Shanghai tops list of future unicorns

Shanghai leads a 2025 China cheetah index, a list of start-ups most likely to "go unicorn" within five years to hit a valuation of $1 billion, according to the Hurun Research Institute.

The Hurun Future Unicorns: China Cheetahs Index 2025, which was released by the Hurun Research Institute on Jan 26, found 304 cheetah companies from 39 cities across the country. Shanghai topped the list with 65 enterpries, followed by Beijing, Shenzhen and Hangzhou.

Five major fields together accounted for more than 60 percent of all listed cheetah companies, led by biotechnology with 50 firms, health technology with 49, enterprise services with 41, semiconductors with 29, and artificial intelligence with 20.

Software services and industrial intelligent manufacturing entered the top 10 sectors for the first time.

Across the index, 85 percent are business-to-business companies, while 15 percent focus on consumer markets.

Compared with the previous year, 40 new companies were added to the 2025 index. Beijing contributed the most new entrants with 10, followed by Shanghai with eight. These newcomers are mainly from the semiconductor, biotechnology, and new energy sectors.

Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman of the Hurun Report, said that the Yangtze River Delta region continues to lead the country, accounting for half of all companies on the list, with particularly strong performances from Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Suzhou.