Contents page 1 — Rare, shy, and worth a billion page 2 — Runs in this country is something wrong in the start-up scene? On a page

It is, of course, that in times of the exhaust gas scandal and the threat can make the driving bans a billion business with cars. Auto1 has done it. The Berlin-based company buys and Europe, sold used cars, which makes it earlier workshops rate. A unglamouröses business.

Nevertheless, it has brought Auto1 in just six years, to a Status, which the founders of the world and a promise: Auto1 is a unicorn. A company, whose value to investors with more than a billion dollars. The companies are not quoted on the stock exchange and other companies have been bought up. Their existence is so rare that the Start-up scene compared with the legendary mythical creatures.

for the First time, the U.S. Investor Aileen Lee spoke in 2013 of unicorns in the economy. At the time, they were still much rarer than it is today, 39 there were in the world. They had an almost magical attraction to investors and investors. Only five years later, the world is about 270 unicorns that exist today, the analysis Institute, CB Insights estimates. Alone compared to to 2016, their number has doubled almost.

A small group romps in the meantime also in Germany, led by Auto1. The company hardly anyone has heard of, not be more than the Internet portal wirkaufendeinauto.de. Finally, a larger Public became aware of the company, because dozens of car dealers filed a lawsuit against you. You feel through to high ratings for the vehicles to be deceived. Nevertheless, the business is going well, through the Portal Auto1 around a Million vehicles per year are sold daily, about 3,000 cars. The founders of the company learned their craft previously in the case of other Digital Start-ups. Hakan Koç comes from the incubator Rocket Internet and Christian Bertermann worked previously at the discount portal Groupon.

such As man, who is a unicorn measures?

Auto1 has managed the used car business radically to circulate and to generate in the last year had a turnover of 1.5 billion euros. Analysts explain this trend with a formula that is true for many climbers from the Tech industry: efficiency through technology. Auto1 has rolled out a highly fragmented market. It concentrates on its platform only the advertising business for the sale of the cars, but handles the entire purchase, valuation and resale. In this way, Auto1 comes higher margins, as they are customary in the industry.

but How to measure which company is considered to be unicorn? Finally, the companies are not traded on the stock exchange – then you could calculate from the stock price and the number of shares a valuation. In the case of the unicorns you have to rely on registry information and the gifts Known by investors or analysts. Auto1, for example, requires a lot of capital in order to Finance the purchase of used cars. In January, the Japanese technology group Softbank has invested almost half a billion euros in the company. In return, the investors receive shares in the company. If one adds up all of these Investments, the value in the market. Auto1 since the Investment from Japan, with almost three billion euros.

About unicorns, you don’t know very much, because they shy away from the Public. They were listed on the stock exchange, then you would have to enter important financial data and a number of regulations to comply with. Therefore, many of the Start-wait-ups for a long time with the IPO, additional capital to collect; investors and capital eventually find other Ways to them. Company car today, a much later IPO, on average, you wait eleven years instead of four years. Thus, the number of unicorns is increasing steadily.

The online retailer Zalando, who was once one of the German unicorns, brought it around in its stock market debut in October 2014 on a valuation of more than five and a half billion euros. Some companies shy away from the IPO, because he has not paid off for other companies, but in retrospect a lot of money was destroyed. Deterrent examples are Twitter and Snapchat. Many of the unicorns wait then rather to the fact that it is being bought up by a competitor.