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La declaración de zona tensionada en Irun llega con el inicio este año de las obras de 420 VPO de alquiler La que será «la mayor operación de la historia del Gobierno Vasco en la ciudad» forma parte del Plan de Acción del Ayuntamiento para arrancar la construcción de 1.000 viviendas en tres años, 3.000 en la próxima década Iñigo Morondo · 2025.04.14 El consejero de Vivienda y Agenda Urbana, Denis Itxaso, y la alcaldesa de la localidad, Cristina Laborda. DV El Departamento de Vivienda del Gobierno Vasco ha aprobado la declaración de Irun como zona de mercado residencial tensionado y la confirmación de ese paso ha llegado acompañada del anuncio de que a lo largo de este mismo año la sociedad pública Visesa dará inicio a la construcción de 420 viviendas de protección oficial en régimen de alquiler. Todas ellas se levantarán en el ámbito San Miguel-Anaka, que tras décadas de espera arrancará en los próximos meses su urbanización y su desarrollo residencial.Se trata de la mayor operación de vivienda pública que el Ejecutivo vasco ha impulsado en la ciudad, enmarcada en el Plan de Acción de respuesta a la declaración de zona tensionada que en colaboración con el Departamento de Vivienda desarrolló el Ayuntamiento de Irun y que supone comenzar la obra de un millar de pisos públicos en los próximos 3 años. El consejero de Vivienda y Agenda Urbana, Denis Itxaso, y la alcaldesa de la localidad, Cristina Laborda, han confirmado los números y los plazos de este programa público residencial .De esta forma, Irun se suma a otros municipios vascos que han visto reconocido su esfuerzo por afrontar el reto del acceso a la vivienda como son Errenteria, Zumaia, Lasarte-Oria y Barakaldo. En ese sentido, el consejero ha destacado que «hoy en Irun damos un paso crucial en la apuesta de Euskadi por garantizar el derecho a una vivienda digna y asequible», y ha confirmado que su departamento y el Ayuntamiento de Irun firmarán próximamente un convenio para promover más de 600 viviendas en los próximos 4 años. en el que colaborarán ambas institucionesItxaso ha asegurado que Irun, Zumaia, Lasarte-Oria y Barakaldo aparecerán en el listado de zonas tensionadas que el Ministerio de Vivienda y Agenda Urbana publicará en el Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE) este mismo mes de abril. «El día 23 saldrá publicado en el BOPV y posteriormente en el BOE. Con estos cuatro municipios más Errenteria, en torno a un 10% de la población vasca ya vive en localidades oficialmente tensionadas», ha añadido el consejero.Por su parte, la alcadesa de Irun, Cristina Laborda, ha destacado que la construcción de mil viviendas en el corto plazo, supone duplicar la oferta de VPO existente en el municipio. «Estamos, sin duda alguna, ante el mayor impulso a la vivienda que haya podido conocer Irun, un ambicioso plan que demuestra la verdadera apuesta del Ayuntamiento en uno de los temas que más preocupa a la ciudadanía», ha señalado la primera edil irundarra.Laborda se ha referido al «constante crecimiento poblacional» en Irun que ha llevado al consistorio a impulsar nuevas construcciones residenciales. «Nuestro deber y compromiso con la ciudadanía debe ser que quienes eligen Irun para continuar con su proyecto de vida, lo puedan hacer en su ciudad, aquí en casa», ha añadido.En el horizonte de 10 añosAunque el Plan de Acción diseñado conjuntamente incide en las medidas a corto plazo, durante la vigencia de la declaración de zona tensionada, Itxaso se ha referido a que una solución integral del problema