Promising Startup Companies to Invest in Right Now

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By Paul

In the fast-paced world of startups, spotting the game-changers is like finding hidden treasures. This article highlights promising companies set to shake up industries and attract savvy investors. Ready to uncover the next big thing?

50+ Startup Companies to Invest in

Here’s a list of various startup companies to invest in:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Startups

SoundHound

  • Location: Silicon Valley (Santa Clara, California)
  • Funding: Post-IPO Equity, $351 Million
  • Investors: Bracket Capital

SoundHound employs innovative AI technologies, offering products like Houndify, the world’s fastest speech recognition AI platform, and Hound, a voice assistant app with trademarked “Speech-to-Meaning” and “Deep Meaning Understanding” technologies.

People.ai

  • Location: San Francisco, California
  • Funding: Series D, $200 Million
  • Investors: Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Lightspeed Ventures, Y Combinator

People.ai utilizes AI to create an enterprise revenue platform, empowering sales, marketing, and customer service teams with actionable insights from customer interactions.

Observe.AI

  • Location: San Francisco, California
  • Funding: Series C, $214 Million
  • Investors: Y Combinator, Menlo Ventures, Softbank Vision Fund

Observe.AI revolutionizes customer service with AI, automating workflows to enhance engagement and satisfaction in call centers.

App Startups

Blinkist

  • Location: Berlin, Germany
  • Funding: Series C, $34.8 Million
  • Investors: Insight Partners, Greycroft

Blinkist condenses key insights from nonfiction books into 15-minute reads or audio tracks, offering a mobile-based knowledge consumption platform.

Babbel

  • Location: Berlin, Germany
  • Funding: Series C, $33.3 Million
  • Investors: IBB Ventures, NGP Capital, REV

Babbel, a leading language learning app, provides easy-to-navigate courses and bite-sized lessons, enabling users to converse in a new language after just a few hours of learning.

Heetch

  • Location: Paris, France
  • Funding: Series B, $75.3 Million
  • Investors: Kima Ventures, Idinvest Partners

Heetch is a ride-sharing app focused on late-night transportation, offering transparent pricing and lower fees as an alternative to traditional taxis.

Wonolo

  • Location: San Francisco, California
  • Funding: Series D, $190.9 Million
  • Investors: Sequoia Capital, Bain Capital Ventures

Wonolo transforms the recruiting process by centralizing job postings and connecting companies with vetted employees through a user-friendly app.

Beauty and Wellness Startups

Parallel Health

  • Location: San Francisco, California
  • Funding: Pre-Seed, $2 Million
  • Investors: Rhythm VC, Illumina Accelerator

Parallel Health focuses on personalized, science-backed skincare solutions using AI to address skin issues like acne and rosacea.

Tonal

  • Location: San Francisco, California
  • Funding: Series E, $450 Million
  • Investors: Mayfield Fund, Shasta Ventures

Tonal combines smart home gyms with AI, providing personalized fitness training with expert-led coaching.

by Humankind

  • Location: New York, New York
  • Funding: Seed, $4M
  • Investors: SV Angel, BoxGroup

by Humankind is a sustainable personal goods startup offering eco-friendly products with a refill model to reduce single-use plastics.

Blockchain Startups

Chainalysis

  • Location: New York, New York
  • Funding: Series F, $536.6 Million
  • Investors: Techstars, Accel, SV Angel

Chainalysis provides blockchain ecosystem members with resources to identify and eliminate hacked or stolen funds, enhancing safety in blockchain interactions.

Chain

  • Location: San Francisco, California
  • Funding: Secondary Market, $43.7 Million
  • Investors: 500 Startups, SV Angel

Chain provides cryptographic tools to industry leaders and fintech startups for secure financial transactions using ledger systems.

Spring Labs

  • Location: Marina Del Rey, California
  • Funding: Series B, $68.8 Million
  • Investors: 500 Startups, RRE Ventures

Spring Labs leverages blockchain transparency to facilitate secure information exchange, reducing fraud and prioritizing consumer data protection.

Dragonchain

  • Location: Bellevue, Washington
  • Funding: Corporate Round, $15.1 Million
  • Investors: Julian Sarokin, Alex Dahan

Dragonchain, born inside Disney, provides innovative blockchain solutions across healthcare and tech industries.

