Unicorns are vital representatives of technological innovation enterprises and emerging engines for promoting high-quality development, opening new fields and tracks, and shaping new growth drivers and advantages. Based on a review of domestic and international literature, research on the growth of unicorns can be summarized into five key elements and a growth stage framework. The five key elements include entrepreneurs and teams, technological and business model innovation, strategic and organizational synergy, capital empowerment and financial support, and institutional environments and urban innovation ecosystems. The growth stage framework is utilized to delineate key tasks, shifting focus of driving factors, and operational characteristics across different stages. Addressing the existing gaps in theoretical research on the growth of unicorns, future research can advance in directions encompassing the systematization and localization of theoretical frameworks, the case studies of enterprises and cities, innovation ecosystems and internationalization strategies, the evaluation of innovation policies, the behavioral evolution and governance issues of listed unicorns, as well as capital supply and exit mechanisms. These future directions offer a reference for the gradient cultivation of Chinese unicorns and the formation of new quality productive forces.