de la vivienda requiere una mirada a medio y largo plazo. En ese sentido, el consejero ha recalcado que mientras se construyen las primeras viviendas contempladas en el plan, «declarar Irun como zona tensionada nos permite también amparar a las personas inquilinas con medidas que estabilizan los precios del alquiler», mientras que, más a largo plazo, se prevé la construcción en Irun de 2.190 viviendas adicionales de protección pública a lo largo de la próxima década entre VPO en alquiler (1.772), viviendas tasadas (394) y alojamientos dotacionales (24).Itxaso ha enmarcado esa previsión en el trabajo de prospección que su departamento está realizando en la comunidad autónoma para movilizar «suelo público y privado para la construcción de vivienda protegida, analizando cada parcela disponible para optimizar su uso» con el objetivo de activar 75.000 VPO en Euskadi. Ese trabajo se acompañará de un esfuerzo con los municipios para modernizar las ordenanzas con el objetivo de impulsar la división de viviendas grandes, facilitar la conversión de locales comerciales en viviendas y fomentar la reubicación de actividades profesionales en plantas bajas. También se reforzará la estrategia coordinada para la movilización de viviendas vacías.En ese contexto, Itxaso ha afirmado que «el problema de la vivienda tiene solución, si bien requiere de ambición, planificación y colaboración institucional. Este plan en Irun es un ejemplo de ello», ha asegurado.En el caso concreto de la localidad fronteriza, el Departamento de Vivienda ha informado de que 180 personas empadronadas en la ciudad reciben apoyo a través del Derecho Subjetivo a la Vivienda: 74 han accedido a una vivienda protegida; a 64 se les ha otorgado la Prestación Económica de Vivienda y las 42 restantes están como prioritarias para próximas adjudicaciones. Además, 170 jóvenes de la ciudad reciben la ayuda de 300 euros mensuales del programa Gaztelagun y hay otros 43 expedientes en tramitación. Desde el Ayuntamiento se otorgan cada año en torno a 1.000 ayudas de emergencia destinadas a la vivienda para personas en situación de vulnerabilidad.En cuanto al parque de viviendas, 1.131, es decir, el 4,1% del total, no tienen personas empadronadas. Desde Bizigune se han movilizado 108 viviendas en régimen de alquiler asequible y otras cinco través del programa ASAP. En el registro de Etxebide hay 3.265 irundarras inscritos en busca de vivienda, de las cuales el 81% (2.642) buscan alquiler.«Atender esta demanda exige soluciones valientes y decididas», ha señalado Itxaso, que ha querido incidir en que «no estamos haciendo políticas de vivienda solo para quienes más dificultades tienen, sino que también pensamos en las clases medias, ofreciendo soluciones adaptadas a todos los umbrales de renta, porque el problema de la vivienda afecta cada vez a más perfiles sociales».
Trump blames Zelensky again: "Millions dead because of 3 people"President Trump once again accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of starting the war with Russia on Monday, saying "you don't start a war with someone 20 times your size and then hope people give you some missiles."
El desamparo de Zelensky no tiene fin.https://www.axios.com/2025/04/14/trump-blames-zelensky-russia-ukraine-war-ceasefireCitarTrump blames Zelensky again: "Millions dead because of 3 people"President Trump once again accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of starting the war with Russia on Monday, saying "you don't start a war with someone 20 times your size and then hope people give you some missiles."