Cybersecurity Startups

Axis Security

  • Location: San Mateo, California
  • Funding: Series C, $99.5 Million
  • Investors: Canaan Partners, Spark Capital

Axis Security provides global businesses with a purpose-built zero-trust cloud security platform, ensuring secure management of applications.

Confluera

  • Location: Palo Alto, California
  • Funding: Series A, $29 Million
  • Investors: Lightspeed Ventures, Icon Ventures

Confluera’s cybersecurity platform assists businesses in identifying, tracking, and managing sophisticated security threats and attacks.

Illumio

  • Location: Sunnyvale, California
  • Funding: Series F, $557.5 Million
  • Investors: Accel, General Catalyst

Illumio’s micro-segmentation technology creates a zero-trust security solution, preventing the spread of breaches within data centers and the cloud.

E-Commerce Startups

Verishop

  • Location: Santa Monica, California
  • Funding: Series B, $70 Million
  • Investors: Lightspeed Venture Partners, Alumni Ventures

Verishop is an online marketplace curating everyday luxury brands across fashion, beauty, home, and more.

Brandless

  • Location: Draper, Utah
  • Funding: Series Unknown, $410.5 Million
  • Investors: New Enterprise Associates, GV

Brandless prioritizes affordability and sustainability, creating personal care products based on community needs.

Lookiero

  • Location: Paris, France
  • Funding: Series C, $53.6 Million
  • Investors: MMC Ventures, All Iron Ventures

Lookiero is a female-only online personal shopping service providing curated clothing packages based on customer preferences.

Edtech Startups

Jolt

  • Location: Tel Aviv, Israel
  • Funding: Series A, $23.3 Million
  • Investors: Balderton Capital, Octopus Ventures

Jolt is a workforce education platform offering short, impactful courses in learning spaces for business training.

Sana Labs

  • Location: Stockholm, Sweden
  • Funding: Series B, $54 Million
  • Investors: Acequia Capital, EQT Ventures

Sana Labs uses AI to provide personalized learning experiences, tailoring training programs to individual needs.

Newsela

  • Location: New York, New York
  • Funding: Series D, $172.2 Million
  • Investors: Techstars, Kleiner Perkins

Newsela offers modern educational content for ELA, social studies, and science, aligning with state-wide curriculum requirements.

GoStudent

  • Location: Vienna, Austria
  • Funding: Series D, $686.3 Million
  • Investors: Tencent, Softbank Vision Fund

GoStudent is an online learning platform connecting students with qualified tutors, offering virtual classrooms and personalized education.

Fashion Startups

Italic

  • Location: Los Angeles, California
  • Funding: Series Unknown, $15 Million
  • Investors: Index Ventures, Global Founders Capital

Italic is a virtual marketplace offering high-quality products at a significant discount, along with tools and technology for brands.

Merjuri

  • Location: Toronto, Canada
  • Funding: Series B, $28 Million
  • Investors: 500 Startups, New Enterprise Associates

Merjuri is a direct-to-consumer jewelry startup offering affordable, handcrafted everyday jewelry with weekly product launches.

Fintech Startups

Daffy

  • Location: Los Altos, California
  • Funding: Series A, $17.1 Million
  • Investors: XYZ Capital, Coinbase Ventures, and over 50 angel investors

Daffy is a not-for-profit fintech reimagining donor-advised funds, enabling users to invest with a low capital.

Mercury

  • Location: San Francisco, California
  • Funding: Secondary Market, $152.2 Million
  • Investors: Andreessen Horowitz, Serena Ventures

Mercury is a digital banking platform designed for growing startups, offering advanced security and integrations with business tools.

Capchase

  • Location: New York, New York
  • Funding: $949.6 Million
  • Investors: Caffeinated Capital, Bling Capital

Capchase empowers startups to secure non-dilutive capital through recurring revenue financing. The platform provides flexible cash flow, enabling founders to take control of their fundraising timeline and support high-growth ventures.

Plaid

  • Location: San Francisco, California
  • Funding: Series D, $734.3 Million
  • Investors: New Enterprise Associates, Kleiner Perkins

Plaid’s developer-centric platform simplifies financial connectivity. Coders can seamlessly integrate Plaid’s API into their apps, facilitating easy setup and payments by connecting to various financial institutions.

