The 51 Most Disruptive Startups of 2024

All year long, TechCrunch covers startups, from unicorns to tiny seed-stage launches. We are, in many ways, the startup experts.

To create this list, organized alphabetically, we looked back through our year’s worth of coverage for startups that stood out to us. These startups have fascinating new technologies, business models, or founder stories, or they are pushing an industry forward in exciting ways.

Notable Startups

Abridge

• HQ Location: Pittsburgh
• Funding Raised: $464 million
• What it does: Uses AI to transcribe doctor-patient interactions and generates medical notes for electronic health records (EHR).
• Disruption: Abridge is a leading player in AI medical scribing due to its integration with Epic, used by many large health systems in the U.S.

Agility Robotics

• HQ Location: Corvallis, Oregon
• Funding Raised: $178 million
• What it does: Creates humanoid robots.
• Disruption: Agility is solving complex engineering challenges in humanoid robots and has partnered with logistics giant GXO.

Anysphere

• HQ Location: San Francisco, California
• Funding Raised: $60 million
• What it does: Develops an AI-powered coding assistant called Cursor.
• Disruption: Cursor is one of the fastest-growing AI coding assistants, outpacing competitors.

Beta Technologies

• HQ Location: South Burlington, Vermont
• Funding Raised: $1.5 billion
• What it does: Builds electric aircraft.
• Disruption: Beta has secured buyers for its eVTOL and eCTOL vehicles across various sectors.

Black Forest Labs

• HQ Location: Freiburg, Germany
• Funding Raised: $31 million
• What it does: AI image generator.
• Disruption: Its technology is used by xAI, founded by Elon Musk, showcasing its high-profile customer base.

Bloom Money

• HQ Location: London, England
• Funding Raised: $1.37 million
• What it does: Digitizes the ROSCA system for savings.
• Disruption: Blends cultural traditions with fintech, aiding immigrant communities in financial health.

By Rotation

• HQ Location: London, England
• Funding Raised: $3.5 million
• What it does: Fashion clothing rental and networking app.
• Disruption: Creates a fashion community, making sustainability cool through partnerships.

Cdial

• HQ Location: Lagos, Nigeria
• Funding Raised: N/A
• What it does: Chatbot that understands African languages.
• Disruption: Tailored for African contexts, it addresses the gaps in mainstream language models.

Covariant

• HQ Location: Berkeley, California
• Funding Raised: $245.39 million
• What it does: Builds LLM models for robots.
• Disruption: Secured a deal with Amazon to outfit warehouses with intelligent robots.

Cyera

• HQ Location: New York, New York
• Funding Raised: $760 million
• What it does: Helps organizations understand data movement.
• Disruption: A leader in cybersecurity and AI, securing significant funding for expansion.

/dev/agents

• HQ Location: San Francisco, California
• Funding Raised: $56 million
• What it does: Operating system for AI agents.
• Disruption: Aims to unlock AI agents' potential, akin to mobile operating systems.

ElevenLabs

• HQ Location: New York, New York
• Funding Raised: $103 million
• What it does: Generates synthetic voice narration.
• Disruption: Clones human speech, setting it apart from competitors.

Emergence

• HQ Location: New York, New York
• Funding Raised: $97.2 million
• What it does: AI agent knowledge workers.
• Disruption: Aims to perform tasks usually done by knowledge workers.

Etched

• HQ Location: San Francisco, California
• Funding Raised: $120 million
• What it does: AI model-specific chip manufacturer.
• Disruption: Focused on transformer models, a dominant type of AI.

Exa

• HQ Location: San Francisco
• Funding Raised: $22 million
• What it does: AI app search engine.
• Disruption: Aims to become the next Google for AI applications.

Fervo Energy

• HQ Location: Houston, Texas
• Funding Raised: $421.5 million
• What it does: Clean power from oil and gas techniques.
• Disruption: Uses fracking methods to harness geothermal energy.

GPTZero

• HQ Location: Princeton, New Jersey
• Funding Raised: $13.5 million
• What it does: AI-generated content detection.
• Disruption: Provides a solution to the increasing need for AI-generated content verification.

Helsing

• HQ Location: Munich, Germany
• Funding Raised: $828.4 million
• What it does: AI for defense systems.
• Disruption: Significant contracts with defense ministries and large tech firms.

Hermeus

• HQ Location: Atlanta, Georgia
• Funding Raised: $222.49 million
• What it does: Hypersonic aircraft development.
• Disruption: Leading advancements in hypersonic technology for commercial and defense use.

Impulse Space

• HQ Location: Redondo Beach, California
• Funding Raised: $225 million
• What it does: Orbital transfer vehicles.
• Disruption: Major contracts with Space Force, opening new orbital opportunities.

Island

• HQ Location: Dallas, Texas
• Funding Raised: $550 million
• What it does: Secure enterprise browser.
• Disruption: Competing against established giants with innovative security features.

Joco

• HQ Location: New York, New York
• Funding Raised: $7.5 million
• What it does: Docked e-bikes for delivery.
• Disruption: Transitioned to profitability amidst a challenging market.

KoBold Metals

• HQ Location: Berkeley, California
• Funding Raised: $895 million
• What it does: AI for critical mineral discovery.
• Disruption: Discovered significant copper deposits using AI technology.

