According to CBInsights, there are 295 private companies valued at over US$1bn in the world today. That figure drops on other lists, such as that maintained by CNNMoney, no doubt in part because reliable information on start-up finances and their resulting valuations can be hard to find, and tricky to monitor. There are, however, two things on which everyone keeping count seems to agree. First, there are far more unicorns now than a decade ago: in 2009, there were just four. Second, when looking at the industries in which unicorns have emerged, mobility has proven to be particularly fertile.
Today, unicorn start-ups can be found across the entire sector. Ride-sharing giants such as Uber and Lyft, for example, have kept their private status and benefited from enormous growth. In the field of micro-mobility, Lime and Bird have struck on a potentially winning formula with electric, dockless scooters for last-mile journeys. The tech sector that surrounds autonomous driving has also ballooned, with companies like Velodyne LiDAR banking on the self-driving revolution. Then there are those undertaking perhaps the most ambitious task of all – aspiring automakers, such as Byton, Xpeng and Nio, all of which believe they can beat the incumbents in offering electrified, shareable self-driving vehicles.
The ability of start-ups to quickly build and iterate technology, to rapidly respond to changing market conditions and the culture of tech engrained in their DNA means their impact can already be felt
But all face their challenges. Uber and Lyft are preparing to make the jump with initial public offerings (IPO) scheduled for 2019, but global uncertainty around the logistics and viability of the gig economy, coupled with Uber’s myriad scandals, threatens to put their value at risk. Meanwhile, the likes of Lime and Bird face regulatory challenges, with city authorities coming down hard on their perceived failure to limit the impact of their services on the public – images of scooters littering the streets of San Francisco did little to paint the service in a favourable light.
Players in the self-driving segment suffered a knock this year with the death of pedestrian Elaine Herzberg, run down by a self-driving Uber. The incident muted optimism for any imminent roll-out of the technology, and companies will need to find ways to survive until such a time when autonomous vehicles hit the roads. As for the aspiring automakers, one need look no further than the Model 3 to see how hard it can be to put a brand new car into series production.
Lime and Bird have struck on a potentially winning formula with electric, dockless scooters for last-mile journeys. The tech sector that surrounds autonomous driving has also ballooned, with companies like Velodyne LiDAR banking on the self-driving revolution
Yet the ability of start-ups to quickly build and iterate technology, to rapidly respond to changing market conditions and the culture of tech engrained in their DNA means their impact can already be felt. Virtually all major automakers have set up shop in the world’s great tech centres, including Silicon Valley and Tel-Aviv, and the competition among them to partner with or invest in the right start-ups to further their own CASE agendas is undoubtedly fierce.
The question is, how much of this will be consolidated? For more analysis, download a new Automotive World publication, Special Report: Mobility start-ups and unicorns – ten for 2019, which provides an in-depth look at some of the key private companies making waves in mobility and transportation.
