30 High-Growth Startups with Billion-Dollar Potential

The startup ecosystem is buzzing with energy this year, and for good reason. 

Despite lackluster funding in Q1 2024, a new cohort of innovative companies is emerging, each with the potential to reshape industries and achieve unicorn status.

Identifying them early can make or break a fund. We've identified 30 promising startups, all founded after 2020, and having raised $100 million or less that are primed to make significant moves in 2024 – and from our perspective are on a clear path to unicorn status.

Let's kick things off with those who have raised the most funding. Eliyan, MotherDuck, and Matchpoint Therapeutics have each secured an impressive $100 million in funding.

Before we move on to the other 20 startups in the list, here’s a brief description of what the top 10 startups do. (If you want details of all 30 startups, we’ve got that for you right here)

Eliyan (Semiconductor Technology): Innovates in semiconductor interconnect technology, enhancing data transfer speeds and energy efficiency for high-performance computing systems.

Motherduck (Data Infrastructure/Analytics): Develops serverless data analytics infrastructure, enabling seamless, scalable data analysis without the need for managing complex backend systems.

Matchpoint Therapeutics (Biotechnology): Utilizes covalent chemistry to create highly selective small molecule drugs targeting difficult-to-treat diseases.

PowerX (Clean Energy): Specializes in energy storage and transmission solutions, including the development of battery modules and the world's first battery tanker for transporting renewable energy over maritime routes.

Firefly Bio (Genomics/Biotechnology): Focuses on gene editing and synthetic biology to develop novel therapeutic approaches for treating genetic disorders.

Codeium (AI/Software Development): Offers an AI-powered code generation and assistance platform designed to streamline software development processes and improve productivity.

Bonum Therapeutics (Biotechnology): Specializes in developing targeted therapies that modulate immune responses to treat a range of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

Arta Finance  (Fintech): Provides AI-driven financial advisory services, offering personalized investment strategies and financial planning tools.

Ratio Therapeutics (Biotechnology/Pharmaceuticals): Focuses on creating precision radiopharmaceuticals for targeted cancer treatment, combining novel isotopes with biomolecules.

Halcyon AI (Cybersecurity): An anti-ransomware platform that employs AI and machine learning to detect, prevent, and recover from ransomware attacks, ensuring robust cybersecurity resilience.

However, in the world of startups, funding is just one piece of the puzzle. Equally crucial are the actual growth numbers.

We found the fastest growing companies by QoQ headcount growth %:

Numbers don’t just appear by themselves do they? Someone was behind these numbers. Let’s take a look at the founders of these companies and a little background on their education:

The combined representation of Stanford, MIT, Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, and Harvard, accounting for nearly 30% of founders, highlights the significant role of top-tier institutions in entrepreneurship. Notably, Stanford alone, with 8 founders (9.52% of the total), highlights the impact of its strong entrepreneurial focus and proximity to Silicon Valley.

The high percentage of repeat founders indicates a strong foundation for achieving significant growth and market impact. 

Repeat founders bring valuable experience, which increases the likelihood of their startups' success by enabling them to navigate challenges more effectively. Their proven track record boosts investor confidence, attracting better funding and financial support. 

We’ve bombarded you with a bunch of graphs today, and if you’ve made it this far, thank you for your time. We saved the best for the last - here’s a graph that shows the startups that we covered that might be looking to raise funds soon.

Codeium has grown by 64% in the last 6 months and has raised in February. Their rapid expansion might indicate a need for more funding soon. Followed by Eliyan and MotherDuck operating in the semiconductor and data infrastructure space, it's evident that all industries related to AI such as chips, semiconductors, AI driven solutions and data infrastructure see high growth rates. Meanwhile, the biotech space sees a slower growth rate due to the high costs and lengthy timelines for research and clinical trials. The focus is often on R&D efficiency rather than rapid scaling.

Looking ahead to the rest of this year, these 30 startups stand out as potential game-changers. Keep an eye on these names and get your checkbooks ready—they might just be the unicorns of tomorrow.

About the data

The data seen above is from Crustdata - the most accurate realtime LinkedIn data source for growth and private equity investors. It indexes billions of public data points on companies every week to provide an edge over the private market.