Why Xi holds a stronger hand than TrumpThe White House has miscalculated the balance of power in its tariff war with China© James FergusonWhen in doubt use block capitals. “NOBODY is ‘getting off the hook” insisted Donald Trump on Sunday — in a confusing clarification to an earlier announcement that the US would exempt smartphones and consumer electronics from tariffs. That exemption was itself a change to last week’s policy, announcing 145 per cent “reciprocal” tariffs on all goods from China — which was itself a dramatic increase to rates announced a few days earlier. Are you following?A casual observer might think that all these sudden shifts in tariff policy are evidence of chaos in the White House. Trump fans beg to differ. Bill Ackman, a financier, hailed a previous screeching U-turn as “brilliantly executed . . . Textbook, Art of the Deal.”The president’s most ardent supporters continue to insist that he is a master strategist. Those who suggest otherwise risk being accused of Trump Derangement Syndrome.Unfortunately I am still afflicted with TDS. (The vaccine has been banned.)To my feverish mind, it looks like Trump has a much weaker hand than he thought in the game of tariff poker that he is playing with China. The longer it takes for Trump to accept this definitively — the more he and the US stand to lose.The starting assumption of Trump and his trade warriors is that China is automatically at a disadvantage in a conflict over tariffs. Scott Bessent, the US Treasury secretary, argued that China is “playing with a pair of twos . . . We export one-fifth to them of what they export to us, so that is a losing hand for them.”The flaws in Trump and Bessent’s logic are lucidly explained in a recent article by Adam Posen in Foreign Affairs. As Posen points out, the fact that China exports far more to the US than the other way around is actually a source of leverage for them — not a weakness.The US is not buying products from China out of charity. Americans want what China makes. So if those products become much more expensive — or disappear from the shelves altogether — Americans will suffer.The significance of the agonising over smartphones is that Trump has finally had to tacitly acknowledge something that he has always denied — tariffs are paid by importers not exporters.More than half the smartphones sold in America are iPhones and 80 per cent of those are made in China. Americans will complain loudly if they more than double in price. “Liberation day” was not supposed to mean liberation from their smartphones.Phones and computer equipment are the most obvious candidates for a climbdown. They are not isolated examples. Trump will have to hope that it is not a hot summer because about 80 per cent of the world’s air conditioners are made in China; along with three quarters of the electric fans America imports. The White House will certainly want the trade war to be over by Christmas because 75 per cent of the dolls and bicycles that the US imports are also made in China.Can all this stuff be made in America? Just possibly. But it will take time to set up new factories and the end products will be more expensive.Trump hates bad headlines and will want them to go away. So rather than endure the pain of shortages and inflation, he is likely to add more and more items to the list of goods that are exempt from tariffs.Under these circumstances, China can afford to play a waiting game. But if Beijing decides to get nasty then it has some really powerful tools that it can deploy. China makes almost 50 per cent of the ingredients that go into the antibiotics that Americans depend on. The F35, the backbone of the US Air Force, requires rare-earth components sourced from China. The Chinese are also the second-largest foreign owners of US Treasury bonds — which could matter at a time when the market is under strain.Even if the Trump administration can find a category of imports that nobody in America will miss — it seems unlikely that it can inflict game-changing damage on China.The American market represents only about 14 per cent of Chinese exports. Joerg Wuttke, the former head of the European Chamber of Commerce in Beijing, argues that American tariffs are “inconvenient, but it's not going to be a threat to the economy . . . It’s a $14tn-$15tn economy and the exports to the US are $550bn.”The White House keeps suggesting plaintively that President Xi Jinping should pick up the phone and call. But with Trump in headlong retreat, there is no incentive for the Chinese leader to talk — let alone plead for mercy.An authoritarian system — tightly controlled by the Chinese Communist party — is also probably better prepared to absorb a period of political and economic pain than the US, where economic turmoil swiftly translates into political pressure.Xi is perfectly capable of making bad mistakes of his own. China’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic proved that. But the Chinese have been preparing for a trade showdown with the US for a long time — and have thought through their options. By contrast, the White House is making it up as it goes along.Trump has dealt himself a losing hand. Sooner or later he is going to have to fold. Textbook Art of the Deal!
Xi visits countries hit by Trump tariffsAgustin Marcarian/File Photo/ReutersChinese leader Xi Jinping begins a visit to Southeast Asia on Monday, in an effort to strengthen Beijing’s regional economic ties following US President Donald Trump’s tariff salvo.With stops planned in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Malaysia, Xi is expected to cast China as a reliable trading partner, in contrast to the unpredictability of Trump’s Washington.But the three smaller nations must perform a diplomatic balancing act: Officials are likely wary of cozying up to China while pursuing trade deals with Trump, and they want to protect their domestic economics from a glut of cheap Chinese goods suddenly shut out from the US market.
