The unicorn is a new species born with the Internet wave in the context of innovation globalization. It constantly uses new technologies, new applications and new consumption to accelerate the reshaping of the value chain, inject innovative vitality into urban development, expand the economic direction and create a large number of jobs. It has become an important starting point to improve the level of cities and regional vitality.

On June 22, the "Sedico Top 100 Unicorns (2022)" compiled by Sedico was officially released. Under the guidance of "Facing the world's scientific and technological frontier, facing the main economic battlefield, facing the major national needs, facing the people's life and health", the research combined with the selection criteria of CCID Scientific innovation, focusing on the digital economy, medical and health, aerospace, new energy and new materials and other frontier scientific and technological fields. The index system has been established from the aspects of business growth, capital acceleration, technological innovation, social value and resource endowment, etc., and the distribution pattern and development characteristics of the top 100 unicorns have been comprehensively interpreted to provide a blueprint for the development of Chinese unicorn enterprises.

Analysis of features

Regional level: The coastal areas lead the whole country, and the "three echelons" are differentiated significantly

In terms of regional distribution, the top 100 unicorns are distributed in 13 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government), mainly in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, with 26, 25, 14, 13 and 12 on the list respectively, forming Beijing and Shanghai as the first tier and Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang as the second tier. Shandong, Tianjin, Chongqing, Sichuan, Anhui, Liaoning, Jilin and Jiangxi are the regional distribution pattern of the third tier.

City level: the advantages of sub-provincial cities and above are prominent, and the effect of "little giant" and science and technology city is beginning to show

In terms of city distribution, 53 are distributed in municipalities directly under the Central Government, 32 are distributed in sub-provincial cities and provincial capitals, and 15 are distributed in prefecture-level cities, among which Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hangzhou are the most eye-catching. The number of the top 100 unicorns reaches 26, 25, 11 and 8 respectively, accounting for 70% of the top 100 unicorns.

By comparing with Cedic's "Little Giant" Top 100 (2022), it is found that the distribution of the top 100 Unicorns is in line with the distribution of specialized and innovative "Little Giant" enterprises. Among them, Ningbo, Qingdao and Guangzhou take the lead in the number of specialized "little giants", but the number of their top 100 unicorns is relatively low.

According to the comparison of the Top 100 Science and Technology Cities List (2022) jointly released by CCID Consulting and CCID Technology Innovation, cities with more dense science and technology cities have more unicorn companies. With their advantages of large size of science and technology cities and highly concentrated innovation resources, Beijing and Shanghai have taken a large lead in the number of the top 100 unicorns.

At the urban level, the linkage effect is continuously enhanced, and the effect of the top 100 districts is obvious

From the perspective of urban distribution, except for the four municipalities directly under the central government of Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Chongqing, 55.3% of the enterprises on the list are distributed in the top 100 districts of CIDI. Among them, Nanshan District of Shenzhen, Binjiang District of Hangzhou and Futian District of Shenzhen rank the top three, with 5, 4 and 3 companies respectively. Beilun District of Ningbo City, Jintan District of Changzhou City, Laoshan District of Qingdao City, Wuzhong District of Suzhou City, and Yuhang District of Hangzhou City followed with 2 enterprises on the list. The top 10 urban areas of unicorn enterprises are all the top 100 districts of Sidi, showing a strong correlation.

Industry level: The attributes of "hard technology" are more prominent, with artificial intelligence, medical and health care, and semiconductor ranking the top three

In terms of industry distribution, the number of the top 100 unicorns in artificial intelligence, medical health and semiconductor industries ranked the top three, with 26, 23 and 15 companies listed respectively, accounting for more than 60% of the top 100. The smart hardware, aerospace, new energy and new energy automobile industries followed closely, with 7, 6, 6 and 6 companies respectively.

