Strategic growth opportunities over the next three years beckon Chinese unicorns

Chinese unicorn companies are poised to seize strategic growth opportunities over the next three years if they respond to "challenges in technology, talent, operation and financing," a PwC report said today.

Executives at domestic unicorn companies consider the most pressing challenges is to adapt to the technology revolution, changes in consumer behavior, and the emergence of new business models, PwC said.

Its survey found that 57 percent of executives at Chinese unicorn firms indicated the continuous emergence of new technologies as the primary external factor likely to affect their companies, while 45 percent noted the emergence of disruptive business models in the next one to three years.

"To rank among the top players in the future, unicorns will increasingly need to use innovative technology as a driver, underpinned by new business models, to secure the commercialization of their technologies," Gao Jianbin, TMT leader of PwC China, said.

A majority of the unicorn executives considered emerging technologies like big data and artificial intelligence to be most influential for business development and product research, followed by cloud computing, Internet of Things, 5G and block chain, PwC's survey revealed.

Also, the executives regarded talent as the most important factor to help sustain their growth strategies for the next one to three years.

"Local unicorn companies focus more on long-term strategies such as talent and corporate culture, indicating that the Chinese market is growing rapidly and they still have access to abundant capital in the market," said Guo Yuqing, Centre of Excellence Partner at PwC China.

As capital is driving the the rise of unicorn companies in China, the survey found that 64 percent of the executives plan to list their firms in the next two years by tapping support such as the Chinese depositary receipts.

"Unicorn companies are flourishing in China and will embrace strategic growth opportunities in the next three years," Wilson Chow, said PwC Global TMT Leader. "These companies have to respond to challenges in technology, talent, operation and financing to win in the future."