The Hypergrowth Startup Index 2025: Part 3
The Fastest-Growing Startups and Top Unicorns List
Top 25 unicorns in 2025 (by post valuation)
There are several household names on the list of highest-valued unicorns in 2025, and quite a few HubSpot customers.
Unicorns growing with HubSpot
Of the top 1400+ unicorn companies in 2025, 24% are HubSpot customers. With tools that help companies scale from day one to day 1,000, dozens of startups using HubSpot have reached unicorn status and have gotten there by working smarter from the start.
“At G2 we’ve always aimed to be early adopters of the best software and AI tech to fuel our own efficient growth. This has included being an early HubSpot Marketing Hub customer as well as using intuitive tools like Slack, GitHub, and Confluence to support efficient internal collaboration,” Abel says.
Nearly 1 in 4 unicorns are active HubSpot customers
Emerging high-growth industries
Energy is the fastest-growing sector of 2024, with an average 37% growth rate that reflects the tech transformation of a traditional industry. The information technology sector is close behind, with a 36% growth rate, followed by B2B at 35%. IT and B2B combined represented nearly half of all exits in 2024, showcasing a clear enterprise technology focus in the broader market.
The vertical distribution of growth
Across verticals, the software industry by far led the way, with 42% of 2024’s fastest growing startups. Software dwarfs all other categories: the next biggest is commercial services, which clocks in at less than just over a third of software’s share of the landscape at 16% and represents the strongest non-software industry group.
Semiconductor companies account for 8% of the fastest-growing startups. In the top 25 fastest-growing companies by post valuation, semiconductor firms hold an impressive four spots with a combined post valuation of nearly $25 billion.
The geographic evolution of innovation hubs
The geography of growth is shifting. Singapore has overtaken San Francisco as the city with the highest proportion of fast-growing startups, while European hubs like London, Paris, and Oslo are matching American tech centers. China and India have an emerging presence as startup hubs as well, with Shanghai and Beijing home to a combined 7% and Bengaluru and Mumbai a combined 5% of the world’s fastest-growing startups.
Founders in Southeast Asia and India are motivated and optimistic about the future — 32% plan to use AI to get to market faster and more efficiently, and 30% will use AI to compete with incumbents.
“At Balderton, we invest in Europe-based tech founders and apply the same rigorous lens across all regions,” says Laura McGinnis from Balderton Capital.
One possible driver of Singapore’s growth is strong government investment in building a startup ecosystem. Singapore is home to over 4,000 startups and 400 startup ecosystem players, including venture capital firms such as Golden Gate Partners and Wavemaker Partners.
Certain regions have particularly high concentrations of specific verticals. In Houston, which is home to 5% of the world’s fastest-growing companies, energy tech is the dominant sector. In Mumbai and London, where 3% and 2% of the fastest-growing startups are headquartered, fintech rules the day — it’s an emerging vertical in Mumbai and a major presence in London.