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Wayve, May Mobility, Einride and Nuro self-driving vehicles. Photos: Wayve, May Mobility, Nuro, Einride, Getty. Art: Shane Burke

Startups to Watch

Nine Self-Driving Startups Chasing Waymo’s Lead

By Alex Perry · May 8, 2025 10:30am PDT · 5 comments

For years, self-driving cars were a feature of the sci-fi future. But Waymo’s leap from testing to ferrying paying customers in four cities has made robotaxis a reality. That’s set off a race among newcomers and industry stalwarts to expand new businesses that support autonomous vehicles. Below we provide exclusive details on nine startups worth... For years, self-driving cars were a feature of the sci-fi future. But Waymo’s leap from testing...

Skild AI robots. Photo by Skild AI

Startups to Watch

9 Robotics Startups to Watch

By Rocket Drew · Dec 27, 2024 6:00am PST · 4 comments

To train artificial intelligence–powered robots to pick a book off a shelf a decade ago, researchers had to direct the robots to perform the task roughly 500 times before the robots learned to imitate the motion, recalls Brad Porter, founder and CEO of Collaborative Robotics, which is developing robots to work in hospitals and warehouses.... To train artificial intelligence–powered robots to pick a book off a shelf a decade ago,...

Image by Clark Miller and Midjourney.

Startups to Watch

Eight Startups Challenging Nvidia in AI Chips

By Kevin McLaughlin, Anissa Gardizy, Jon Victor and Aaron Holmes · Aug 24, 2023 6:00am PDT · 1 comment

Nvidia dominates the market for graphics processing units used to train artificial intelligence models, although rivals like AMD and Intel are trying to catch up. Now some scrappy startups are entering the fray with alternative designs for AI chips they claim work better and more efficiently than Nvidia’s GPUs. Other startups are targeting... Nvidia dominates the market for graphics processing units used to train artificial intelligence...

Art by Clark Miller, Shutterstock.

Five Startups Vying to Be the OpenAI of China

By Juro Osawa · Jun 5, 2023 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

Art by Clark Miller, Shutterstock.

Startups to Watch

Five Startups Vying to Be the OpenAI of China

By Juro Osawa · Jun 5, 2023 6:00am PDT · 2 comments

As OpenAI and Google battle for artificial intelligence supremacy in the West, a parallel contest is happening in China. Dozens of young Chinese startups as well as local tech giants Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu are developing machine-learning models to power chatbots similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Five Chinese startups, including MiniMax and... As OpenAI and Google battle for artificial intelligence supremacy in the West, a parallel contest...

From left: Brooke Hainey & Keith George, co-founders of Cortina; Bennett Carroccio, co-founder of Canal; Conner Sherline, founder of Disco.

Startups to Watch

Three Startups That Help Online Retailers Cut Out Facebook Ads

By Malique Morris · Jun 28, 2022 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Direct-to-consumer brands that rely heavily on Facebook and Instagram ads have been reeling ever since Apple’s 2021 privacy changes made it harder and more expensive to land new customers. But a small group of e-commerce software startups is looking to help DTC sellers work together to showcase their goods in new ways—without... Direct-to-consumer brands that rely heavily on Facebook and Instagram ads have been reeling ever...

Photo by Bloomberg

Startups to Watch

Five Cloud Startups Going After AWS’ Blind Spots

By Kevin McLaughlin · Mar 15, 2022 6:00am PDT · 4 comments

Amazon Web Services has built a commanding lead in the cloud computing market by listening to what services and features its customers want and then delivering them. But some application developers believe AWS, in its relentless pursuit of Fortune 500 customers to fuel revenue growth, has become more aligned with corporate IT departments than... Amazon Web Services has built a commanding lead in the cloud computing market by listening to...

Top row (l-r): Shilla Kim-Parker, Adam Siegel, Wilson Griffin, Andy Ruben
Bottom row (l-r): Ashley Granata, Joseph Einhorn, Emily Gittins, Ryan Rowe

Startups to Watch

5 Startups Vying to Be the Shopify of the $43 Billion Resale Market

By Malique Morris · Feb 16, 2022 6:00am PST

Selling secondhand clothes and accessories online is a booming business, and that’s creating an opportunity for the behind-the-scenes tech players that power the transactions. These include startups such as Trove, Archive, Recurate and The Archivist. These re-commerce startups are following in the footsteps of Shopify, which grew into a... Selling secondhand clothes and accessories online is a booming business, and that’s...

