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California has long been known as an incubator state, producing some of the world's fastest-growing tech firms, and Fortune’s 2016 Top Unicorn list proves it yet again. This year's top unicorns, based on valuation, are headquartered all over the world from China to India—but the majority of the companies are in California.
In fact, California is home to six of the 10 most valuable tech startups in the country (as of January). Check em' out.
Uber
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Valuation: $62B
Location: San Francisco
Uber remains one of the leading ride-sharing companies when it comes to innovation. This month the company announced plans to test launch its first self-driving cars in Pittsburgh. One expert, however, thinks this valuation is too high.
Airbnb
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Valuation: $25.5B
Location: San Francisco
Airbnb continues to take the home-sharing business by storm. Earlier this month the company raised $850M in a new round of funding, pushing its value to $30B.
Palantir
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Valuation: $20.5B
Location: Palo Alto
This CIA-funded software company launched in 2004 and is making big moves. Earlier this month it announced plans to buy data visualization startup Silk, a $3.7B company.
Snapchat
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Valuation: $16B
Location: Venice
Social media firm Snapchat made its big bucks by offering real, authentic looks into users lives. But Snap was hit with a surprise earlier this month when its competitor Instagram, which has twice the number of users, launched its own stories feature, pulling even more traffic to its app.
SpaceX
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Valuation: $12B
Location: Hawthorne
The aerospace manufacturer, founded by Elon Musk, was launched in 2002. The company recently displayed its first rocket booster, the 162-foot Falcon 9, outside its HQ after it returned home this weekend from its successful launch last December.
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Valuation: $11B
Location: San Francisco
With Pinterest's most recent valuation hitting $11B, the company is pulling in additional revenue through video ad sales. The company even swiped an advertising guru from Snapchat last month to aid in its efforts.
