hectocorn

H4E1C3T1O1C3O1R1N1

noun

A private startup with a valuation of US$100 billion or greater.

Scrabble 16

Meanings

nounhectocorn (plural hectocorns)

plural hectocorns

  1. businessA private startup with a valuation of US$100 billion or greater.

    If Ant Financial is able to raise it’s $9B funding round at an expected $150B valuation it will become the first Hectocorn (or venture backed private company valued at over $100B) – a massive business by any standards, public or private.

    2018 May 8, David Kellenberger, “Entering the Age of the Hectocorn”, in LinkedIn
    1 more example

    You’ve probably heard of “unicorns” – technology startups valued at more than $1bn – but 2026 is shaping up to be the year of the “hectocorn”, with several US and European companies potentially floating on stock markets at valuations over $100bn (£75bn).

    2026 January 22, Aisha Down, Dan Milmo, “The year of the ‘hectocorn’: the $100bn tech companies that could float in 2026”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

Origin

From hecto- (“hundred”) + -corn, by analogy with unicorn.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

hectocorn. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hectocorn

MLA

“hectocorn.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hectocorn. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hectocorn,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hectocorn.

Source: hectocorn on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.