41 Startup Statistics 2025 – Global Numbers & Success Rates

As of 2025, there are over 150 million startups worldwide, with approximately 50 million new ones launching each year.

In the UK alone, by the end of 2024, there were 5.63 million active companies.

In 2024 alone, 5.2 million new businesses were started, mostly in fintech, AI, and enterprise technology.

Around 90% of startups still fail.

In this report, I’ll walk you through the latest numbers, who’s starting these businesses, why so many don’t make it, and what trends are shaping the startup world in 2025.

Disclaimer: The numbers in this article are valid until July 2025 and are subject to change over time.

Startup Statistics: Highlights (2025)

As of 2025, there are over 150 million startups globally, with approximately 50 million new startups being launched annually. Source: Creatly
The U.S. leads with the most number of startups (84,624), followed by India (17,843) and the U.K. (7,742). Source: Startup Ranking
90% of startups fail, with 42% failing due to a lack of market need and 29% running out of cash. Source: Startups
Women now make up 41.5% of U.S. entrepreneurs, but all-female teams get only 1% of VC funding. Source: Zippia
There are 1,489 active unicorns globally (as of 2025), valued at $5 trillion, with 1047 in the U.S. alone. Source: Pitchbook2
Only 40% of startups are profitable, while 33% break even and 33% operate at a loss. Source: Small Biz Trends
Startup costs average $460,000–$485,000 in the first year for a 5-person team, with payroll as the top expense. Source: BankRate

How Many Startups Are There?

There are over 150 million startups worldwide, with approximately 50 million new startups launched each year. Source: Creatly
In 2024, there were approximately 34.8 million businesses in the U.S. Source: Advocacy
5.2 million new business applications were filed in the U.S in 2024. Source: US Census
There were 5.63 million active companies in the UK by the end of 2024. Source: NatWest
89,515 new businesses were formed in the UK in Q1 2025. This was 36.49% more than Q1 2024 (65580). Source: Business Demography

Year	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
Q1	97,340	88,295	97,105	89,910	1,01,845	1,01,410	80,860	87,085	89,515
Q2	80,930	95,715	95,675	73,415	91,400	87,685	76,460	81,815	–
Q3	86,385	79,410	84,970	76,585	81,160	68,460	78,325	75,555	–
Q4	73,975	76,725	77,970	82,080	79,870	69,955	71,500	65,580	–

Source: Business Demography

Year	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
Q1	904,358	1,003,592	1,002,015	968,019	1,574,599	1,461,222	1,523,480	1,507,024	1,435,171
Q2	825,780	916,517	913,285	936,826	1,512,329	1,328,319	1,425,339	1,349,619	1,008,921
Q3	752,698	827,754	815,304	1,483,495	1,225,134	1,199,963	1,343,745	1,214,508	N/A
Q4	699,060	739,308	768,229	967,853	1,077,644	1,070,176	1,168,907	1,130,496	N/A

Source: US Census

Year	New Startups (U.S.)	Total Small Businesses (U.S.)
2024	5.2 million	34.8 million

Startup Demographics

The average age of a successful founder is 45 years. Source: HBR
In 2023, 86.8% of startup founders were men, while women made up only 13.2% of global startup founders. Source: Carta

Sr. No.	Year	Men	Woman
1	2023	86.80%	13.20%
2	2022	84.90%	15.10%
3	2021	85.10%	14.90%
4	2020	84.19%	15.90%
5	2019	85.00%	15.00%
6	2018	85.20%	14.80%

Source: Carta

Startup Founders by Age

58.5% of startup founders in the US are male, while female founders account for 41.5%.

Male Vs. Female Startup Founders in the US

Sr. No.	Founder	% Split
1	Male	58.5%
2	Female	41.5%

Source: Zippia

In the UK, 67% of startup founders are male, whereas only 33% are female.

Male Vs. Female Startup Founders in the UK

Sr. No.	Founder	% Split
1	Male	67%
2	Female	33%

Source: London Edu

All-female-founded companies (with no male co-founders) received only 1% of total VC funding in 2024 (approx. $1.94 billion). Source: London Edu

VC Funding for all-female-founded companies

Out of the total global venture capital funding, female-only founding teams received 2.3%, amounting to $6.7 billion.
In contrast, all-male founding teams secured 83.6%, or $241.9 billion.
Meanwhile, mixed-gender founding teams attracted 14.1% of the funding, totaling $40.7 billion. Source: Founders Forum

Sr. No.	Founding Team Gender	Venture Capital Received	% Venture Capital Received
1	Female-only founding teams	$6.7 billion	2.3%
2	Male founding teams	$241.9 billion	83.6%
3	Mixed-gender founding teams	$40.7 billion	14.1%

Source: Founders Forum

Countries With The Most Number Of Startups

As of 2025, the United States has the largest number of startups (84,624).
Currently, it houses more startups than the combined startups from the rest of the countries, as shown below.

Sr. No.	Countries	No. of Startups
1	United States of America	84,742
2	India	17,832
3	United Kingdom	7,745
4	Canada	4,161
5	Australia	3,167
6	Indonesia	3,135
7	Germany	2,589
8	France	1,764
9	Spain	1,568
10	United Arab Emirates	1,474
11	Rest of the World	30,129

Source: Startup Ranking

Global Unicorn Statistics

As of 2025, there are approximately 1,489 active unicorns with a cumulative valuation of $5 trillion and have raised a total of $959.8 billion in venture capital. Source: Pitchbook2
The US has the most unicorns (1047), followed by China (313) & India (61).

