Top 15 Irvine Startups to Watch in 2026
Irvine's startup scene is marked by its wide range of industries, from software and financial technology to life sciences.
Significant funding rounds highlight this growth, with companies like SaaS platform Kajabi raising $550M and Fintech firm Acorns securing $510M. These companies represent the upper tier of a dynamic and expanding local economy.
Below is our list of 15 Irvine startups worth keeping an eye on.
Failory's Top 10 Picks
Carro built a collaborative commerce platform that lets e-commerce stores sell products from other brands without holding inventory. Their marketplace connects retailers looking to expand their catalogs with DTC suppliers seeking new sales channels.
| Year Founded | 2015 |
| Founders | David Perry, Jason Goldberg |
| Funding Amount | $50M |
| Startup Size | Lean Team (11-50) |
| Last Funding Status | Series B |
| Top Investors | Alumni Ventures, Corazon Capital, Kli Capital, PayPal Ventures, Evolution Ventures |
Syntiant develops ultra-low-power semiconductors that run AI models directly on edge devices. The company’s Neural Decision Processors power always-on voice, audio, and sensor features in consumer and industrial electronics.
| Year Founded | 2017 |
| Founders | Jeremy Holleman, Kurt Busch, Pieter Vorenkamp, Steph Bailey |
| Funding Amount | $91.4M |
| Startup Size | Major Organization (1,001-5,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Venture Round |
| Top Investors | Alumni Ventures, Microsoft, Atlantic Bridge, Khazanah Nasional, Bosch Ventures |
Acorns offers a financial app that automatically invests spare change from users' daily purchases, a concept known as micro-investing. Their platform is designed to make building wealth accessible by combining saving, retirement, and banking tools into one service for beginners.
| Year Founded | 2012 |
| Founders | Jason Martell, Jeff Cruttenden, Mark Dru, Walter Cruttenden |
| Funding Amount | $510M |
| Startup Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Series F |
| Top Investors | Headline, TPG, BlackRock, Industry Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures |
Rapid Nexus builds a wound treatment system for chronic and nonhealing wounds. Its proprietary hydrogel delivers a continuous stream of oxygen to the wound bed, accelerating the healing process and reducing infection risk.
| Year Founded | 2020 |
| Founders | Margaret Kalmeta |
| Funding Amount | $3.8M |
| Startup Size | Founding Team (1-10) |
| Last Funding Status | Seed |
| Top Investors | — |
Nullspace develops modern computer-aided engineering software for radio frequency applications. Their simulation suite helps engineers design and analyze complex electromagnetic systems for the aerospace, automotive, and electronics industries.
| Year Founded | 2023 |
| Founders | Daniel Faircloth, Jason Keen, Masha Petrova |
| Funding Amount | $3.2M |
| Startup Size | Founding Team (1-10) |
| Last Funding Status | Seed |
| Top Investors | Fathom Fund, Golden Seeds, SummitSpark Partners |
Kajabi builds an all-in-one platform for knowledge entrepreneurs to create, market, and sell digital content like online courses and membership sites. The system combines website building, payment processing, and marketing automation to help creators run their entire online business in one place.
| Year Founded | 2009 |
| Founders | Kenny Rueter, Travis Rosser |
| Funding Amount | $550M |
| Startup Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Private Equity |
| Top Investors | TPG, Spectrum Equity, Meritech Capital Partners, Tiger Global Management, Owl Rock Capital |
Turion Space builds and operates DROID satellites to address national security needs in space. Their technology provides space domain awareness and is designed for tasks like orbital debris removal and satellite servicing.
| Year Founded | 2021 |
| Founders | Patryk Wiatr, Ryan Westerdahl, Tyler James Pierce |
| Funding Amount | $27.8M |
| Startup Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Series A |
| Top Investors | Gaingels, Y Combinator, Veteran Ventures Capital, Correlation Ventures, Pegasus Tech Ventures |
Kantata develops a professional services automation platform used by organizations to manage their entire project lifecycle. The purpose-built software provides clarity and control through integrated tools for resource management, project accounting, and business intelligence.
| Year Founded | 2008 |
| Founders | Raymond Grainger, Roger Neel, Sean Crafts |
| Funding Amount | $111.5M |
| Startup Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Series E |
| Top Investors | Goldman Sachs Growth Equity, Silicon Valley Bank, Carrick Capital Partners |
Caylent helps companies design, build, and manage their cloud infrastructure on Amazon Web Services. As an AWS Premier Partner, they focus on cloud native services, including data engineering and application modernization.
| Year Founded | 2015 |
| Founders | JP La Torre, Stefan Thorpe |
| Funding Amount | $16.2M |
| Startup Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Private Equity |
| Top Investors | Gryphon Investors, (ERA) Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator, East Los Capital, Tolga Tarhan, Stephen Garden |
Wing Assistant provides businesses with on-demand virtual assistants to manage daily operational tasks. Their assistants handle everything from CRM and social media management to research and executive support.
| Year Founded | 2018 |
| Founders | Karan Kanwar, Martin Gomez, Roland Polzin, Saideep Gupta |
| Funding Amount | $2.2M |
| Startup Size | Major Organization (1,001-5,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Seed |
| Top Investors | Berkeley SkyDeck Fund, SkyDeck Berkeley, Surface Ventures, Brookstone Venture Capital, UCI Applied Innovation |
5 Additional Irvine Startups Worth Following
But our main list is just the beginning. Other Irvine founders are building in diverse fields like fintech and sports, and together have raised over $1.6 billion.
Their companies range from brand new to more than a decade old. Here are the other startups that complete our list.
