Top AI & ML private companies nominated to the Cryptonite 300 competition for 2024
Over 6,000 emerging AI/ML companies received VC funding over the last five years—Our editors present the top 150 nominated companies in the sector we have vetted for the 2024 competition thus far.
Introducing the best private companies in AI
Welcome to the kick-off of the 2024 Cryptonite 300 (C300) competition. Eligible companies are generally venture capital-backed enterprises driven by Web3 innovation, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), blockchain and crypto, and the metaverse and virtual reality (VR). C300 companies are chosen from a venture capital perspective, with an eye toward achieving the highest ROI.
Today, we present the top AI/ML companies nominated and vetted by our team thus far. You can view the top 105 Blockchain/Crypto companies nominated thus far here:
Our growing mistrust in all centralized agencies, including Congress, the IRS, many educational institutions, Wall Street, corporate media, and the entertainment industries, drives the Web3 boom. This rebellion has inspired a new generation of blockchain, dApp, AI, and metaverse-focused technologies and companies on a mission to take back our power. Cryptonite is on record as predicting that Web3 represents a $100 trillion opportunity over the next 20 years.
The AlwaysOn top 250 (2003 to 2015), was the predecessor top company competition compiled by some of the same editors and similar methods as the C300. Out of the 1,483 unique Web2 companies that made the AO250 list, 572 companies were successfully acquired, and 193 companies went public, representing a 52 percent exit rate to date. The AO250 return went up this week when Instacart went public for $10 billion, a company we named to the list in 2015, three years after it was founded.
The C300 winners will be honored next Summer at a live show and broadcast Cryptonite event in Silicon Valley.
The AI/ML private company marketplace is more mature than the other two sectors and has consumed 77 percent of the Web3 VC funding over the last four years. Since 2020, over 6,000 AI companies have received $287 billion of risk capital equity investment.
Top AI VCs
Sequoia, Menlo Park, California
Founded in 1972, the firm has invested in ChatGPT creator OpenAI and AI training software specialist Hugging Face. VC INVESTMENTS: 32; AUM: $85B; EXITS: 2; MEDIAN ROUND SIZE: $18.5M
Andreessen Horowitz, Menlo Park, California
Co-founder and general partner of Andreessen Horowitz Marc Andreessen recently predicted AI will save the world and said the big Silicon Valley firm will back as many generative AI startups as possible. Its portfolio includes Character.ai and Pinecone. VC INVESTMENTS: 28; AUM $35B; EXITS: 1, MEDIAN ROUND SIZE: $20.9M
Soma Capital, San Francisco
Founded in 2015, Soma Capital has invested in generative AI startups Cohere, SellScale and Openlayer. The firm has offices around the globe and invests in startups at all stages. VC INVESTMENTS: 22; AUM: $947M; EXITS1; MEDIAN ROUND SIZE $3.1M
Khosla Ventures, Menlo Park, California
Khosla Ventures was the first VC backer of OpenAI, and founder Vinod Khosla has said AI will “free humanity from the need to work.” The firm has also invested in AI copywriting startup Regie.ai and Analog Inference, a creator of neural networks for AI. VC INVESTMENTS: 22; AUM: $15B; MEDIAN ROUND SIZE: $9.5M
Tiger Global Management, New York
Founded in 2001, Tiger Global has invested big into OpenAI rival Cohere. VC INVESTMENTS: 21; AUM: $50B; MEDIAN ROUND SIZE
$30M
Greylock Partners, Menlo Park, California
Greylock Partners, founded in 1965, has invested in small to midsize generative AI startups seeking to transform how work is done. Greylock’s portfolio includes Baseten, a machine learning application builder, and Tome, an AI storytelling platform. VC INVESTMENTS: 20: EXITS: 1; MEDIAN ROUND SIZE: $35M
Amplify Partners, Menlo Park, California
Amplify Partners has invested in Runway, a video editing and content creation startup using AI, and Enlitic, an AI platform for radiologists. VC INVESTMENTS: 20; AUM: $750M; MEDIAN ROUND SIZE: $19.3M
Pioneer Fund, San Francisco
Pioneer Fund is made up of and invests exclusively in Y Combinator alumni. Founded in 2017, the firm has backed generative AI startups, including Booth AI and Sematic. VC INVESTMENTS: 18; AUM: $20M; MEDIAN ROUND SIZE: $6.5M
Index Ventures, London
Founded in 1996, Index Ventures has invested in big AI startups such as Cohere and Weaviate and has a track record of backing software companies including Slack, Wiz and Figma. VC INVESTMENTS: 18; AUM: $4B; MEDIAN ROUND SIZE: $21.3M
Coatue, New York
Coatue was founded in 1999. The firm has invested in Runway and Stability AI. VC INVESTMENTS; 18; AUM $42B; MEDIAN ROUND SIZE: $65M
Meet the Cryptonite 300 nominated AI/ML companies so far...
This week, we introduce close to 2,500 venture capital-back blockchain companies that have been presented for nomination by top VCs, analysts, and entrepreneurs, of which 150 are currently on the nomination list—for now!
The C300 winners will be honored next Summer at a live show and broadcast Cryptonite event in Silicon Valley.
The C300 AI/ML nominated companies
Ultima Genomics
What you get behind the ‘paywall’ as a paid Cryptonite member
Data profiles on 2,500 venture capital-backed AI/ML companies and 1,000 blockchain/crypto companies, over 240 of which have made the C300 nomination list thus far.
250 AI & Blockchain companies on the ‘To Watch’ list we are tracking closely for possible nomination.
Index and data on the Coinbase 257 tradable token list.
Our private company data includes complete descriptions and keywords, last known valuations and multiples, last fundings, active investors, IPO and M&A potential ratings, and CEO/Founder contact information.
All are updated monthly.
The ability to nominate companies to the Cryptonite 300 competition for 2024!