Tech’s ‘Zombie Unicorns’ Reach the End of the RoadTariff turmoil puts fiscal discipline on the table for bubble-era startups. That’s no bad thing.Klarna was among the tech firms that paused IPO plans. Photographer: Bloomberg/BloombergPresident Donald Trump’s tariff tantrum has so far delivered only bad news for tech - as it has for just about everyone except MAGA diehards. Fintech firm Klarna Group Plc and ticketing platform StubHub have paused their initial public offering plans, threatening to starve venture firms of the cash they need to satisfy investors. That suggests the last two years of declines in startup funding have further to drop. But there are silver linings for tech founders and their backers. The tariff shock could offer a healthy correction to an ecosystem that has long struggled to focus on financial fundamentals.Even before the last two years of AI hype that fueled bubbly tech valuations, Silicon Valley had a zombie unicorn problem: Many startups that attained unicorn status by getting a valuation of $1 billion or more had dwindling prospects and little hope of justifying their status. In 2021, for instance, more than 354 startups reached the billion-dollar threshold, but only six have since held IPOs, according to a recent Bloomberg News report.Several others were acquired for less than $1 billion, while those that managed to raise venture capital funding did so at a lower valuation, a so-called down round. The result is that as of February 2025, there were a record 1,200 venture-backed unicorns that had yet to go public or get acquired, according to CB Insights. That is the result of assumptions they could keep fundraising at increasing valuations regardless of performance. But that wasn’t happening. Less than a third of the unicorns from 2021 have managed to raise more capital in the last three years.But here’s a novel idea: maybe companies that can’t survive without constant capital infusions don’t deserve to keep plodding on. Maybe the startup ecosystem’s addiction to growth and postponement of a public-markets reckoning wasn’t such a great idea.Perhaps the venture capital firms that are now expressing “Covid-level fear” should welcome the potential cleansing effect that Trump’s economic disruption could bring, particularly now as the generative AI boom has threatened to create more froth. Secondary markets, for instance, are more likely to give appropriate discounts to overvalued startups. Consider that a co-founder of OpenAI managed to raise $1 billion last year for a startup that had no plans to sell a product or service.Critically, the next generation of startups being founded this year, which are already leaner and raising less money because of their greater utilization of AI tools, will be built on sounder principles with more disciplined capital spending.I argued last year for ditching “unicorn,” a decade-old term, and replacing it with “thoroughbreds,” a moniker coined by London venture capitalist Saul Klein to describe tech startups bringing in at least $100 million in revenue annually.Should the economic uncertainty continue, it might finally force fast-growing startups to build real businesses or die trying. If the slowdown of the last two years was a pause on exuberance, the latest economic disruption could lead to concrete changes in business models and a renewed focus on fundamentals – not just hope and promise.There’s a risk that along with a slowdown in IPOs, we see fewer acquisitions, a less-glamorous but common path for startup exits. “If both major liquidity pathways continue to stall, we risk a broader retrenchment,” says Gary Dushnitsky, a professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at London Business School. “The coming months will be critical in determining whether the ecosystem emerges leaner and stronger, or enters a prolonged downturn.”Europe is a good place to set the standard. While the region’s tech startups struggle to get the later-stage funding they need to scale up, its venture firms are more interested in the hard numbers that reflect sustainable business models, thanks in part to the more stringent financial-disclosure rules that European firms must follow.For Silicon Valley, Trump’s tariff shock has delivered a hard truth: The free-money era won’t be back for a while. A transition to a healthier tech ecosystem will be painful for startups and venture capitalists, but it will also mean more sustainable, innovative businesses. The unicorns that survive will be the real thing – not zombies.
