Analyzing startup ecosystem through corporate networks based on investment relation of venture capitals in unicorns

Abstract

We propose a method to build a corporate investment network based on the investment relationship between unicorns and venture capital (VC) and to analyze the characteristics of the startup ecosystem. Unicorns, unlisted startup companies with valuation of over $ 1 billion, are the leading drivers in innovation. For startup companies to grow into unicorns, it is important for them to be supported in startup ecosystem, where VCs play a very important role. In this research, we propose a method to build corporate investment networks of unicorns and VCs around the world, and to quantitatively analyze the characteristics of the relationship between the unicorns and the VCs and the diffusion of startup activities from inter-industry and international viewpoints, and the factors that affect the valuation of unicorns and performance of VCs. The proposed method is able to quantitatively measure the characteristics of the startup ecosystem and effective to promote produce of unicorns.