Images by Shutterstock. Illustration by Mike Sullivan

Six European Instant-Delivery Startups to Watch

By Mark Di Stefano and Cory Weinberg · Jul 13, 2021 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

Images by Shutterstock. Illustration by Mike Sullivan

Startups to Watch

Six European Instant-Delivery Startups to Watch

By Mark Di Stefano and Cory Weinberg · Jul 13, 2021 6:00am PDT · 3 comments

The battle over who can deliver junk food, beer and vape pens quickly to Europeans is revving up. Over the last six months, thanks to a pandemic-inspired surge in online shopping, startups that promise to deliver party staples and fresh food to customers in London, Amsterdam and other major European cities have multiplied at a rapid clip.... The battle over who can deliver junk food, beer and vape pens quickly to Europeans is...

Clockwise from top left: Gladly CEO Joseph Ansanelli, The Archivist co-founders Ashley Granada and Joseph Einhorn, Fabric co-founder Ryan Bartley, Smartrr CEO Gabriella Yitzhaek, Shogun CEO Finbarr Taylor, Nacelle CEO Brian Anderson, Fabric CEO Faisal Masud and ReCharge co-founders Oisin O’Connor and Michael Flynn. Photos: the companies.

Startups to Watch

Seven E-Commerce Startups to Watch

By Malique Morris · Jun 16, 2021 6:01am PDT · 2 comments

As online shopping booms, venture investment in the e-commerce sector has taken off. That has put a spotlight on the small software companies that power online shopping, from enabling product subscriptions to making merchants’ websites run faster. These include firms such as Fabric, Nacelle, Shogun and ReCharge. In the first quarter of... As online shopping booms, venture investment in the e-commerce sector has taken off. That has put...

Clockwise from top left: Aaron Levant, Virgile Ollivier, Branon Kruse, Brian Nickerson, Amber Venz Box and Baxter Box, Dan Dan Li. Photos courtesy of the subjects.

Startups to Watch

Six Businesses That Are Changing Online Shopping

By Malique Morris · Mar 11, 2021 10:20am PST · 1 comment

Stuck at home during the pandemic, Americans have been flocking to online shopping sites and mobile apps. The growth has been a boon for the rising number of startups that specialize in injecting excitement into online shopping for consumers who may have grown bored with mundane grids of product photos. Many of the emerging companies focus on... Stuck at home during the pandemic, Americans have been flocking to online shopping sites and...

Top, l-r: Tyler Bosmeny, Dan Carroll and Rafael Garica of Clever; Amanda DoAmaral of Fiveable; Matthew Gross of Newsela. Bottom: Primer's Ryan Delk and Maksim Stepanenko; Encantos' Nuria Santamaría, Steven Wolfe Pereira, Susie Jaramillo and Carlos Hoyos; Guild Education's Rachel Carlson.

Startups to Watch

Six Startups Filling the Growing Need for Online Education

By The Information Staff · Sep 28, 2020 11:06am PDT

Startups in educational technology, a growing sector often overlooked in the past, are now finding themselves near the front of the class. More than 60% of U.S. public school students in grades K-12 started the school year remotely, according to data service Burbio. These at-home learners are feeding demand for an early wave of education... Startups in educational technology, a growing sector often overlooked in the past, are now...

From left to right: Lunchclub founders Vladimir Novakovski and Scott Wu; Mmhmm founder Phil Libin; Run The World founders Xiaoyin Qu and Xuan Jiang; Hopin founder Johnny Boufarhat. Photos courtesy of the companies.

Four Startups Helping You Network in a Virtual World

By Kate Clark · Aug 4, 2020 7:01am PDT · 2 comments

From left to right: Lunchclub founders Vladimir Novakovski and Scott Wu; Mmhmm founder Phil Libin; Run The World founders Xiaoyin Qu and Xuan Jiang; Hopin founder Johnny Boufarhat. Photos courtesy of the companies.

Startups to Watch

Four Startups Helping You Network in a Virtual World

By Kate Clark · Aug 4, 2020 7:01am PDT · 2 comments

A new spate of startups is building video communication and virtual event software for the coronavirus era. Backed by venture capital funding and undeterred by Zoom’s dominance, leaders of these nascent firms say they offer more-effective ways to meet new people, host events and communicate with colleagues—tools that will outlast... A new spate of startups is building video communication and virtual event software for the...

Top, l.-r.: Yelitsa Jean-Charles (Healthy Roots Dolls); Ben Kaufman (Camp); Arianna Huffington (Thrive Global); Carrie SiuButt (Simple Health); David Hsieh (Kaptivo). Bottom: David Youssefnia; Ravs Kaur; Joe Levy; Dave Matthews (Uplevel)

Startups to Watch

How Five Startups Responded to Economic Upheaval

By The Information Staff · Jul 6, 2020 7:01am PDT · 2 comments

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the tech startup landscape, driving some companies out of business and pushing others to the brink. Yet some firms that make products suited to remote working and social distancing have seen their sales rise sharply. Other companies have managed to quickly reconfigure their operations to support new... The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the tech startup landscape, driving some companies out of...

