Future 50

The Top 50 Companies in Artificial Intelligence

See the Top 50 Companies

Report Highlights

The F50 Team sought out to compile a list of the Future 50 Artificial Intelligence (AI) startups, and in the process, evaluated over 500 startups in North America. With the support of expert advisors, F50 vetted companies that are using and/or implementing Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Image Recognition and Processing, Robotics, and Autonomous Vehicles, across various industries, such as:

  • Financial Services
  • Oil & Gas
  • Cybersecurity
  • Healthcare
  • Manufacturing
  • Transportation and Logistics
  • Agriculture
  • Commerce
  • Software Services

F50 used several criteria to narrow down the selection and evaluate the companies. The Future 50 AI startups selected are consistent with the following criteria:

  • Fundraising status is Pre-A, Series A and B (there are select Series C)
  • Raised between $2M to $50M in funding to date
  • Headquartered in North America (or have U.S. presence)
  • Prominent VCs, strategic investors, and/or notable angels as investors

  • Demonstrated traction in its industry (i.e. customers, partnerships, revenue, etc)

  • Regarded as a leader and/or a strong competitor in its sector

  • Company’s business model shows:

    • Competitive advantage or high entry barrier for other companies to replicate business model

    • Disruption potential and/or creation of new market

    • Demonstrates ability for global expansion (i.e. potential to enter Chinese market)

  • Talented founding team that includes successful and seasoned entrepreneurs, and/or experts in their fields from top universities

  • Received endorsement by the F50 Investor Network

The evaluation process was conducted using various sources of information, such as researching the Internet for public information, utilizing data amassed by F50, and by enlisting local and overseas active investors from the F50 Investor Network to evaluate investment opportunities.

Most importantly, F50 enlisted the support of a group of experts that evaluated companies in-depth, specifically, looking at:

  • Product/Service
  • Global Scalability
  • Technology
  • Investment Viability
  • Business Model

The main focus of companies chosen for Future 50 list is Software Services, which involves providing machine learning or big data analytics products and services to various other industries. The second largest industry is Logistics and Transportation, which may largely due to the recent hype of self-driving cars and logistics robots.

Five of the AI related fields (Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Image Recognition and Processing, Robotics, and Autonomous Vehicles) are being used by startups included in the Future 50 list. The majority (44%)are utilizing general machine learning techniques to solve analytical problems across various industries, such as Oil & Gas and Financial Services, for example.

The Future 50 A.I. is primarily made up of Series A startups (34%), followed by Series B startups (30%), which make up a combined 64% of the total percentage of companies that have successfully raised capital.

The Future 50 AI list shows that the investment distribution for Seed and Series A rounds is skewed, meaning there are several companies raising far more than the average, such as Fetch Robotics’ $20M Series A round. On the contrary, there are a few companies, such as Viv Labs, that have smaller Series B rounds than the average, which has the median amount raised that is well above $30M.

The Future 50 A.I. list of companies are predominantly based in Silicon Valley, the hub for technology innovation in the United States. There are, however, several robotic and fintech startups headquartered in the East Coast, which point to a trend we will likely see grow in the future.