Sr. No.	Country	Number of Unicorns	Global Share (%)
1	United States	1047	50.80%
2	China	313	21.80%
3	India	61	4.30%
4	United Kingdom	48	3.30%
5	Israel	27	1.90%
6	Other Countries	256	17.80%
7	Total	1,434	100%

Source: PitchBook, Pitchbook2

The U.S. is the mecca for fintech startups, with 10,755 as of 2021.

Sr. No.	Region	Active Unicorns (2022)	Notable Fact
1	U.S.	1,047	$1.1T total value of unicorns
2	Global	~12,000 fintech startups	U.S. leads in fintech startup count (10,755 as of 2021)

Source: CFTE

Which Is The Most Successful Startup?

As of 2025, SpaceX stands as the most successful startup, with a valuation of $350 billion.

The table below highlights the world’s top 10 highest-valued startups across different industries and countries.

Sr. No.	Company	Valuation ($B)	Date Joined	Country	Industry
1	SpaceX	$350	12/1/2012	United States	Industrials
2	ByteDance	$300	4/7/2017	China	Media & Entertainment
3	OpenAI	$300	7/22/2019	United States	Enterprise Tech
4	Stripe	$70	1/23/2014	United States	Financial Services
5	SHEIN	$66	7/3/2018	Singapore	Consumer & Retail
6	Databricks	$62	2/5/2019	United States	Enterprise Tech
7	Anthropic	$61.5	2/3/2023	United States	Enterprise Tech
8	xAI	$50	5/26/2024	United States	Enterprise Tech
9	Revolut	$45	4/26/2018	United Kingdom	Financial Services
10	Canva	$32	1/8/2018	Australia	Enterprise Tech

Source: CBInsights

What Percentage Of Startups Fail?

About 90% of startups fail.
Approximately 10% of startups fail within the first year.
70% of startup failures occur between years two and five.

Startup Success and Failure Rates by Year of Operation

Sr. No.	Year of Operation	Survival Rate	Failure Rate
1	1	90%	10%
2	2	70%	30%
3	5	50%	50%
4	10	35%	65%
5	15+	25%	75%

Source: ClearPayments

Top Reasons Startups Fail

42% fail due to misreading market demand.
29% run out of funding.
23% fail due to weak founding teams.
19% are outcompeted.

Source: Startups

Sr. No.	Reasons	% of Total Failed Startups
1	Lack of Market Demand	42%
2	Ran Out of Funds	29%
3	Team Lacked the Right Skills or Chemistry	23%
4	Outpaced by Competitors	19%
5	Unsustainable Pricing or Cost Structure	18%
6	Weak or Flawed Product	17%
7	Unclear or Broken Business Model	17%
8	Ineffective Marketing Strategy	14%
9	Neglected Customer Feedback	14%
10	Launched Too Early or Too Late	13%
11	Lost Strategic Focus	13%
12	Internal Conflict Among Team or Investors	13%
13	Pivoted in the Wrong Direction	10%
14	Lacked Founder Passion or Commitment	9%
15	Poor Choice of Location or Market	9%
16	Unable to Secure Funding or Investor Interest	8%
17	Legal or Regulatory Problems	8%
18	Failed to Leverage Mentors or Networks	8%
19	Founder or Team Burnout	8%
20	Resisted Necessary Business Pivot	7%

Source: Startups, Score

Startup Profitability And Financial Health

Only 2 in 5 startups are profitable.
1 in 3 startups break even; 1 in 3 continue to lose money. Source: Small Biz Trends
82% of failed startups cite cash flow problems as the primary reason for their failure. Source: Fundera

Sr. No.	Profitability Status	Percentage
1	Profitable	40%
2	Break-even	33%
3	Losing money	33%

Startup Ecosystem And Global Trends

Venture capital funding reached $368.3 billion in 2024. Source: KPMG
Only 1% of startups become unicorns. Source: Bain
As of 2025, there are 1047 active unicorns in the U.S. Source: Pitchbook2

Sr. No.	Year	Global VC Funding	U.S. Unicorns	Global Unicorns (Estimate)
1	2024	$959.4B	1047	1489

Source: Pitchbook2

Startup Costs And Operations

The average cost for a five-person startup in its first year is $460,000 to $485,000.
Equipment costs can range from $10,000 to $125,000. Source: BankRate
31% of startup capital for employer firms is less than $10,000. Source: Federal Reserve

Sr. No.	Expense Type	Typical Cost
1	First-year payroll (5 staff)	$460,000 to $485,000
2	Equipment	$10,000–$125,000
3	Startup capital (31% firms)	<$10,000

Startup Lesser-Known Facts & Insights

Founders with prior success have a 30% chance of succeeding in their next venture.
First-time founders have an 18% chance of success, while those who failed previously have a 20% chance of success. Source: SSRN Paper
Two founders increase the odds of success by 30% more investment and three times the customer growth rate. Source: LinkedIn
The primary challenge for startups is achieving product-market fit.

Click For More Stats: