Tech & Science dictionary
decacorn
[dek-uh-kawrn]
What does decacorn mean?
A decacorn is a financial term for a relatively new company that is worth at least $10 billion.
Where does decacorn come from?
A unicorn is a mythical horse with a single horn protruding form its head. In 2013, venture capitalist Aileen Lee wrote an article for TechCrunch where she likened new companies (startups) valued at over $1 billion to 耻苍颈肠辞谤苍蝉鈥�famously rare in legend, just like such companies.
By 2015, such听unicorns听had become more more common in the business world. So, a 2015听Business Insider听article described companies valued at over $10 billion as听decacorns, what Lee previously dubbed “super unicorns.” The article听identified Airbnb, Uber, and Pinterest as decacorns, among others.
INFOGRAPHIC 41-billion dollar Uber tops the list of "decacorn" US tech startups
— AFP news agency (@AFP)
While the uni– in unicorn comes from the Latin-based prefix听uni- (“one”), decacorn features the prefix deca–, ultimately from the Greek word for “ten.” FYI, there are no decacorns in myth (horses with ten horns).
Companies valued at over $100 billion, like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, are called hectocorns听(hecto-, “hundred”), JSYK.
Examples of decacorn
Indonesian ride-hailing service听Go-Jek鈥檚 value was estimated at $10 billion by a U.S. market intelligence company, putting it in the ranks of startups called decacorns.
Who uses decacorn?
The term decacorn is principally found in tech and business media and discussions. As noted, it often refers to a relatively new, tech-based startup company that is privately owned (i.e., not (yet) publicly traded).
As of 2019, the platform CB Insights valued 17 companies as decacorns with China’s ByteDance (who owns TikTok) as the “fattest” decacorn at a $75 billion evaluation. Other notable decacorns include Airbnb ($29.3 billion) and听Fortnite creator Epic Games ($15 billion).
Southeast Asian media is ablaze with discussion of the latest 鈥渄ecacorn鈥�
— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch)
Decacorns made news in 2019 as companies like Lyft, Uber, and Pinterest went public.
Lyft and other money-losing Decacorn IPOs – in pictures. –
— Dan Gallagher (@djtgallagher)
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of decacorn like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of decacorn that will help our users expand their word mastery.