Billion Dollar Unicorns: Vancl On A Roller Coaster Ride

A Forrester report released earlier this year estimates the Chinese e-commerce market to grow 20% annually from $307 billion in 2013 to more than $1 trillion by 2019. The growth in the market is being driven by the penetration of Internet in the country as well as adoption of mobile devices. But while the market statistics may be strong, it has not necessarily been an easy ride for all. Billion Dollar Unicorn club contender Vancl shows how difficult things can be.

>>>

Billion Dollar Unicorn: Does Gaurav Dhillon Have Another Winner With SnapLogic?

According to an IDC report, the global cloud market is expected to grow to $118 billion by 2015 and will be worth $200 billion by 2018. The growth will be driven by an increased adoption of the hybrid cloud as organizations are still trying out the cloud and would like to use ways that help bridge the gaps between the comparatively low-security public clouds and the high-security private clouds. Something similar was envisioned by entrepreneur Gaurav Dhillon back in 2006 when he started his second Billion Dollar Unicorn company SnapLogic. >>>

LinkedIn Acquires Lynda.com: An Analysis

Earlier this year, we covered Billion Dollar Unicorn company Lynda.com. Carpinteria, California-based Lynda.com is an online learning company that has seen meteoric rise in valuation in the recent past. Last week, they reached their peak when they were bought for $1.5 billion by professional social network, LinkedIn. This was not only the biggest acquisition by LinkedIn so far, but was also the biggest valuation for an ed-tech company. I have long believed that LinkedIn should get into subscription-based ed-tech for the professional education category, and this acquisition makes perfect sense to me. It also reaffirms my belief that LinkedIn is one of the smartest companies around today.

>>>

Billion Dollar Unicorns: RealReal Shows How to Consign Luxury Products

According to Bain & Company research, the personal luxury goods market in the US is estimated to be worth $74 billion. Economic conditions have hurt the segment, but the market has still managed to register a growth of 2% annually. Billion Dollar Unicorn club member RealReal is helping consigners deal with the luxury products.  >>>

Billion Dollar Unicorns: Powa Puts London on the Map

According to a Wevio report published last month, global B2C ecommerce sales are projected to grow 17.75% in 2015 to $1.74 trillion. The market is projected to grow 10% annually to $2.356 trillion in 2018.  Billion Dollar Unicorn club member Powa Technologies is helping retailers gear up for this growth.

>>>

Billion Dollar Unicorns: Niche E-Commerce Works for Fanatics

A recent TechNavio report, Global Licensed Sports Merchandise Market 2015-2019, estimated the licensed sports merchandise market to grow 2.74% annually over the period 2014 through 2019. Recent turnover of the industry is not available, but back in 2011, analysts had estimated the market to be worth $15 billion. Billion Dollar Unicorn club member Fanatics is among the leading players in this industry.

>>>

Billion Dollar Unicorns: Privalia Dominates the Latin America Markets

According to a Forrester Research report published earlier this year, the Latin American eCommerce market is led by Brazil where the B2C ecommerce sales are projected to grow from $17.8 billion in 2014 to $40.8 billion in 2019. The number of online buyers in Brazil is expected to increase from 33.5 million in 2014 to 61.8 million in 2019. Argentina is the second largest market where ecommerce sales are projected to grow from $3.4 billion in 2014 to $8.3 million in 2019 with online consumers growing from 12.6 million in 2014 to 7.8 million in 2014. Mexico is the third largest market and is projected to grow from $2.8 billion last year to $6.7 billion in 2019. Billion Dollar Unicorn club member Privalia is counting on this Latin American market growth.

>>>

Billion Dollar Unicorns: athenahealth Enters the EHR Market

A Frost and Sullivan report on the US Hospital Information Systems (HIS) estimates the market for HIS in US hospitals to grow at 5.7% annually over the period 2014 through 2020. Billion Dollar Unicorn club member athenahealth (NASDAQ: ATHN) is a leading player in this market.

>>>