The Full List of 17 Developer APIs Unicorn Startups (2026)
The developer API space includes 17 unicorn startups that provide essential building blocks for modern software. This group is led by companies like Alchemy, a web3 developer platform valued at $10.2 billion.
The field also features rapidly growing companies such as ElevenLabs, which reached a $6.6 billion valuation just two years after its 2022 founding.
Below is the full list of 17 Developer APIs unicorn startups at this time.
Top 10 Most Valuable Developer APIs Unicorns
Alchemy builds a developer platform that gives companies the foundational tools to create decentralized applications. Their suite of APIs and node infrastructure makes it simpler to build and scale products on the blockchain.
| Valuation | $10.2B (Joined October 2021) |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Year Founded | 2017 |
| Founders | Joseph Lau, Nikil Viswanathan |
| Funding Amount | $563.9M |
| Company Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Series C |
| Top Investors | Lightspeed Venture Partners, Coinbase Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Pantera Capital, Samsung NEXT |
ElevenLabs builds a generative voice AI platform that creates lifelike speech in any voice and style. Their tools help content creators, developers, and publishers produce high-quality audio for everything from video games to audiobooks.
| Valuation | $6.6B (Joined January 2024) |
| Headquarters | New York, New York, United States |
| Year Founded | 2022 |
| Founders | Mati Staniszewski, Piotr Dabkowski |
| Funding Amount | $281M |
| Company Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Corporate Round |
| Top Investors | Endeavor Catalyst, Andreessen Horowitz, NVIDIA, Valor Equity Partners, Sequoia Capital |
Postman created a collaborative platform that simplifies the entire API lifecycle for developers, from design to testing. Their tools are widely used across the software industry to help teams build and manage APIs more efficiently.
| Valuation | $6B (Joined June 2020) |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Year Founded | 2014 |
| Founders | Abhijit Kane, Abhinav Asthana, Ankit Sobti |
| Funding Amount | $433M |
| Company Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Series D |
| Top Investors | Bond, Nexus Venture Partners, Battery Ventures, Coatue, Insight Partners |
Checkr provides an AI-powered platform to automate background checks for businesses. Their technology helps companies accelerate hiring by embedding screening services directly into their workflows.
| Valuation | $5B (Joined September 2019) |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Year Founded | 2014 |
| Founders | Daniel Yanisse, Jonathan Perichon |
| Funding Amount | $740.1M |
| Company Size | Major Organization (1,001-5,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Undisclosed |
| Top Investors | Franklin Templeton, Y Combinator, Bond, Accel, Khosla Ventures |
DriveWealth builds brokerage infrastructure and APIs that allow fintechs and other brands to embed investing experiences into their products. The platform is particularly known for enabling real-time fractional share trading, which helps partners offer affordable and accessible investing options to their customers.
| Valuation | $3B (Joined August 2021) |
| Headquarters | Jersey City, New Jersey, United States |
| Year Founded | 2012 |
| Founders | Robert Cortright |
| Funding Amount | $550.8M |
| Company Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Series D |
| Top Investors | Quiet Capital, FTX, Insight Partners, Accel, SoftBank Vision Fund |
Kong develops a cloud-native platform that simplifies how companies connect, secure, and manage their APIs and microservices. They are best known for the open-source Kong Gateway, which helps developers orchestrate API traffic across any cloud or hybrid environment.
| Valuation | $2B (Joined December 2020) |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Year Founded | 2017 |
| Founders | Augusto Marietti, Marco Palladino, Michele Zonca |
| Funding Amount | $344.1M |
| Company Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Series E |
| Top Investors | Sapphire Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures, Goldman Sachs |
Apollo GraphQL develops a supergraph platform to help engineering teams unify their APIs, microservices, and databases. Their open-source and commercial GraphQL tools allow developers to build applications and digital experiences much faster.
| Valuation | $2B |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Year Founded | 2016 |
| Founders | Geoff Schmidt, Matt DeBergalis, Nick Martin |
| Funding Amount | $152M |
| Company Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Venture Round |
| Top Investors | Matrix, Y Combinator, Andreessen Horowitz, SV Angel, Insight Partners |
5ire has developed a blockchain network that prioritizes sustainability and social impact. Their technology is designed to usher in the 5th industrial revolution by shifting the focus from a for-profit to a for-benefit economy.
| Valuation | $2B (Joined July 2022) |
| Headquarters | London, England, United Kingdom |
| Year Founded | 2021 |
| Founders | Prateek Dwivedi, Pratik Gauri, Vilma Mattila |
| Funding Amount | $121M |
| Company Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Series A |
| Top Investors | Kangaroo Capital, Moonrock Capital, SRAM & MRAM, Newchip Accelerator, Alpha Capital |
Salt Security provides an API protection platform that uses AI and machine learning to stop application attacks. They are known for helping organizations discover and secure their APIs across the entire lifecycle, from development to production.
| Valuation | $1.4B (Joined February 2022) |
| Headquarters | Palo Alto, California, United States |
| Year Founded | 2015 |
| Founders | Michael Nicosia, Omer Sadika, Roey Eliyahu |
| Funding Amount | $271M |
| Company Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Venture Round |
| Top Investors | Advent International, Y Combinator, CapitalG, Sequoia Capital, Bossa Invest |
Tealium offers a customer data platform that helps companies unify their customer data from disparate sources. Their tools are widely used by marketing and data teams to orchestrate this information for more personalized campaigns and analytics.
| Valuation | $1.2B (Joined February 2021) |
| Headquarters | San Diego, California, United States |
| Year Founded | 2008 |
| Founders | Ali Behnam, Mike Anderson |
| Funding Amount | $263.9M |
| Company Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Venture Round |
| Top Investors | Battery Ventures, Industry Ventures, Georgian, Bain Capital, Bain Capital Ventures |
The Remaining 7 Developer APIs Unicorns
The top ten companies only tell part of the story for developer tools. Founders across the globe, from the US to India and Canada, are building companies now worth over a billion dollars.
These next seven startups have raised more than $1.1 billion combined. Here’s a look at the rest of the unicorn startups shaping the field.
