It’s a rote story by now that many populations around the world are facing rapid decline. Birth rates in many countries are falling, leading to concerns about graying populations engendering imbalanced economies.
That’s true when we consider nation-level populations. It’s also true when we consider the rate at which new unicorns are born, measured by the pace at which global startups reach the $1 billion valuation threshold. Once rare, unicorns became far more pedestrian during the 2020-2021 peak of the last venture capital cycle. What’s old is new again — we’re seeing unicorn formation slow.
