Top 59 San Jose Startups to Watch in 2026
San Jose's startup ecosystem is heavily focused on artificial intelligence, with companies attracting significant funding. This concentration in AI spans across sectors including robotics, cloud infrastructure, and financial technology.
For instance, the AI robotics company Figure has raised $1.9B since its founding in 2022. AI cloud provider Lambda is another major player, having secured $1.7B in total funding.
Below is our list of 59 San Jose startups worth keeping an eye on.
Failory's Top 10 Picks
Figure is building autonomous humanoid robots to work in real-world settings like warehouses and factories. Their first robot, Figure 01, is designed to address labor shortages and perform unsafe jobs, starting with logistics and manufacturing.
| Year Founded | 2022 |
| Founders | Brett Adcock |
| Funding Amount | $1.9B |
| Startup Size | Lean Team (11-50) |
| Last Funding Status | Series C |
| Top Investors | OpenAI, NVIDIA, FJ Labs, Brookfield Asset Management, Microsoft |
2. Lambda
Lambda supplies deep learning infrastructure, offering everything from GPU cloud access to physical servers and workstations. Their ecosystem of hardware and software helps engineers and researchers train and deploy AI models at scale.
| Year Founded | 2012 |
| Founders | Michael Balaban, Stephen Balaban |
| Funding Amount | $1.7B |
| Startup Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Debt Financing |
| Top Investors | NVIDIA, Alumni Ventures, Gaingels, Citi, B Capital |
AppZen builds an AI-powered finance platform to help companies automate their financial operations. Their technology is recognized for streamlining complex processes such as expense audits and invoice processing.
| Year Founded | 2012 |
| Founders | Anant Kale, Kunal Verma |
| Funding Amount | $280.6M |
| Startup Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Series D |
| Top Investors | 500 Global, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Redpoint, Coatue, Riverwood Capital |
Ayar Labs creates optical I/O solutions that use light instead of electricity to move data within high-performance computing systems. Their technology tackles major data bottlenecks, dramatically accelerating large-scale AI and machine learning workloads.
| Year Founded | 2015 |
| Founders | Alex Wright-Gladstein, Chen Sun, Mark Wade, Milos Popovic, Rajeev Ram, Vladimir Stojanovic |
| Funding Amount | $374.7M |
| Startup Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Series D |
| Top Investors | National Science Foundation, Alumni Ventures, NVIDIA, Advent International, Founders Fund |
Lyten creates supermaterials designed to help decarbonize some of the world's hardest to abate industries. Their applications platform, built around Lyten 3D Graphene, is used to produce everything from next-generation batteries to lighter composite materials.
| Year Founded | 2015 |
| Founders | Daniel Cook, Lars Herlitz, Scott Mobley, William Wraith III |
| Funding Amount | $367M |
| Startup Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Venture Round |
| Top Investors | FedEx, Amazon Web Services, US Department of Energy, Triatomic Capital, Stellantis Ventures |
Auditoria.AI builds AI-powered automation for corporate finance back offices. Their SmartBots handle tedious tasks in accounts payable and receivable to help accelerate a company's cash performance.
| Year Founded | 2019 |
| Founders | Adina Simu, Gaurav Bhatia, Rohit Gupta |
| Funding Amount | $59.5M |
| Startup Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Series B |
| Top Investors | B Capital, Venrock, Workday Ventures, Engineering Capital, Sentinel Global |
Hyphen creates an automated food-assembly platform that uses robotics to prepare meals for restaurants. Their system is designed to help commercial kitchens increase speed, consistency, and order throughput.
| Year Founded | 2020 |
| Founders | Daniel Fukuba, Stephen Klein |
| Funding Amount | $83M |
| Startup Size | Lean Team (11-50) |
| Last Funding Status | Series B |
| Top Investors | Tiger Global Management, Chipotle Mexican Grill, SignalRank, Compound, Spacecadet Ventures |
SiMa.ai develops a machine learning platform combining purpose-built hardware and software for the embedded edge. Their MLSoC™ platform makes it simple for developers to deploy and scale AI applications on power-constrained devices.
| Year Founded | 2018 |
| Founders | Krishna Rangasayee, Steven J. Rosston |
| Funding Amount | $355M |
| Startup Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Series C |
| Top Investors | StepStone Group, Point72, Wing Venture Capital, Adage Capital Management, Fidelity |
Concentric AI builds a Data Security Posture Management platform that uses deep learning to protect business-critical information. Their Semantic Intelligence™ solution autonomously discovers sensitive data, assesses its risk, and remediates issues without needing complex rules or manual setup.
