Gilt statue of a unicorn on the Council House, Bristol (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In January, we identified the billion-dollar fintech unicorns (post), but William Mougayar went deeper looking at the tech companies founded since 2000 valued at $250 million or more. He compiled a list of 235 companies around the globe. Seventeen of those (7%) we consider fintech (15 if you don’t count real estate specialists Zillow and Trulia). The list is not yet complete (more companies are being added by readers), but it’s an interesting data point.
Highlights:
- Square has been the alpha unicorn (oxymoron?) since it burst on the scene five years ago. But it looks like Lending Club is closing the gap, valued at, $3.8 billion, just (!) $1.2 billion less. However, the peer lender seems to be on the rise and headed to an IPO, while media reports indicate Square may be struggling a bit to maintain its valuation and has scuttled its own IPO plans for this year.
- This is the first time we’ve seen Paydiant mentioned in the billion-dollar club, but we are not surprised.
- Of the still-private companies listed here, all but two are Finovate alums (note 1).
Table: Fintech companies valued at $250 mil or more (founded 2000 or later)
| Company | Finovate Alum? | Founded | Valuation |
| Square | No | 2009 | $5.0 bil |
| Lending Club | Yes | 2006 | $3.8 bil |
| Zillow | No | 2005 | $3.8 bil (public) |
| Xero | Yes | 2006 | $3.5 bil (public) |
| Klarna | Yes | 2005 | $2.5 bil |
| Wonga | Yes | 2007 | $2.0 bil |
| Stripe | No | 2011 | $1.8 bil |
| LifeLock | No | 2005 | $1.5 bil (public) |
| Trulia | No | 2004 | $1.2 bil (public) |
| Paydiant | Yes | 2010 | $1.0 bil |
| Climate Corp | No | 2006 | $930 mil (acquired) |
| Braintree (Paypal) | Yes | 2007 | $800 mil (acquired) |
| BazaarVoice | Yes | 2005 | $540 mil |
| Cardlytics | Yes | 2008 | $500 mil |
| Payfone | Yes | 2008 | $500 mil |
| Prosper | Yes | 2006 | $500 mil |
| Vitrue | No | 2006 | $300 mil (acquired) |
Source: StartupManagement.org (link), 20 April 2014
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Note:
1. Come see the latest unicorn candidates at FinovateSpring next week (29 & 30 April 2014) in Silicon Valley.
Nous 
