactions.

However, in the current market situation where the entire venture capital chain is under pressure - with reduced fundraising, blocked exits, and dismal returns, there are few investment institutions in the market that can continue to take over and bear these high - valuation enterprises.

During this period, unicorn companies can only rely more on their internal strength to break the situation and seek growth.

This article is from the WeChat official account "IT Juzi" (ID: itjuzi521), author: Wu Meimei. Republished by 36Kr with permission.