Artificial Intelligence (AI) is undeniably transforming every aspect of our lives, from how we communicate to how we conduct business. As a result, numerous exciting start-ups are emerging globally, bringing innovative solutions, and shaping the future of AI. Let's take a closer look at our top 10 AI start-ups creating a stir in 2024.
The tech start-up market – an overview
There are few markets as bustling as tech. Technology’s at the heart of all the leading start-up industries, which include streaming services, Edtech, ecommerce, MedTech, FinTech, and cybersecurity.
There are 150 million startups in the world today, with 50 million new startups launching every year. And there’s no sign of this upward trajectory faltering for 2024.
A recent article from The New York Times stated, “How crazy is the money sloshing around in start-up land right now?... It’s so crazy that more than 900 tech start-ups are each worth more than $1 billion. In 2015, 80 seemed like a lot.”
In the same commentary, Roy Bahat, an investor with Bloomberg Beta (the investment arm of Bloomberg) remarked, “It’s not like one jump ball — it’s 10,000 jump balls at once…You don’t even know which way to look, it’s all just wild.”
Yet despite impressive start-up statistics, a shocking 90% of all start-ups fail, and 10% of those fail in the first year. Start-ups are a risky business with enormous competition. It takes a combination of ambition, innovation, and the right funding to make waves as a tech start up…
But there’s an abundance of companies achieving all those things and more. Here’s our pick of some of the most exciting AI companies leading the way.
(1) OpenAI
Based in San Francisco, California, OpenAI is a frontrunning AI research lab consisting of both for-profit and non-profit arms. Focussing on ensuring artificial general intelligence (AGI) benefits for all of humanity, OpenAI is known for its cutting-edge research and development. Its innovations, such as the chatbot, ChatGPT, and the image generator, Dall-E, have been pushing the boundaries of what AI can accomplish since 2015.
It has multiple founders: Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, Wojciech Zarema and John Schulman. Stakeholders clearly see the potential in this start-up as OpenAI has received an astonishing total of $14billion across 19 investors as of 2023.
(2) Frame AI
Frame AI, headquartered in New York, is revolutionising customer interactions with AI. As of mid-2023, it’s raised $17.03m over four funding rounds, the most recent being a Series B for $7.6m in 2022. The Frame.ai platform uses AI to analyse customer feedback across various channels, enabling businesses to respond to their customers' needs more effectively. Frame AI has shown promise in enhancing customer experience and driving business growth.
Founder and CEO George Davis said in a recent interview, “AI is a dangerous trend to ignore because your competition will not. However, the opportunities far outpace the dangers.”
(3) Jasper
Jasper, founded in 2020 in Austin, Texas, is an AI writing assistant that aids in creating engaging content. From social media posts, tweets, blog posts to short stories, Jasper uses proprietary AI models to generate creative content, proving a valuable tool for content creators and marketers alike.
Similar to software like ChatGPT, platforms like Jasper have caused mass debate surrounding their effectiveness, but regardless, it’s an example of a tech start-up making waves. Jasper raised $131million (as of October 2023) from Insight Partners, Coatue, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Y Combinator, and was most recently valued at a staggering $1.5billion at a revenue multiple of 20x.
(4) Moveworks
Located in Mountain View, California, Moveworks is an AI platform that automates support at work. Using advanced AI techniques, it resolves employees' IT support issues instantly and autonomously. With its innovation, Moveworks is improving employee productivity and reducing operational costs. Following a Series C funding round in 2021, Moveworks was valued at $2.1billion. In total, the organisation has raised $315million in financing.
Sharing his secret to success, Moveworks’ founder, Bhavin Shah says, “Building a tech company is more of a human endeavour than a technological one. Great software only happens when you bring together great people.”
(5) Tome
Tome is a start-up based in Detroit, Michigan, that’s currently valued at $300million. It’s a storytelling app that describes itself as a new medium for shaping and sharing ideas. It’s famed for having reached one million users faster than any other productivity software. Early in 2023, Tome announced a $43million funding round from multiple investors that will be used to help the business expand into new markets.
(6) Synthesia
London-based Synthesia is pioneering AI-driven video production. It’s an organisation founded in 2017 by a team of AI researchers and entrepreneurs from UCL, Stanford, TUM, and Cambridge. With a mission ‘to empower everyone to make video content – without cameras, microphones or studios’, the platform allows people to quickly produce professional-quality videos using AI. Synthesia, which raised $90million from investors in June 2023, is successfully saving businesses and individuals valuable time and costs. As a result, it’s now valued at approx. $1billion (October 2023).
(7) Uizard
Uizard, headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, started its journey in 2017. However, it was only fully formed as a company in 2018 following CEO Tony Beltramelli’s trip to a San Francisco Bay hacking session! Uizard leverages AI to transform simple sketches into digital prototypes. It’s an innovative platform bringing app design to all, allowing anyone to create app mock-ups without the need for coding knowledge. With a team now based across 10 countries and more than 400,000 users, Uizard’s a start-up that’s more than worthy of a place in our top ten.
(8) Accubits
Accubits Technologies, based in Kerala, India, is an AI and blockchain development company that offers solutions for businesses across various industries. From AI-driven apps to blockchain systems, Accubits is at the forefront of integrating AI with other emerging technologies. The start-up’s founder is Jithin VG who’s successfully grown Accubits into a multi-million-dollar business, from a seed investment of $30,000 in 2016.
(9) SoundHound
California-based SoundHound is developing voice-recognition and sound identification technologies. Its voice-AI platform, Houndify, provides developers with a way to integrate conversational intelligence into their products. Founded in 2005, the business received its most recent funding of $100 million from Atlas Credit Partners earlier this year. SoundHound’s 2023 revenue is expected to reach between $43million and $50million.
(10) Vicarious
Vicarious is pushing the boundaries of robotics and machine learning. Based in San Francisco Bay, California, this start-up is developing AI algorithms that improve robot training, bringing us closer to a future where robots can learn and adapt like humans. It was founded in 2010 by Scott Phoenix and Dileep George and was backed by over $200m of investment, from trailblazers like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg.
These start-ups represent the exciting potential of AI across various sectors. With their innovative solutions, they’re not only addressing current challenges, but also shaping the future of technology. As they continue to grow and evolve, we can look forward to even more ground-breaking developments in the world of AI.
Do you know what all these tech start-ups have in common? It’s talent. Talent is at the heart of every successful company and is particularly important for scaling start-ups. Whether you’re a tech start-up or a more established business, we can help you to grow by building robust tech teams for achieving your ambitions. If you’re a tech specialist or a tech employer, let’s start a conversation about how we can work together.