| Year Founded | 2018 |
| Founders | Karthik Krishnan, Madhu Shashanka, Shankar Subramaniam |
| Funding Amount | $67M |
| Startup Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Series B |
| Top Investors | Ballistic Ventures, HarbourVest Partners, Top Tier Capital Partners, Homebrew, Clear Ventures |
Tredence provides data science and AI solutions that help enterprises transform complex information into actionable business strategies. The firm specializes in building scalable analytics platforms that drive growth and improve operational efficiency for its clients.
| Year Founded | 2013 |
| Founders | Shashank Dubey, Shub Bhowmick, Sumit Mehra |
| Funding Amount | $205M |
| Startup Size | Major Organization (1,001-5,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Series B |
| Top Investors | Advent International, Chicago Pacific Founders |
49 Additional San Jose Startups Worth Following
Our top picks are just a small sample of the activity happening in San Jose. Across the city, founders are building companies in fields like AI and healthcare, raising billions of dollars along the way.
Some of these companies are just getting started, while others are already scaling quickly. Here’s a look at the other startups that are shaping the city's tech landscape.
| Startup | Industry | Year Founded | Amount Raised | Last Funding Round |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Qwiet | AI | 2016 | $58.3M | Series C |
 Exaforce | AI | 2023 | $75M | Series A |
 Vectra AI | AI | 2011 | $352.5M | Series F |
 ControlUp | Analytics | 2008 | $140.2M | Series D |
 Alkira | Cloud | 2018 | $176M | Series C |
 Dtex Systems | Analytics | 2000 | $122.5M | Series E |
 Signifyd | Security | 2011 | $409M | Series E |
 Fortera | Manufacturing | 2007 | $175.5M | Venture Round |
 iMerit | Analytics | 2012 | $36.3M | Venture Round |
 Lykos Therapeutics | Healthcare | 2014 | $150M | Series B |
 DuploCloud | Cloud | 2018 | $49.5M | Series B |
 MainStreet | Fintech | 2019 | $64.7M | Series B |
 Cohesity | Analytics | 2013 | $955M | Series H |
 Litmus Automation | AI | 2013 | $40.7M | Series B |
 Fleak | AI | 2024 | $5M | Seed |
 ZEDEDA | AI | 2016 | $129.5M | Venture Round |
 Splashtop | Enterprise | 2006 | $114M | Series E |
 Bonsai Robotics | AgTech | 2022 | $25.5M | Series A |
 Aviz Networks | AI | 2019 | $31M | Series A |
 OptraScan | Healthcare | 2015 | $30M | Series B |
 MDisrupt | Healthcare | 2019 | $10M | Venture Round |
 Nile | AI | 2018 | $300M | Series C |
 SupportLogic | AI | 2016 | $62M | Series B |
 Tigera | Security | 2016 | $53M | Series B |
 Aerones | Robotics | 2015 | $113.9M | Series B |
 Iterate.ai | AI | 2013 | $10.7M | Venture Round |
 Automation Anywhere | AI | 2003 | $1.1B | Secondary Market |
 Edge Impulse | Hardware | 2019 | $54.4M | Series B |
 CloudBees | Enterprise | 2010 | $356.2M | Series F |
 StoreCash | Fintech | 2019 | $7.4M | Seed |
 Kognitos | AI | 2020 | $53.3M | Series B |
 Lumber | Manufacturing | 2023 | $21M | Series A |
 Payactiv | Enterprise | 2011 | $133.7M | Series C |
 Anthro Energy | Hardware | 2020 | $52.7M | Grant |
 Savor | Food | 2022 | $33M | — |
 Solver | Media | 2022 | $9.3M | Venture Round |
 Allay Therapeutics | Biotech | 2017 | $149.5M | Series D |
 Visby Medical | Healthcare | 2012 | $435.8M | Venture Round |
 Theom | AI | 2020 | $36.4M | Series A |
 LiveKit | AI | 2021 | $81M | Series B |
 Lightbits Labs | Hardware | 2016 | $112.8M | Venture Round |
 GMI Cloud | AI | 2023 | $82M | Debt Financing |
 Frore Systems | Hardware | 2018 | $180M | Series C |
 Breakout | AI | 2024 | $3.3M | Seed |
 TRAVARAS | Retail | 2023 | $1.5M | Pre-Seed |
 TCGplayer | Retail | 1998 | $45M | Private Equity |
 Obsidiam | Crypto | 2018 | $4M | Seed |
 Huli | Healthcare | 2012 | $9.3M | Seed |
 LightningWorks | Media | 2019 | $2.5M | Seed |
