Hectocorn
Topic: Industrial Policy, Public Sector, MSMEs and Disinvestment · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
A hectocorn is a privately held startup worth more than US$100 billion. "Privately held" means its shares are not traded on a stock exchange. "Hecto" means hundred: a hectocorn is worth a hundred times a unicorn. The full ladder is:
- soonicorn: likely to reach $1 billion soon;
- unicorn: over $1 billion;
- decacorn: over $10 billion;
- hectocorn: over $100 billion.
Very few firms in the world reach this level.
Example
Suppose investors in a funding round value an unlisted startup at US$150 billion. That startup is a hectocorn. At US$15 billion it would be only a decacorn.
Don't confuse with
- Decacorn: a decacorn is valued at over $10 billion. A hectocorn is valued at over $100 billion.
Related concepts
- Startup
- Bootstrapping
- Seed funding
- Business incubator
- Startup accelerator
- Soonicorn
- Decacorn
- Deep-tech startup
- Reverse flipping
- Research and development intensity