Europe’s unicorn class of 2016: Where are they now?
The discussion around billion-dollar-valued start-ups is relentlessly propelled forwards – with each new announcement of the next big thing leaving precious little time to look back at what yesterday’s news was really worth. A decade after highlighting 30 of Europe’s largest unicorns, Consultancy.uk looks to answer the question: Where are they now?
In business, a unicorn is a privately held start-up company valued at over $1 billion. Coined in 2013 by venture capitalist Aileen Lee, choosing the mythical animal to represent the statistical rarity of such successful ventures, the term has since been applied relentlessly to heavily hyped new businesses in every conceivable sector – often promising to leverage a vague suite of ‘digital’ tools and experiences to disrupt industry incumbents.
It might not surprise those following investment markets to learn that the unicorn phenomenon has therefore intersected with artificial intelligence with ease. According to PwC’s latest Global Top 100 Unicorns report, the aggregate value of the world’s largest 100 unicorns has seen valuations explode in the last year. The total valuation of the 100 stood at $2.94 trillion compared to $2.05 trillion the previous year. On top of an almost $900 billion rise in valuations, the analysis revealed the threshold to enter the top 100 unicorns increased by $0.3 billion, to sit at a minimum of $8 billion. Five of the Top 100 companies now have a valuation of more than $100 billion – while there were 24 new entrants in the year, adding $352 billion in estimated value.
But while these steep valuations often lead to breathless reportage of the companies in question being the future of a particular industry, the material reality is often very different to the transformative stories sold by unicorn valuations.
Providing services that consumers value to the extent they will spend billions on them is very different to being valued with a $1 billion dollar price tag ahead of an IPO. More often than not, for all the metrics deployed to justify them, market capitalisation prices for the total value of all a company’s shares of stock reflect little more than a wild guess as to what said traders would do to a company given the chance – and are as definitive as the odds available to punters at a bookmakers.
As 2026 dawns, Consultancy.uk has looked back on 30 of Europe’s largest unicorns, as featured in a 2016 report from investment bank GP Bullhound. There valuations, taken from the year before the paper was published, range from $1.4 billion, to $8.5 billion – with Spotify and Skype topping the pile. But the differing fortunes of the two illustrate the trappings of excitable valuations, and the willingness of investors to be swept up in the hype.
Profit or loss?
Spotify spent the best part of the last decade as a loss-making enterprise – until 2024 (its most recent full-year results at time of writing) saw it finally turn its first positive result. One year of $1.13 billion in profit means the company still has some way to go in order to justify its colossal price-tag – but also implies the company may finally be in a position to capitalise on the music streaming market, which it has incurred losses in order to effectively corner.
For Skype, however, the picture is – or was – far gloomier. The company was purchased by Microsoft in 2011, and while its 2015 valuation was still a hefty $8.5 billion, most commentators in the communications field now acknowledge that it was already circling the drain. While competitors like Zoom, FaceTime and WhatsApp were able to innovate to the changing needs of consumers – particularly during the pandemic – Skype was increasingly neglected by Microsoft, which shifted its focus to its own Zoom-like meetings app, Teams. While its individual profits or losses were not available, by 2024, Skype’s active users had fallen from their 2016 peak of 300 million, to just 36 million – and Microsoft quietly ‘retired’ Skype in 2025.
Skype is not alone in its performance, following a mighty initial valuation. Of the top 30 listed in that GP Bullhound ranking, just 10 exist as solo companies, and reported a profit in 2024. As well as Spotify, that includes Zalando, Rightmove, Supercell, Yandex, Hellofresh, Criteo, Avito, Adyen and Klarna. But only Supercell and Adyen joined Spotify in being able to break the $1 billion mark in profit.
Six companies reported a loss for their most recent full-year financials. That included Yoox, Asos, Just Eat, Delivery Hero, Vkontakte and Zoopla. In four cases, that loss cleared the $1 billion bar. Meanwhile, four companies did not declare profits or losses, as they remain private companies – including Rocket Internet, Vente Privee, Blablacar and Blippar. While some of these firms have alluded loosely to being profitable, it is unknown to what extent they are fulfilling their earlier hype as a unicorn.
The jury is out
Eight firms were outright acquired (not including the dearly departed Skype), and so have ceased to report independently. They may well be highly profitable for their owners – for example, Mojang (valued at $2.5 billion in 2015) continues to rake in funds for Microsoft, on the back of its hugely successful Minecraft franchise. In other cases, though, the road has been bumpier for buyers – for example, Skyscanner ($1.6 billion valuation in 2015) was purchased by Trip.com in 2016, but reportedly downsized its staff by 20% post-pandemic, amid the shockwaves rippling through the travel sector. Meanwhile, Conduit was acquired by Perion Network – but at half its valuation of $1.4 billion valuation.
Only two of the top 30 had completely ceased to be, though. While Skype was at least able to ‘retire’ gracefully, though, that was not the case for Wonga. The payday loans platform was previously valued at $1.4 billion – but met its downfall in 2018 following a deluge of criticism. In 2014, the Financial Conduct Authority brought in regulations and a price capping regime for payday lenders, clipping the wings of the previously limitless segment. The FCA crackdown prompted Wonga to have to write off debts of £220 million for 330,000 customers, after putting new affordability checks in place.
What all this means for the future of the unicorn as a concept is open to interpretation. Considering the huge valuations and vast investments sunk into the 30 firms over the last decade, only being able to state with certainty that one-in-three are profitable could be seen as a warning sign for investors, excitedly looking to get in on the ground floor of the next big hype. But for a potential share in a future billion-dollar company, others might view this as being worth the risk – especially as three-in-ten is still significantly better than a previous 2020 paper, which found that just six unicorn start-ups out of 73 actually went on to become profitable.