Brex

  • Location: Draper, Utah
  • Funding: Series D, $1.5 Billion
  • Investors: Y Combinator, Bossa Nova Investimentos

Brex is a financial intermediary for growing businesses, offering larger credit limits and globally usable cards. It caters to e-commerce businesses by providing upfront capital for inventory needs.

Food and Beverage Startups

Olio

  • Location: London, United Kingdom
  • Funding: Series B, $53.1 Million
  • Investors: VNV Global, Rubio Impact Ventures, Octopus Ventures

Olio’s food-sharing app connects communities to reduce food waste globally. Users can share unwanted food items within their neighborhood, fostering a sustainable approach to minimizing food wastage.

GoPuff

  • Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • Funding: Undisclosed, $3.4 Billion
  • Investors: Accel, Headline

GoPuff simplifies home delivery services, offering a wide array of essentials. With a vast selection and straightforward ordering, GoPuff ensures convenient and efficient delivery of various items.

Healthcare Startups

Headspace

  • Location: Santa Monica, California
  • Funding: Series C, $215.9 Million
  • Investors: SV Angel, Allen & Company

Headspace, a digital health platform, is renowned for its accessible meditation and mindfulness exercises. Offering a wealth of content, including videos and chat options, Headspace aims to optimize mental health and wellbeing.

Parsley Health

  • Location: New York, New York
  • Funding: Series B, $36 Million
  • Investors: Sand Hill Angels, FJ Labs

Parsley Health redefines modern healthcare by integrating medical testing, technology, nutrition, wellness, and prevention. The platform provides a holistic medical experience to its customers.

NervGen Pharma

  • Location: Vancouver, British Columbia
  • Funding: Post-IPO Equity, $34.1 Million
  • Investors: CSBio

NervGen Pharma provides solutions and treatments for nerve damage and neurodegenerative diseases. They aim to relieve and heal the symptoms, enhancing the quality of life for affected individuals.

Kinetik

  • Location: New York City, New York
  • Funding: Seed, $20 Million
  • Investors: Undisclosed

Kinetik disrupts non-emergency medical transportation through its digital platform and API solution. The platform streamlines and expedites transportation services, making it more efficient for users.

Corvus Pharmaceuticals

  • Location: Burlingame, California
  • Funding: Post-IPO Equity, $215.1 Million
  • Investors: OrbiMed, Fidelity Management

Corvus Pharmaceuticals focuses on developing immunology-focused medicines targeting critical cellular elements of the immune system. Their main focus is on treatments for cancer, immune disorders, and infectious diseases.

Pivot

  • Location: California, United States
  • Funding: Series Unknown, $70 Million
  • Investors: R7 Partners, Marc Benioff

Formerly known as Carrot, Pivot tackles smoking cessation with a behavior and data-driven approach. The startup aims to help individuals quit smoking through its innovative solutions.

IoT Startups

Seeq

  • Location: Seattle, Washington
  • Funding: Series C, $115.2 Million
  • Investors: Insight Partners, Madrona Venture Group

Seeq transforms industrial data and analytics into fast, easily derived business insights. By leveraging data from the industrial process, businesses can make informed decisions, increase revenue, and enhance product development.

xFarm

  • Location: Milan, Italy
  • Funding: Series B, $20.7 Million
  • Investors: TiVenture, United Ventures

xFarm is an agricultural IoT startup digitizing farming worldwide. It helps agriculture businesses comply with legal requirements and certifications while providing analytics for effective decision-making.

Infraspeak

  • Location: Lisbon, Portugal
  • Funding: Series A, $16.7 Million
  • Investors: 500 Startups, Firstminute Capital

Infraspeak optimizes the facilities management industry through its intelligent maintenance management platform. Users can streamline operations and enhance business efficiency.

Mobility Startups

Nuro

  • Location: Mountain View, California
  • Funding: Series D, $2.1 Billion
  • Investors: Tiger Global Management, Greylock

Nuro combines self-driving car technology with local goods delivery, transforming product delivery. The company utilizes autonomous driving for efficient and reliable delivery services.

Citymapper

  • Location: London, United Kingdom
  • Funding: Equity Crowdfunding, $59.5 Million
  • Investors: Index Ventures, Greylock

Citymapper develops transportation apps for cities worldwide, streamlining transportation options. The startup utilizes impactful transportation data to create user-friendly technology for navigating major cities.

