Founded in February 2025, Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab has become a multibillion-dollar valuation. This single-case exemplifies a movement, whereby venture capital is directing funds into AI. In turn, this is propelling rapid startup growth.
This trend is drawn from a report exploring the world of private companies valued at $1 billion or more. The report was constructed by BestBrokers who analysed CB Insights’ list of private startups with a valuation of at least US$1 billion (‘unicorns’) in 2025. The data was revised, including trends from Pitchbook in relation to the largest funding rounds for private companies and company valuations throughout 2025.
The research reveals that out of all the startups to reach unicorn status in 2025, Thinking Machines Lab is by far the most valuable, boasting an impressive $12 billion in estimated worth as of October 2025. It is followed by the Pittsburgh-based healthcare AI company Abridge ($5.30B), the San Francisco fashion retailer Quince ($4.50B), and the medical information platform OpenEvidence ($3.50B).
The most valuable companies that became unicorns in 2025
- Thinking Machines Lab – San Francisco, CA | AI – $12B
- Abridge – Pittsburgh, PA | AI – $5.3B
- Quince – San Francisco, CA | Retail – $4.5B
- OpenEvidence – Cambridge, MA | AI – $3.5B
- Decart – San Francisco, CA | AI – $3.21B
- Filevine – Salt Lake City, UT | Enterprise Tech – $3B
- Peregrine – San Francisco, CA | Enterprise Tech – $2.5B
- Baseten – San Francisco, CA | AI – $2B
- The Bot Company – New York, NY | Robotics – $2B
- Kalshi – New York, NY | Fintech – $2B
- Supabase – San Francisco, CA | Enterprise Tech – $2B
- CHAOS Industries – Los Angeles, CA | Defence Tech – $2B
- FieldAI – Mission Viejo, CA | AI – $2B
- Framer – Amsterdam, Netherlands | Enterprise Tech – $2B
- OLIPOP – Oakland, CA | Beverages – $1.85B
- Distyl AI – San Francisco, CA | AI – $1.8B
- Neko Health – Stockholm, Sweden | AI – $1.8B
- Lovable – Stockholm, Sweden | AI – $1.8B
- Modular AI – Palo Alto, CA | AI – $1.6B
- Pathos – Chicago, IL | Biotech – $1.6B
As of October 2025, 79 companies have achieved unicorn status around the world, with 22 working in the artificial intelligence sector. Following AI as the most dominant industry among these private companies is Enterprise Tech, represented by 18 startups.
With the U.S. the vast majority of new unicorns are headquartered there. Of the 79 startups reaching $1 billion valuation this year, 53 (67.1%) are American, while the remaining one-third are spread across China, India, Germany, and the U.K.
ChatGPT’s developer, OpenAI, previously the world’s third most valuable startup, has recently surpassed both Elon Musk’s SpaceX and ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, to become the world’s most valuable unicorn company, valued at $500 billion as of October 2025.
According to Paul Hoffman (of Best Brokers), in a message sent to Digital Journal: “Following OpenAI’s milestone $500 billion valuation, AI, enterprise technology, and fintech have emerged as the defining forces in the 2025 unicorn landscape. Among the 79 companies reaching unicorn status this year, over a third are AI-focused, including Thinking Machines Lab ($12 B), Abridge ($5.3 B), and Decart ($3.2 B), while enterprise tech firms such as Filevine ($3 B), Supabase ($2 B), and Framer ($2 B) continue to attract substantial capital.”
Hoffman adds: “This trend highlights a clear “flight to quality”: investors are increasingly backing startups that combine deep innovation with scalable, sustainable business models.”
