An Ant Group mascot is seen in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province. [Photo by Long Wei/For China Daily]

A list of global start-ups worth at least a billion dollars who have yet to go public, also known as unicorns, was released on Aug 4 by ranking agency Hurun and Suzhou New District.

The agency said the number of unicorns reached 586, an increase of 92 from last year. These start-ups are based in 29 countries and 145 cities, with 80 percent selling software and services, 60 percent consumer-facing and 5 percent in traditional sectors. Their total valuation is $1.9 trillion.

The US has 233 unicorns, just ahead of China's 227, and the two countries make up 79 percent of the world's total. On the city level, Beijing has the most number of unicorns with 93, followed by San Francisco at 68 and Shanghai at 47.

China's Ant Financial topped the list with a valuation of 1 trillion yuan, followed by China's ByteDance and Didi Chuxing. Moreover, six of the top 10 unicorns by valuation are from China, the other three being Lufax, Kuaishou and Cainiao.

The financial services and retail sectors have been the most disrupted by unicorns, followed by media and entertainment, business management solutions, healthcare, logistics and automobiles, the report said.

In addition, the average age of the companies' co-founders is 42.