LOS SERVICERS SE PLANTANRiesgo de colapso en Sareb tras su ruptura unilateral de los acuerdos de venta de activosLos servicers que gestionan los activos de Sareb han puesto pie en pared, tras ver como la entidad ha desafiado la seguridad jurídica y modificado sustancialmente sus ontratosSede de Sareb en Madrid. (Sareb)La crisis abierta en Sareb, por su ruptura unilateral de los acuerdos de venta de activos residenciales, amenaza con hacerla colapsar. El motivo es que los servicers, que gestionan los suelos e inmuebles de la empresa pública, han puesto pie en pared tras ver cómo la entidad no solo ha modificado sustancialmente las condiciones de sus contratos, sino que también ha desafiado la seguridad jurídica.En 2022, el banco malo adjudicó a Aliseda e Hipoges los servicios de gestión y comercialización de una cartera de inmuebles y préstamos por valor de 25.300 millones de euros. Un año antes, había elegido a Servihabitat para Proyecto Neo, un megacontrato de desarrollo urbanístico de suelos valorado entonces en más de mil millones, al que después sumó otro para gestionar alquileres sociales.La decisión del Gobierno de traspasar a Sepes el grueso de estos activos ha puesto en jaque todos estos contratos, ya que supone reducir a la mínima expresión las carteras encomendadas a los servicers. La consecuencia directa es una enorme merma de ingresos, porque estas compañías cobran fundamentalmente por cerrar operaciones.Desde que el presidente del Gobierno, Pedro Sánchez, anunció a principios de año su decisión de convertir Sepes en la gran promotora pública, la espada de Damocles de ver cercenado su negocio ha pendido sobre la cabeza de estos servicers. Pero el respeto a las reglas que se presupone en adjudicaciones de este tipo mantuvo en calma las aguas, hasta que hace dos semanas se rompieron todos los diques de contención. Como adelantó El Confidencial, Sareb ha enviado a decenas de promotores de toda España burofaxes comunicándoles su decisión de resolver todos los procesos de adjudicación de activos residenciales a personas jurídicas. Una medida que se ha aplicado con efecto retroactivo.Esta resolución unilateral ha afectado a procesos en diversas fases de avance, incluidas compraventas ya señalizadas, con contratos de arras, opcionadas y ofertas en firme aceptadas por la propia Sareb, donde solo estaba ya retocándose los burocráticos últimos flecos antes de ir a registro.El desafío a la legalidad que supone este movimiento ha sido la gota que ha colmado la paciencia de los servicers, que han emplazado a la entidad pública a llegar a un acuerdo en tres frentes: el nuevo perímetro de la cartera que continuará en manos de Sareb, las condiciones económicas de estos nuevos contratos y las indemnizaciones que deberá darles por el cambio de reglas. Javier Torres, presidente de Sareb En caso contrario, el banco malo se enfrenta al riesgo del colapso, ya que estas compañías están dispuestas a dejar de trabajar para el banco malo, amenaza que puede cristalizar dentro de apenas tres meses, con el argumento de que Sareb ha modificado sustancialmente las condiciones de su contrato.El próximo junio se cumple el primer plazo de los contratos que Hipoges y Aliseda sellaron con el banco malo. Cuando adjudicó estos trabajos, la entidad se guardó la carta de poder prorrogarlos hasta finales de 2027, fecha en la que Sareb deberá terminar de liquidarse.La compañía presidida por Javier Torres se reservó así una posición de ventaja, porque dejó en su mano la decisión de continuar o no con estos proveedores, mientras que ellos debían acatar el dictamen. Pero, los recientes acontecimientos han dado la vuelta a la tortilla, porque Sareb ha cargado de razones a los servicers para no continuar si las condiciones que les ofrece les son perjudiciales. Sareb se ha dado de plazo hasta el 30 de junio para terminar de definir qué activos pasarán a Sepes y, por tanto, cuál será el perímetro que siga bajo su gestión. También para entonces, deberá tener listo su nuevo plan estratégico, una hoja de ruta con la que intentará calmar los ánimos de los servicers, dándoles otros tipos de trabajos, como el acondicionamiento de las viviendas para pasarlas a Sepes.También está por ver si la futura promotora pública recurre también a estos proveedores para poder abordar toda la carga de trabajo que le llega, ya que apenas cuenta con una plantilla de 100 personas, una tercera parte de la fuerza laboral de Sareb.El problema es que tanto Sepes, como Sareb, tiene detrás como accionista al Estado, que ha sido quien ha decidido romper unilateralmente las adjudicaciones de activos residenciales. Por tanto, la desconfianza sigue siendo la misma, independientemente de qué empresa pública sea la titular de los activos. Un recelo que alcanza a todo el sector, sobre todo, tras ver cómo se han roto las adjudicaciones de activos residenciales.Detrás de Hipoges, Aliseda y Servihabitat están los fondos internacionales KKR, Blackstone y Lone Star, respectivamente. El primero de ellos, además, está en la recta final del proceso de venta de su servicer, con lo que el golpe para sus intereses es doble, ya que la imposibilidad de valorar la cartera que terminará teniendo, ni las condiciones económicas, juega directamente en contra de la valoración de la filial.
