By Ashley Portero - Senior Reporter May 23, 2022, 04:59pm EDT
More local companies are on their way to "unicorn" status.
Four businesses headquartered in Miami-Dade, Broward or Palm Beach counties are among 307 firms to make Crunchbase's new "emerging unicorn" list, a roundup of private companies with a valuation approaching $1 billion. The qualifying ventures all have valuations of at least $500 million.
The list includes 307 businesses based in the U.S., Europe, Asia and Latin America that have collectively raised $53 billion in funding. The U.S. led the count with 154 potential unicorn ventures, followed by India (34), China (27) and the United Kingdom (24).
The number of global unicorns surpassed 1,000 for the first time in 2021, with nearly 600 new companies reaching $1 billion-plus valuations, according to Crunchbase, a platform that collects data on private and public companies. More money than ever was directed to seed-, early- and late-stage startups last year, when global venture investment totaled $643 billion – up 92% year over year.
Seven companies, including insurtech Healthcare.com and cryptocurrency infrastructure MoonPay, were among the local firms that reached unicorn statusin 2021.
South Florida companies to make the emerging unicorn list include:
ModMed (formerly Modernizing Medicine): Founded in 2010, the Boca Raton company has a $500 million valuation and has raised $376 million in equity funding, according to Crunchbase data. ModMed sells a cloud-based electronic health records system through subscription services to specialty medical practices. The software is used for clinical documentation, prescribing medications, telemedicine, billing and more.
Novo: The digital bank for small businesses hit a $700 million valuation after completing a $90 million series B round in January. Novo, which moved its headquarters to Miami from New York City last year, has raised a total of $136 million.
OpenStore: The Miami company has a $705 million valuation and raised $105 million from investors. OpenStore, which buys small businesses that operate on Canadian e-commerce website Shopify, recently tripled its office space at its Wynwood headquarters to accommodate dozens of new hires it expects to onboard this year.
ShipMonk: The Fort Lauderdale firm has a $700 million valuation and is backed by $365 million in investor capital. That amount is smaller than the number Crunchbase reported in early January, when it estimated ShipMonk had a $1 billion valuation. The shipping and logistics startup for e-commerce businesses is no longer on Crunchbase's unicorn board.