In tech industry speak, a "unicorn" isn't a horse with a horn, but rather a term meaning what?

Coined by venture capitalist Aileen Lee in 2013, the term "unicorn" refers to startups that reach a $1 billion valuation — which at time was considered as wondrous and magical as the mythical creature. Back then, the list of unicorns had barely cracked into double digits. Today, $1 billion startups are about as rare as a squirrel in a city park. As of July 2021, the official Crunchbase Unicorn List includes more than 900 companies — a whopping 291 of them joined the list since July 2020, an increase of over 450% from the previous year. Today, the truly elusive creature on everyone's mind is the "hectocorn": a startup valued at $100 billion.

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