Startup valuations tumble, wiping $1b off average value of mobile internet unicorns

The current bubble debate has polar opposites with Bill Gurley saying we’re in the middle of a tech bubble, and Marc Andreessen saying there’s no such thing. Tech adviser Digi-Capital’s new Mobile Internet Report Q3 2015 shows that the mobile market sided with Bill in the last quarter.

Mobile internet stocks were down 15.7 percent in the 12 months to Q3, and the average valuation dropped in Q3 from US$9 billion to US$8 billion for the 105 mobile internet unicorns.

(Note: The analysis covers mobile internet companies only, excluding mobile device, infrastructure and large but minority mobile businesses.)

Digi-Capital’s index of 96 mobile internet public stocks fell 15.7 percent in the 12 months to Q3 2015. Looking within the 17 mobile stock market sectors that Digi-Capital covers, the best performers were food and drink, wearables and navigation, all up over 20 percent in the 12 months to Q3. Enterprise/B2B and mobile tech were up less than 5 percent.

The remaining 12 sectors (music, games, messaging, social, lifestyle, entertainment, business, travel/transport, app store/distribution, m-commerce, advertising/marketing and utilities) were down by as much as 40 percent for the last 12 months.

While the 105 mobile internet unicorns’ total enterprise value was broadly flat in Q3 (or down US$52 billion if Alibaba is included), they are still worth US$839 billion. Huge value has been created in a relatively short period, considering that the iPhone only launched in 2007. The mobile internet unicorns’ value is highly concentrated within their 21 sectors. 7 sectors (social, mCommerce, transport, finance, messaging, games, food & drink) made up 90 percent of the total enterprise value in Q3.

The remaining 14 sectors (utilities, music, lifestyle, wearables, travel, entertainment, tech, enterprise/B2B, app store/distribution, medical, advertising/marketing, navigation, photo & video, productivity) account for only 10 percent.