September's 38 New Unicorns: Sprinters and Late Bloomers in the Class

Crunchbase counted 38 companies joining its Unicorn Board in September, adding $71 billion in value. Several of the names now circulating as the latest billion-dollar additions, including SiMa.ai, Hubble Network and Félix, closed their rounds in September, and they tell a different story from the one about startups hitting $1 billion in record time.

Crunchbase News  

Through September, 311 companies have joined the board in 2026, putting the year on track to be the second-highest for new unicorn creation after 2021, when counts topped 600. Of September's 38 new unicorns, 21 are headquartered in the US, six in China and three in the UK. Semiconductors, financial services and space technology led the class, and hedge funds or their venture arms took part in seven of the financings, with Maverick Capital involved in four of them.

Institutional Investor  

San Jose-based SiMa.ai announced a $150 million Series C on 28 September, co-led by Fidelity Management & Research Company and Amplify, at a $1.45 billion post-money valuation. The company builds chips and software for running AI on devices such as robots, drones and cameras. It was valued at $960 million after an $85 million Series B in July 2025, so the new round is a rise of about 51% in a year. Total funding is now roughly $500 million, and SiMa.ai says its revenue quadrupled from 2024 to 2025. Maverick and Point72 both participated, which fits a pattern of crossover investors joining late private rounds, a step that often precedes a larger round or listing.

Miami-based Félix, which lets Latino immigrants in the US send money home through WhatsApp, closed a $200 million Series C on 1 September, co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and General Catalyst. The company says its valuation roughly tripled from about $484.5 million at its previous round, to around $1.4 billion. It was founded in 2020, so it reached the milestone after six years, with more than $8 billion moved for over six million customers across Latin American corridors. Reports note that its stablecoin-based transfers are exempt from a 1% federal tax on cash remittances that took effect in January 2026, a regulatory tailwind for digital rivals of cash-counter incumbents. It plans to add savings and consumer credit. Latin Times  

Seattle-based Hubble Network raised $200 million in a Series C on 23 September, led by Smith Point Capital, at a $1.6 billion valuation, a year after a $70 million Series B. Its technology lets ordinary Bluetooth Low Energy chips connect to satellites through a software update. Hubble currently operates six satellites and plans a 60-satellite constellation by 2030, and it opened its network to the public alongside the round. Payload 

Both patterns exist side by side. The sprinters are real. On 9 October, TypeSafe AI, founded in 2024, raised an $870 million Series A at a $7.5 billion valuation, weeks after a seed round at roughly $200 million. Etched, which reached $21 billion in August, is reportedly weighing offers of $40 billion to $50 billion. Crunchbase has also noted that more than a third of August's new unicorns were under three years old.

But September's featured names are late bloomers. They crossed $1 billion on revenue growth, transaction volume or a satellite network rather than on a brand-new idea, and some of them took years to get there. Describing the whole class as compressed or young would overstate it. TechCrunch 

The two groups face different tests. The sprinters have to show revenue that matches valuations set within weeks. The late bloomers, with crossover investors on their cap tables, have to show an exit. Whether public markets are ready to take on both kinds of company, and in what order, will decide how many of 2026's record unicorn class are still valued at $1 billion a year from now.