European Unicorns
Caroline Bayley reports on Europe's unicorns, tech companies with billion dollar valuations but not necessarily any profits, and asks how real they are.
A Unicorn is a mythical animal. But it's also the name now given to private start-up companies, mainly in the tech or internet sector which are valued at a billion dollars or more. They're extremely fast-growing and are often keener to increase customers rather than make profits at this stage. They rely on private investors to fund their growth and those investors give the companies their valuations. Through interviews with European unicorns including BlaBlaCar, a ride-sharing service and Hello Fresh which delivers measured fresh ingredients and recipes to your door, Caroline Bayley asks how "real" the tech unicorns are and whether the billion dollar plus valuations are fuelling another tech bubble which could be in danger of bursting.
Producer Anna Meisel.
(Image: A unicorn. Credit: Catmando/Shutterstock
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- Sun 15 May 201602:06GMTBBC World Service except Australasia, News Internet & South Asia
- Sun 15 May 201604:06GMTBBC World Service Australasia & South Asia only
- Sun 15 May 201610:06GMTBBC World Service except News Internet
- Sun 15 May 201613:06GMTBBC World Service Australasia
- Sun 15 May 201617:06GMTBBC World Service West and Central Africa
- Sun 15 May 201622:32GMTBBC World Service except News Internet


