A unicorn, in startup vernacular, was designed as a term to describe a rare event for a young tech company: a $1 billion valuation. But in 2021, unicorns were more ubiquitous than ever.

There were a record number of global unicorn startups in 2021, with 596 startups raising rounds at $1 billion valuations or higher, according to Pitchbook. In 2021, there were 340 unicorn deals in the U.S. alone.

More unicorns were minted in 2021 than in the previous five years combined, Pitchbook said.

Just like it has with startup layoffs and venture capital deals in general, 2022 has been a much different story for startup unicorns due to upheaval in private capital markets, broader economic concerns and other factors.

The pace of new $1 billion startups has "fallen precipitously in recent months," according to a new Pitchbook report. This year, just 308 global startups and less than 200 in the U.S. reached unicorn status.

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