Unicorn

A privately held startup company valued at $1 billion or more, a term coined by venture capitalist Aileen Lee in 2013 when such valuations were still rare. Companies like Uber, Airbnb, and SpaceX were once unicorns before going public or reaching even higher valuations. The term has become somewhat less exclusive as venture capital flooded into tech startups during the 2020-2021 era, minting hundreds of new unicorns in a single year.