The US Is Now Home To 80 Israeli-Founded Unicorns – Report

Eighty Israeli-founded unicorns –– privately-held firms with worth over $1 billion –– are headquartered in the US, according to a new report by the United States-Israel Business Alliance (USIBA). This is the most to ever exist in the U.S. at one time.

California leads with 32, followed by New York with 26, Massachusetts with 10, and New Jersey with four. Florida, Illinois, and Texas each host two, and Oregon and Washington each host one.

“Five years ago, the number of Israeli-founded unicorns around the world peaked at 18,” Kaplowitz said. “Today, in the U.S. alone, there are two states with more.”

The collective valuation for all 80 unicorns amounts to a total of $224.8 billion, putting the average value for the U.S.-headquartered unicorns at $2.81 billion. California-based Fintech-as-a-Service platform Rapyd, tops the list with a $15 billion valuation, followed by Washington-based cybersecurity firm Tanium, at $9 billion. Massachusetts-based developer security platform Snyk, and New York-based AI underwriting solutions provider Pagaya, are next in line at $8.5 billion. 

The 80 companies have cumulatively raised more than $36.2 billion in private capital. Five unicorns each raised more than $1 billion: corporate travel management firm TripActions (California, $1.5 billion), Snyk (Massachusetts, $1.4 billion), retail analytics company Trax (California, $1 billion), digital assets platform Fireblocks (New York, $1 billion), and Tanium (Washington, $1 billion). 

“While Manhattan and Silicon Valley are generating Israeli-founded unicorns at an unprecedented clip, the real story here is that Israeli founders are identifying states beyond New York and California as viable options to grow their companies,” Kaplowitz said. “And unicorns don’t just fall from the sky, so these states with one or two unicorns could serve as effective ambassadors to the next batch of up-and-coming Israeli founders looking to source local talent and establish a robust U.S. presence.”