Letta

• HQ Location: Berkeley, California
• Funding Raised: $10 million
• What it does: Memory for AI systems.
• Disruption: Tackles the statelessness of AI models with innovative solutions.

Magic

• HQ Location: San Francisco, California
• Funding Raised: $465.1 million
• What it does: AI for software development.
• Disruption: Ultra-long context windows for better code generation.

Moonvalley

• HQ Location: Los Angeles, California
• Funding Raised: $70 million
• What it does: Generative AI video generation.
• Disruption: Focuses on ethical data use in training its models.

Nodal

• HQ Location: New York, New York
• Funding Raised: $12.7 million
• What it does: Surrogacy matching platform.
• Disruption: A tech alternative promising transparency and efficiency.

Oura

• HQ Location: Oulu, Finland
• Funding Raised: $776.15 million
• What it does: Health and fitness tracking ring.
• Disruption: Integrates advanced health tech into a compact form.

Pair Team

• HQ Location: San Francisco, California
• Funding Raised: $23 million
• What it does: Connects underserved communities to services.
• Disruption: Innovative approach to community health resources.

Physics Wallah

• HQ Location: Noida, India
• Funding Raised: $310 million
• What it does: Affordable education platform.
• Disruption: Grows amidst global edtech challenges, providing low-cost courses.

Polymarket

• HQ Location: New York, New York
• Funding Raised: $111.20 million
• What it does: Prediction marketplace.
• Disruption: Gained traction during election cycles, navigating legal challenges.

Poolside

• HQ Location: Paris, France
• Funding Raised: $626 million
• What it does: AI coding platform.
• Disruption: Attracts significant investment amid a coding assistance boom.

Profound

• HQ Location: New York, New York
• Funding Raised: $3.5 million
• What it does: AI search analytics.
• Disruption: Helps brands adapt to the changing landscape of AI search.

PromiseBio

• HQ Location: Tel Aviv, Israel
• Funding Raised: $8.3 million
• What it does: Precision medicine platform for autoimmune diseases.
• Disruption: Revolutionizes treatment with advanced protein checks.

Roon

• HQ Location: New York, New York
• Funding Raised: $22.5 million
• What it does: Medical video Q&A platform.
• Disruption: Aims to be the most reliable online medical resource.

Salva Health

• HQ Location: Bogota, Colombia
• Funding Raised: N/A
• What it does: Portable breast cancer detection device.
• Disruption: Provides accessible screening in underserved areas.

Saronic Technologies

• HQ Location: Austin, Texas
• Funding Raised: $245 million
• What it does: Autonomous ships for defense.
• Disruption: Rapidly developing prototypes and gaining funding.

Sila

• HQ Location: Alameda, California
• Funding Raised: $1.31 billion
• What it does: Next-gen battery chemistry.
• Disruption: Scalable battery technology with wide applications.

Slice

• HQ Location: Bengaluru, India
• Funding Raised: $387 million
• What it does: Fintech bank.
• Disruption: First Indian startup to evolve into a full bank.

Spawning

• HQ Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Funding Raised: $3 million
• What it does: Opt-out service for AI training datasets.
• Disruption: Advocates for artists’ rights in the AI era.

Spoor

• HQ Location: Oslo, Norway
• Funding Raised: $6.59 million
• What it does: AI for bird tracking at wind farms.
• Disruption: Supports biodiversity while expanding wind energy.

Tennibot

• HQ Location: Auburn, Alabama
• Funding Raised: $200,000
• What it does: Robot that collects tennis balls.
• Disruption: Addresses a niche market with innovative robotics.

Varda Space

• HQ Location: El Segundo, California
• Funding Raised: $146.02 million
• What it does: In-space pharmaceutical manufacturing.
• Disruption: Explores new avenues for drug development in zero-gravity.

Waabi

• HQ Location: Toronto, Canada
• Funding Raised: $282.71 million
• What it does: Generative AI for autonomous trucking.
• Disruption: AI-driven decision-making reduces data and compute needs.

Wayve

• HQ Location: London, England
• Funding Raised: $1.32 billion
• What it does: Autonomous driving software.
• Disruption: Competing with Tesla using a unique approach to driving tech.

Whisper Aero

• HQ Location: Crossville, Tennessee
• Funding Raised: $41.04 million
• What it does: Ultra-quiet electric propulsion.
• Disruption: Partners with NASA to revolutionize quiet flight technology.

Wiz

• HQ Location: New York, New York
• Funding Raised: $1.8 billion
• What it does: Comprehensive cloud security platform.
• Disruption: Showed strength by rejecting a $23 billion acquisition offer.

Xona Space Systems

• HQ Location: San Mateo, California
• Funding Raised: $42.02 million
• What it does: Satellite navigation system.
• Disruption: Aims to provide a more accurate alternative to GPS.

Zap Energy

• HQ Location: Everett, Washington
• Funding Raised: $326.6 million
• What it does: Fusion power technology without magnets.
• Disruption: Innovative approach to plasma confinement for energy generation.

Zepto

• HQ Location: Mumbai, India
• Funding Raised: $1.95 billion
• What it does: Quick-commerce grocery delivery.
• Disruption: Proves that quick commerce can work effectively in India.