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2025-04-15/trump-tariff-turmoil-tech-s-zombie-unicorns-reach-the-end-of-daysCitarTech’s ‘Zombie Unicorns’ Reach the End of the RoadTariff turmoil puts fiscal discipline on the table for bubble-era startups. That’s no bad thing.Klarna was among the tech firms that paused IPO plans. Photographer: Bloomberg/BloombergPresident Donald Trump’s tariff tantrum has so far delivered only bad news for tech - as it has for just about everyone except MAGA diehards. Fintech firm Klarna Group Plc and ticketing platform StubHub have paused their initial public offering plans, threatening to starve venture firms of the cash they need to satisfy investors. That suggests the last two years of declines in startup funding have further to drop. But there are silver linings for tech founders and their backers. The tariff shock could offer a healthy correction to an ecosystem that has long struggled to focus on financial fundamentals.Even before the last two years of AI hype that fueled bubbly tech valuations, Silicon Valley had a zombie unicorn problem: Many startups that attained unicorn status by getting a valuation of $1 billion or more had dwindling prospects and little hope of justifying their status. In 2021, for instance, more than 354 startups reached the billion-dollar threshold, but only six have since held IPOs, according to a recent Bloomberg News report.Several others were acquired for less than $1 billion, while those that managed to raise venture capital funding did so at a lower valuation, a so-called down round. The result is that as of February 2025, there were a record 1,200 venture-backed unicorns that had yet to go public or get acquired, according to CB Insights. That is the result of assumptions they could keep fundraising at increasing valuations regardless of performance. But that wasn’t happening. Less than a third of the unicorns from 2021 have managed to raise more capital in the last three years.But here’s a novel idea: maybe companies that can’t survive without constant capital infusions don’t deserve to keep plodding on. Maybe the startup ecosystem’s addiction to growth and postponement of a public-markets reckoning wasn’t such a great idea.Perhaps the venture capital firms that are now expressing “Covid-level fear” should welcome the potential cleansing effect that Trump’s economic disruption could bring, particularly now as the generative AI boom has threatened to create more froth. Secondary markets, for instance, are more likely to give appropriate discounts to overvalued startups. Consider that a co-founder of OpenAI managed to raise $1 billion last year for a startup that had no plans to sell a product or service.I argued last year for ditching “unicorn,” a decade-old term, and replacing it with “thoroughbreds,” a moniker coined by London venture capitalist Saul Klein to describe tech startups bringing in at least $100 million in revenue annually.Should the economic uncertainty continue, it might finally force fast-growing startups to build real businesses or die trying. If the slowdown of the last two years was a pause on exuberance, the latest economic disruption could lead to concrete changes in business models and a renewed focus on fundamentals – not just hope and promise.There’s a risk that along with a slowdown in IPOs, we see fewer acquisitions, a less-glamorous but common path for startup exits. “If both major liquidity pathways continue to stall, we risk a broader retrenchment,” says Gary Dushnitsky, a professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at London Business School. “The coming months will be critical in determining whether the ecosystem emerges leaner and stronger, or enters a prolonged downturn.”Europe is a good place to set the standard. While the region’s tech startups struggle to get the later-stage funding they need to scale up, its venture firms are more interested in the hard numbers that reflect sustainable business models, thanks in part to the more stringent financial-disclosure rules that European firms must follow.For Silicon Valley, Trump’s tariff shock has delivered a hard truth: The free-money era won’t be back for a while. A transition to a healthier tech ecosystem will be painful for startups and venture capitalists, but it will also mean more sustainable, innovative businesses. The unicorns that survive will be the real thing – not zombies.