Investment level: Well-known capital and large Internet enterprises continue to drive, accounting for a relatively high proportion

From the perspective of investment, the correlation degree between the top 100 Unicorns and well-known capital and large Internet enterprises is as high as 86%, among which the number of unicorns represented by well-known investment institutions such as Sequoia Capital, Hillhouse Capital, IDG Capital and Matrix China accounted for 24% of the top 100 (excluding duplicates). The investment coverage of large Internet enterprises represented by Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu and Xiaomi accounts for 29% (excluding duplicates), and 33% of the top 100 unicorns are jointly invested by both parties. The top 100 list basically forms two patterns of "well-known capital + large Internet enterprises".

Proposals for Development

From the urban perspective: high station, strong linkage

Looking at unicorns from the perspective of cities, we should stick to the high position and strengthen the synergistic interaction between urban resources.

First, we should take the high-quality linkage of talents, enterprises and capital as an important starting point for the cultivation of unicorns. To build a talent intelligence system for the development of unicorn enterprises, and attract a group of strategic scientific and technological talents, leading talents, scientists and entrepreneurs at a high level; We will implement the chick eagle-gazel-unicorn gradient breeding project to support unicorn enterprises in upgrading the innovation chain. Government guidance funds will be encouraged to cooperate with private capital to provide financial guarantee for phased and tiered support for the unicorn enterprise echelon.

Second, we need to be both "unicorn" and "specialized and innovative". With the integrated development of the digital economy and the real economy as the main line, through the continuous increase of talent, research and development, finance and other policies, to promote the urban innovation elements to the concentration of specialized and special new enterprises, unicorn enterprises; We will give full play to the exemplary and guiding role of national and local funds to guide innovative enterprises to develop into "specialized, innovative and innovative" and "unicorn" benchmarks.

Third, the development of unicorns should go hand in hand with the development of high-level science and technology innovation centers. Make use of the superior scientific and technological strength of national laboratories and high-level research universities to improve the efficiency of urban innovation system; We will strengthen support for the innovative application scenarios of unicorn enterprises, promote the application and promotion of pioneering products, and build a number of high-tech innovation centers and industrial demonstration bases.

From the perspective of industry: heavy lead, promote transformation

From the perspective of industry, unicorns should focus on innovation and promote the transformation and industrialization of high-tech achievements.

First, we will lead innovation at the source and speed up efforts to provide strategic scientific and technological support. From the supply side of scientific and technological innovation, we will vigorously support the creation of high-quality intellectual property rights, guide unicorn enterprises to focus on weak links such as key generic technologies and "bottleneck" technologies, explore low-level innovation and bottleneck breakthrough, and strive to form core technology original capabilities in the national strategic science and technology field.

Second, strengthen the market traction, promote the transformation and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements. In the key link of the integration of innovation chain and industrial chain, we will improve the system, mechanism and service environment for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, and encourage the agglomeration and development of service institutions such as inspection and testing institutions, quality certification institutions, intellectual property service institutions, and organizations such as technology transfer centers and alliance for the promotion of transformation of achievements.

From the perspective of enterprise: strong coordination, soft and hard simultaneously

Looking at unicorns from the perspective of enterprises, they should strengthen internal coordination, handle the relationship between technological innovation and application innovation, and actively fulfill their social responsibilities.

First, "technological innovation" as the focus, to strengthen the force of hard science and technology. It aims to strengthen underlying research and tackle core technologies in hard science and technology fields such as artificial intelligence, aerospace, new energy and intelligent manufacturing, achieve innovative breakthroughs "from 0 to 1", and build strategic, transformative and original technical barriers.

The second is to "application innovation" as the speedster, widening the potential track. Unicorns should respond to market changes in time, combine their own characteristics and industry characteristics, improve the implementation efficiency of application scenarios, constantly break through the original limitations and industrial boundaries, accelerate the integrated development of "1-100", and build differentiated competitive advantages through product innovation and scene innovation.

Third, we should fulfill our social responsibilities and create more social value. While pursuing economic benefits, unicorn enterprises should strengthen coordination with the goals of economic and social development such as carbon peaking, carbon neutrality and common prosperity, incorporate elements of social responsibility into the strategic management system of the organization, practice social responsibility with their own advanced technological advantages, and contribute to sustainable social development.