Private Members Club: an A-Z guide

This report sets out an A to Z compendium of c.65 leading private companies, previously written about in the past year, that are shaping industries across AI, autonomy, computing, consumer tech, energy, fintech, healthcare, space and wellness. Since the first private companies primer a year ago, the total value of the world's unicorns has increased 40% to $9.2tn, equivalent to the 3rd largest economy on the planet. More than 99% of companies globally are private now vs 96% a year ago, and YTD unicorn funding is double the amount raised in 2025, meaning much more development now takes place before companies go public. The universe may be growing but value remains concentrated: in the past year hectocorns drove c.55% of the increase in aggregate valuations. The geographical mix is shifting too, with China now having twice as many companies in the top 20 unicorns as a year ago, while the number of AI unicorns doubled YoY to over 660. AI companies reach unicorn status 35% faster than the a