Turing engineers and staff. Images courtesy of Turing.

Startups to Watch

Six Startups Prospering During Coronavirus

By The Information Staff · Apr 28, 2020 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

The coronavirus lockdowns have been devastating for many businesses, but a small fraction of Silicon Valley startups that help businesses function remotely or consumers cope indoors are seeing a jump in demand. The sudden surge left some startups scrambling to keep up, just as it did with Amazon, Instacart and other big consumer companies. ... The coronavirus lockdowns have been devastating for many businesses, but a small fraction of...

Capsule founder Eric Kinariwala in the company's midtown Manhattan pharmacy. Photo: Capsule

Startups to Watch

Five Startups Seeing a Covid-19 Bounce

By The Information Staff · Apr 1, 2020 7:01am PDT · 4 comments

The coronavirus is decimating business at many venture capital–backed startups. But for a few firms, the pandemic has had the opposite effect, as consumers flock to products and services that make staying at home easier or help them cope with the crisis.These companies, five of which we profile below, include an online pharmacy that has... The coronavirus is decimating business at many venture capital–backed startups. But for a...

Illustration by J. Claeys

These Real Estate Startups Hope to Do Good and Make Money

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 30, 2020 7:00am PST · 1 comment

Illustration by J. Claeys

Startups to Watch

These Real Estate Startups Hope to Do Good and Make Money

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 30, 2020 7:00am PST · 1 comment

Companies profiting from buying, selling or leasing cheap real estate are sometimes tagged as flippers, loan sharks or slumlords. Now, venture-backed startups are jumping into the market, claiming they can clean up unseemly parts of the industry while using software-driven financial and property management services to make money.We profile four... Companies profiting from buying, selling or leasing cheap real estate are sometimes tagged as...

Illustration by Danielle Davis

Startups to Watch

The Young Firms Rethinking Social Media

By Alex Heath · Oct 16, 2019 7:01am PDT · 7 comments

The world of social media is dominated by companies like Facebook, Snapchat and Twitter, but that hasn’t stopped a new breed of startups from trying to carve out markets where they think the sector’s giants have fallen short.These emerging social media firms, four of which we profile below in our latest installment of Startups to... The world of social media is dominated by companies like Facebook, Snapchat and Twitter, but that...

Startups to Watch

These Startups Want to Reshape 5G Devices, Disease Treatment, Startup Credit and the Power Grid

By The Information Staff · Feb 11, 2019 6:31am PST

As we approach the mid-point of 2019’s first quarter, the startup funding environment remains promising, many investors say. After all, multibillion-dollar funds such as Sequoia’s still have plenty to invest even after last year’s record pace. Nearly $131 billion in venture capital was deployed in private companies worldwide in... As we approach the mid-point of 2019’s first quarter, the startup funding environment...

Startups to Watch

These Startups Want to Revolutionize Health Care, Gaming and Transportation

By The Information Staff · Nov 26, 2018 7:00am PST

It isn't unusual for big company employees to spot ways to improve on products or internal operations. That can lead to startup ideas, as we have found with a couple of the firms profiled in our latest installment of Startups to Watch. One is a firm founded by a former Apple employee attempting to improve manufacturing automation. Another... It isn't unusual for big company employees to spot ways to improve on products or internal...

Top row (l-r): Zach Johnson, Jennifer Tejada, Cole Crawford, Zach Johnson, Shaival Shah. Bottom row (l-r): David Gorodyansky, Yifani Li, Karsten Temme, Dawn Song, Matt Alexander

These Startups Want to Shake Up Home Buying, Shopping, Lidar and Agriculture

By The Information Staff · Aug 22, 2018 7:02am PDT · 1 comment

Top row (l-r): Zach Johnson, Jennifer Tejada, Cole Crawford, Zach Johnson, Shaival Shah. Bottom row (l-r): David Gorodyansky, Yifani Li, Karsten Temme, Dawn Song, Matt Alexander

Startups to Watch

These Startups Want to Shake Up Home Buying, Shopping, Lidar and Agriculture

By The Information Staff · Aug 22, 2018 7:02am PDT · 1 comment

Some of Silicon Valley’s biggest startups are reaching their 10th anniversary as private companies. Their ability to attract funding, and dominate news cycles, means smaller companies doing creative things in their industries are easily overlooked. But the startup scene is as busy and competitive as ever.In our latest installment of... Some of Silicon Valley’s biggest startups are reaching their 10th anniversary as private...