In the seventh annual Disruptor 50 list, CNBC features private companies — from biotech and machine learning to transportation, retail and agriculture — whose innovations are changing the world and fueling a race between superpowers like the U.S. and China. These forward-thinking start-ups have not only identified unexploited niches in the market that have the potential to become billion-dollar businesses, a majority of them already are billion-dollar businesses. A startling 36 disruptors this year are unicorns that have already reached or passed the billion-dollar mark.

Read full article