Pet Startups

Felmo

  • Location: Berlin, Germany
  • Funding: Series Unknown, $17.8 Million
  • Investors: HV Capital, Redalpine

Felmo provides a range of pet veterinary services from the comfort of customers’ homes. The startup offers flexible scheduling and stress-free veterinary experiences for pets.

PetDx

  • Location: La Jolla, California
  • Funding: Series B, $72 Million
  • Investors: Tech Coast Angels, Valor Equity Partners

PetDx specializes in molecular diagnostics for detecting and treating cancer in pets. The startup aims to provide veterinarians with non-invasive tests for early detection and management of pet cancer cells.

Loyal

  • Location: San Francisco, California
  • Funding: Series A, $58 Million
  • Investors: Khosla Ventures, First Round Capital

Loyal develops medicines to help dogs live longer and healthier lives. The startup focuses on combating the negative effects of aging in dogs.

Real Estate Startups

Homelight

  • Location: San Francisco
  • Funding: Series D, $742.5 Million
  • Investors: 500 Startups, GV, Menlo Ventures

Homelight transforms the home buying and selling process with a central platform for all transactions. Homeowners can sell to HomeLight without costly repairs, while buyers connect with top agents using home sales data.

Snapdocs

  • Location: San Francisco, California
  • Funding: Series D, $253 Million
  • Investors: Y Combinator, Sequoia Capital

Snapdocs facilitates quick home purchases by connecting all parties involved in the closing process. The platform enhances communication and efficiency for homebuyers in a competitive housing market.

Software Startups

Databricks

  • Location: San Francisco, California
  • Funding: Series H, $3.5 Billion
  • Investors: New Enterprise Associates, SV Angel

Databricks streamlines data collection, analytics, and AI on one platform. The platform unifies data across channels, offering open, secure data sharing, fast performance, and reliable ETL.

Fiverr

  • Location: Tel Aviv, Israel
  • Funding: Series E, $111 Million
  • Investors: Accel, Bessemer Venture Partners

Fiverr is a marketplace connecting freelance talent and professionals with digital jobs. The platform caters to the growing demand for remote work and freelancers globally.

Motive (Formerly KeepTruckin)

  • Location: San Francisco, California
  • Funding: Series F, $567.3 Million
  • Investors: Kleiner Perkins, Index Ventures

Motive, formerly KeepTruckin, transforms logistics with AI-powered solutions for vehicle and equipment tracking, driver safety, and ELD compliance. The IoT platform connects vehicles, equipment, and facilities to the cloud.

Sustainable Startups

Agricool

  • Location: Paris, France
  • Funding: Series B, $43.9 Million
  • Investors: Bpifrance, Kima Ventures

Agricool repurposes used shipping containers into urban farms, producing local, pesticide-free produce. The startup’s farming method is 120x more productive than conventional methods.

Too Good To Go

  • Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Funding: Series Unknown, $45.7 Million
  • Investors: Blisce, VF Venture

Too Good To Go tackles food waste by allowing consumers to buy discounted food from cafes, restaurants, hotels, shops, and manufacturers that would otherwise be wasted.

TemperPack

  • Location: Richmond, Virginia
  • Funding: Venture — Series Unknown, $208.9 Million
  • Investors: Revolution, SJF Ventures

TemperPack creates sustainable packaging solutions for perishable food and life science industries. The curbside recyclable insulated packaging is eco-friendly and protects products from damage.

Travel Startups

Airalo

  • Location: Singapore
  • Funding: Series A, $7.3 Million
  • Investors: Plug and Play Tech Center, Wayra

Airalo provides a flexible phone alternative globally through its eSIM store. The store offers affordable, local rates for eSIM-compatible devices, eliminating the need for multiple SIM cards.

Duffel

  • Location: London, United Kingdom
  • Funding: Series B, $56.2 Million
  • Investors: Y Combinator, Index Ventures

Duffel is an online platform enabling travelers to find, book, and manage flights from multiple airlines. The platform offers real-time pricing and availability, making trip booking easier for travelers.

Happy Investing!

In the dynamic realm of startup investments, these companies embody innovation and potential.

Navigating this landscape requires curiosity and strategic foresight. As we chase the future, remember: the next success story might be closer than you think.

 

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