New York is experiencing an investment capital blizzard, and the result is the city's biggest ever class of startup unicorns in 2019

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Emily Weiss is the founder and CEO of Glossier, a recent startup unicorn.

• The rise of "mega-rounds" has created more startups unicorns in New York City in 2019 than any previous year, according to a report from VC firm White Star Capital.
• These outsized transactions are becoming more common, as tech investors raise bigger funds to compete for the hottest deals.
• The year's new $1 billion startups include e-commerce giants Casper, Glossier, and Rent the Runway, as well as buzzy luggage brand Away.
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A year of uncertainty in the financial markets did not discourage a parade of startup unicorns in New York in 2019.

The city created more companies valued above $1 billion in 2019 than in any previous year, according to a report from White Star Capital in New York and Pitchbook data. The 10 new startup unicorns include direct-to-consumer heavyweights like Casper, Glossier, and Rent the Runway, as well as buzzy luggage startup Away, whose cutthroat culture was at the center of a recent investigation published by The Verge.

The previous two years produced four unicorns each year, which puts their total behind the first half of 2019 alone, according to White Star Capital, which cited research by CB Insights. The second biggest year for startup unicorns in New York was 2017, when BuzzFeed, Oscar, Warby Parker, and others gave the city seven $1 billion companies.

Rent the Runway

Rent the Runway, which is valued at $1 billion, is expanding into brick-and-mortar locations.

Most of the companies this year pulled in more than $100 million in a single fundraising event, known as a "mega-round." These outsized transactions are becoming more common, as tech investors raise bigger and bigger funds to compete for the most sought-after deals. In the first half of the year, there were 16 mega-rounds in New York, more than the yearly totals for any year prior.

These are the New York startup unicorns minted in the first half of 2019, and the amount of funding they've raised to date, according to Pitchbook and CB Insights:

• Col libra ($235 million)
• Glossier ($192 million)
• Rent the Runway ($521 million)
• Casper ($355 million)
• Lemonade ($480 million)
• VTS ($190 million)
• Away ($181 million)
• Gympass ($300 million)
• Wheels Up ($778 million)
• Knotel ($595 million)

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