Published
1 hour ago
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June 7, 2025
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By
Visual Capitalist Brand Solutions
Graphics & Design
- Lebon Siu
The following content is sponsored by ACT | The App Association
The Decoding the AI Economy Series unpacks key players, diverse markets, and history of AI investments in the U.S. and Europe.
Vizualized: 25 AI Startups on the Rise
Key Takeaways
- AI startups cover various industries, from machine learning to creativity and art.
- Of the companies making Forbes’ list of startups on the rise, the customer service platform Sierra raised the most funding–$110M
- Companies producing AI productivity tools received the most funding of the companies covered–$704M.
AI has transformed the way many people work, creating new opportunities at all levels of the economy. Despite AI’s ubiquity today, its ability to fulfill its potential remains uncertain, clouded by policy choices now taking shape.
Visual Capitalist and ACT | The App Association joined forces to demystify AI’s economic impact in this three-part Decoding the AI Economy series. In the series, we unpack the key players, diverse markets, and history of AI investments in the United States and Europe.
For part one, we discover the movers and shakers in the world of AI and find out how much investment the 25 AI companies to watch have received.
Companies on the Rise
Much of the discourse around AI has focused on the threat of monopolization.
Tech giants such as Google, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and OpenAI are thought to be driving the market, creating competition problems for smaller companies or those specializing purely in AI.
But that simply isn’t true.
Forbes compiled a list of the 25 AI startups, by type of technology, with the most promise and how much investment they have received through 2024:
| Name | AI Sector | Investment (Up to 2024) |
|---|---|---|
| LangChain | AI Development & Tools | $35M |
| Baseten | AI Development & Tools | $60M |
| Replicate | AI Development & Tools | $60M |
| Unstructured | AI Development & Tools | $65M |
| Perplexity | Productivity | $102M |
| Sana | Productivity | $82M |
| Codeium | Productivity | $93M |
| Harvey | Productivity | $106M |
| DeepL | Productivity | $100M |
| Sierra | Productivity | $110M |
| Hebbia | Productivity | $30M |
| Tome | Productivity | $81M |
| Photoroom | Creativity | $64M |
| Leonardo.Ai | Creativity | $31M |
| ElevenLabs | Creativity | $101M |
| Pika | Creativity | $55M |
| Rosebud.Ai | Creativity | $10M |
| Midjourney | Creativity | $0M |
| Weaviate | Machine Learning & Data | $68M |
| Cleanlab | Machine Learning & Data | $30M |
| Kumo | Machine Learning & Data | $37M |
| Waabi | Other | $84M |
| Tractian | Other | $65M |
| Vannevar Labs | Other | $87M |
| Cradle | Other | $33M |
These investments show that AI competition is thriving and small players can compete among larger, more established players. The AI sector is both dynamic and competitive, with fast-moving startups spearheading the most novel methods and applications.
Unpacking the Key Players
Businesses of all shapes and sizes leverage AI today and deserve a regulatory environment where innovation by the brightest creative minds in the field is rewarded. While big tech may be capturing headlines, small and medium-sized AI businesses are building innovative, novel AI-driven solutions to everyday problems.
Are you interested in learning more about the impact of AI?
ACT | The App Association will release its comprehensive whitepaper on June 12th, 2025, examining how premature or overbroad antitrust action could jeopardize AI innovation and outlining a policy approach better aligned with the realities of emerging technology.
If you can’t wait until the 12th, you can learn more about the AI economy here.
Related Topics: #startups #tech #ai #partner ##partner #AI startups #AI sector #regulatotions
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