Tech’s ‘Zombie Unicorns’ Reach the End of the RoadTariff turmoil puts fiscal discipline on the table for bubble-era startups. That’s no bad thing.Klarna was among the tech firms that paused IPO plans. Photographer: Bloomberg/BloombergPresident Donald Trump’s tariff tantrum has so far delivered only bad news for tech - as it has for just about everyone except MAGA diehards. Fintech firm Klarna Group Plc and ticketing platform StubHub have paused their initial public offering plans, threatening to starve venture firms of the cash they need to satisfy investors. That suggests the last two years of declines in startup funding have further to drop. But there are silver linings for tech founders and their backers. The tariff shock could offer a healthy correction to an ecosystem that has long struggled to focus on financial fundamentals.Even before the last two years of AI hype that fueled bubbly tech valuations, Silicon Valley had a zombie unicorn problem: Many startups that attained unicorn status by getting a valuation of $1 billion or more had dwindling prospects and little hope of justifying their status. In 2021, for instance, more than 354 startups reached the billion-dollar threshold, but only six have since held IPOs, according to a recent Bloomberg News report.Several others were acquired for less than $1 billion, while those that managed to raise venture capital funding did so at a lower valuation, a so-called down round. The result is that as of February 2025, there were a record 1,200 venture-backed unicorns that had yet to go public or get acquired, according to CB Insights. That is the result of assumptions they could keep fundraising at increasing valuations regardless of performance. But that wasn’t happening. Less than a third of the unicorns from 2021 have managed to raise more capital in the last three years.But here’s a novel idea: maybe companies that can’t survive without constant capital infusions don’t deserve to keep plodding on. Maybe the startup ecosystem’s addiction to growth and postponement of a public-markets reckoning wasn’t such a great idea.Perhaps the venture capital firms that are now expressing “Covid-level fear” should welcome the potential cleansing effect that Trump’s economic disruption could bring, particularly now as the generative AI boom has threatened to create more froth. Secondary markets, for instance, are more likely to give appropriate discounts to overvalued startups. Consider that a co-founder of OpenAI managed to raise $1 billion last year for a startup that had no plans to sell a product or service.I argued last year for ditching “unicorn,” a decade-old term, and replacing it with “thoroughbreds,” a moniker coined by London venture capitalist Saul Klein to describe tech startups bringing in at least $100 million in revenue annually.Should the economic uncertainty continue, it might finally force fast-growing startups to build real businesses or die trying. If the slowdown of the last two years was a pause on exuberance, the latest economic disruption could lead to concrete changes in business models and a renewed focus on fundamentals – not just hope and promise.There’s a risk that along with a slowdown in IPOs, we see fewer acquisitions, a less-glamorous but common path for startup exits. “If both major liquidity pathways continue to stall, we risk a broader retrenchment,” says Gary Dushnitsky, a professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at London Business School. “The coming months will be critical in determining whether the ecosystem emerges leaner and stronger, or enters a prolonged downturn.”Europe is a good place to set the standard. While the region’s tech startups struggle to get the later-stage funding they need to scale up, its venture firms are more interested in the hard numbers that reflect sustainable business models, thanks in part to the more stringent financial-disclosure rules that European firms must follow.For Silicon Valley, Trump’s tariff shock has delivered a hard truth: The free-money era won’t be back for a while. A transition to a healthier tech ecosystem will be painful for startups and venture capitalists, but it will also mean more sustainable, innovative businesses. The unicorns that survive will be the real thing – not zombies.
Critically, the next generation of startups being founded this year, which are already leaner and raising less money because of their greater utilization of AI tools, will be built on sounder principles with more disciplined capital spending.